Pre-Employment psychological assessment tests.

[harmonics101]

Originally Posted by Twelvefret

Have you ever been charged with littering?

It's always a good idea to understand why the tests are administered. Unless skills are being tested, there is no pass or fail.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquas...en-applicants/

There might not be a pass / fail per se , but there definitely is a hire / no hire threshold ,

H

[zabdart]

If anyone ever asked me to take such a test I'd just tell them I was borderline and like to pull the wings off flies.

[Willy D]

Yup - huge scam that companies and HR "professionals" hide behind rather than develop good hiring practices and skills. I have found that most companies that buy into this crap are not much fun to work for and live in the world of buzzwords and catch phrases ... "going the extra mile" "wow factor"

I always keep in mind, "To err is Human - to really screw up, you need Human Resources"

[Shoreline Music]

Many years ago, I had to take the loss-prevention version of that test when applying to work at a Best-Buy type store. They asked 97 different versions of "have you ever stolen anything from a store or employer". I answered honestly that I had not. 97 times.

I was dismissed within minutes.

[kydave]

Originally Posted by harmonics101

Good Luck in trying to find a sample out there, who knows, maybe someone would give you a link. As I said, I think these sort of tests are totally unconstitutional and illegal, but what are you going to do if you want to work for a company and that's what they require for you to get through the door. I think these tests are not easily faked either, or they can detect lack of sincerity and inconsistency of you are trying to cheat the test, here's an interesting link on Wiki that I found informative,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_test

H

Hmmm... this one looks interesting. Long, though. But it is recent (2012) and looks like something a professional would use.

Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5)

Thanks for the link!

[harmonics101]

Originally Posted by kydave

.....

Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5)

....

KyDave , that looks very interesting, they have an actual PDF on the internet that you can see the questions, thank you for sharing that,

H

[Ciarre]

How did this guy ever get a job?

[kydave]

Originally Posted by harmonics101

KyDave , that looks very interesting, they have an actual PDF on the internet that you can see the questions, thank you for sharing that,
H

I thought it was interesting, although most of my answers were zeros... It seemed like something a totally well adjusted person would have ALL zeros on, but I was honest.

[Bob Womack]

From my experiences I've come to a conclusion: HR departments serve two duties. One is to construct personnel policy that won't get the company sued. Two is to serve as a gatekeeper, to keep out undesirables in the hiring process and reduce the number of applicants to a useable level and turn the remainder over to the departments to be considered on their professional merits. To cut applicants they are often taught to conduct interviews with a method that gets the confidence of the applicant and then tries to put them in a "gotcha" situation to reveal things they really don't want to reveal about themselves. But before you get to that point they often subject you to batteries of the same sort of "gotcha" tests and "interest inventories" designed to help them spot people they may not want to deal with. I've gotten some of this from a relative who studied interviewing.

I was fortunate to get my first break at a company that hadn't gotten things standardized yet and had some "leakers." I sent in my application and resume' and received a formal letter back from the company HR that they had no openings. The next day in the middle of a recording session I got a call from the manager of the department who was looking for my skills and was interviewed over the phone. Obviously, the left hand wasn't talking to the right hand. That manager liked me and continued the process until I was hired by this large corporation. A couple of years later the company asked everyone to take an interest inventory battery to indicate our personality type. My test indicated that I had near-zero corporate adaptability. I wasn't fired because by then I had proven myself a good worker, but I understand that this test became part of the screening process for the company. You can imagine what my score wold have done to my chances to be hired!

Bob

[harmonics101]

Originally Posted by kydave

I thought it was interesting, although most of my answers were zeros... It seemed like something a totally well adjusted person would have ALL zeros on, but I was honest.

A totally well adjusted person ? Well thank my lucky stars I am far from a totally well adjusted person, it's these sort of ' TESTS ' that make me roll my eyes and shake my head. Thank goodness my real persona is much more colored than having all zero's on this psychological test. I'm quite sure Rembrandt, Picasso or any other pioneers in history would hardly have scored a zero across the board. What a bunch of poppy **** ,

H

PS Of course, if I were taking the test, I would have put down all zero's as well

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by HHP

The tests are not about whether you can do the job, its to see if you will integrate with the company and other employees. Basically, takes the responsibility out of the hands of HR.

I did some poking around and I'm not sure that's really it.

My wife runs HR at a firm. In her view, what makes it compelling to business owners who use these is that it saves time and money and keeps employees from spending time with candidates who can be pulled from the queue before they spend several hours at the firm. She's not a fan because she and the team can get the same info in a phone screen. However...

Probably more importantly, it gives businesses some level of protection against discrimination, privacy and negligent hiring lawsuits. The latter is when someone goes ballistic at work and the company may have liability exposure for hiring a demonstrably unstable person. The tests offer some level of cover.

Regarding the comments of constitutionality, the issues are around civil rights and privacy, typically. Certainly it has come up as an issue.

[Wadcutter]

I took several of those tests years ago when I was desperate for employment. I lied my way through all of them. I got hired at different times by both places. I worked one day at Target and quit and later I worked four hours at Walmart and quit. I decided after experiencing working in retail at that level that I would rather live under a bridge and dumpster dive than go back to either one of those so called jobs. But hey, that's just me.

[D. Shelton]

Originally Posted by Willy D

Yup - huge scam that companies and HR "professionals" hide behind rather than develop good hiring practices and skills. I have found that most companies that buy into this crap are not much fun to work for and live in the world of buzzwords and catch phrases ... "going the extra mile" "wow factor"

I always keep in mind, "To err is Human - to really screw up, you need Human Resources"

The next phase of impersonal , corporate douchiness . Not exactly a brave new world.... more like a chickenbutt (not the exact word I wanted to use)
new world.

[Captain Jim]

I have had to take those tests a couple times over the years... probably didn't hurt that psychology was one of my majors in college... it was pretty apparent what they were looking for.

Fortunately for me, I spent most of my adult work life as the owner of several companies. As my wife once said, "You have to be the owner, because of your inability to keep your mouth shut when something isn't right."

I never gave those tests when hiring, but I did ask questions. And checked references and former employers. I would expect references to say good things about the applicant... it says something, also, when the reference didn't know they had been listed.

A person is a lot more than how they score on a test.

[Basalt Beach]

Originally Posted by Fatstrat

Anyone ever take and pass one? Anyone got a clue what they look for on these tests? .

Fatstrat,

yes, I have taken them, at least 3 times. I had 3 hours of Hogan test exams followed by 4.5 hours of 3 panel interviews before I was offered a position. I was told I did well in the interviews but that several panel members objected to my wearing a non traditional (not white or not oxford blue) shirt to the interview.

Once hired, during the first few years, I had to re-take the same Hogan test 2 more times (all management had to re-test and not sure we ever received a good explanation as to why).

All of us who had to take them 15 to 20 years ago joke about them today and about the VP (now gone) who obsessed on using the results to place people in the organization.

Some of the things they look for are listed below. I believe HR departments use them to justify their viable candidate pools and eliminate responsibility and liability in their candidate pool selection process.

I had no idea they were back in vogue and being used widely again today.

• Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI)
  
• The HPI is designed to assess personal qualities that promote success in work, in relationships, in education and training, and in life. See more information and sample reports for the HPI
  
• Hogan Development Survey (HDS)
  
• The HDS measures eleven patterns of interpersonal behavior that tend to appear when a person is stressed, tired, or distracted. See more information and sample reports for the HDS
  
• Motives, Values and Preferences Inventory (MVPI)
  
• Values, preferences, and interests are all motivational concepts: they differ primarily in terms of their generality—values are the broadest and abstract kind of motive, and interests are the most narrow and specific kind of motive. These motivational concepts tell us about a person's desires and plans, and they explain the long-term themes and tendencies in a person's life. See more information and sample reports for the MVPI
  
• The Hogan Business Reasoning Inventory (HBRI)
  
• The HBRI evaluates peoples' ability to solve different business related problems, and these solutions then drive decision making.