<p>When you get these (many resemble Myers-Briggs tests), how much should you answer what you think they want to hear, and how much should you answer frankly? Does it usually matter that much?</p>
<p>e.g. I have questions like, “You have confidence in yourself. Strongly agree / agree / disagree/ strongly disagree.” As a frank perception of myself, I tend towards the “disagree” side, I won’t show it on the job!</p>
<p>Oh, and there are questions like, “People do a lot of things that make you angry.” This is rather true for me. But I would never show it to a customer though!</p>
<p>Of course, it could also be used to allocate you towards a position that best fits you, versus a position you might hate, so “answering to the test” might backfire.</p>
<p>Sounds to me that you have a very perceptive understanding of how these tests might be used or misused – so I think you probably also know the answer to your question. Maybe rather than “answering to the test” you need to “answer to the position you want” - bearing in mind that your on-the-job personality isn’t the same as your at-home personality. So you are not really being dishonest if you express the “personality” that matches how you plan to act while at work.</p>
<p>Those tests are amazingly accurate. I’ve lost count of the times that my husband hired someone against the advice of the testing evaluator and regretted it afterwards. “They were right! Why didn’t I listen?”</p>
<p>As someone working in a field that assesses these in empirically rigorous ways, I can tell you the vast majority are invalid. Some are wonderful but the vast majority tap into ‘personality’ dimensions that are not even recognized by scientists who spend their life studying personality (the were concocted by consultants who make money selling them). Moreover, even if we were to assume the validity of relevant personality traits, the the majority of employers can not accurately determine the appropriate choice of employee (usually preferring someone ‘like them’ when in fact the company may desperately need quite the opposite attributes).</p>
<p>DD had to take a personality test online as part of her freshman roommate matching process. School claims better results with roommates since adding this test.</p>
<p>A close friend was just “selected” to take a mindtalent? personality test. The organization said they were picking just a select few top performers. Some selected were thrilled, others felt that they were picked because they had unique positions within the company. Most everyone selected was the only one with their job description. When the job had 2 or 3 people, those who were employed the longest were chosen. We goggled and it seems employees are clasified A-keep, B-ok, C-get rid of. It seems Enron used this system or something like it Her company has been laying off quite a bit, so she was anxious. Wish we could have found the “right” answers.</p>
<p>This subject came up a couple of weeks ago. Search the word Unicru on this board, as this is the primary company that administers these kind of tests. Someone’s son finally got a job and she believed it was because you have to answer using “strongly” on questions, something that seems counter-intuitive.</p>
Her company has been laying off quite a bit, so she was anxious. Wish we could have found the “right” answers.</p>