by Bri H

Created on: November 11, 2009

Personality tests have been around for a long time. Over the last few decades they have become more defined and analyzed. An estimated 30% of companies use personality tests. A staggering $450 million dollars are spent on them each year, with the amount increasing by about 10% every year.

There are about as many tests as people on this planet it seems but there are a few that are used more often then others. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test

[1] and TIMS profile analysis (Type of Informational Metabolism)[2] are two of the names that came up quite often.

These tests are used by companies when they are trying to get a well rounded picture of an applicant. These tests go beyond skills and experience into what a lot of companies value a lot more, personality. A company can train skills and give years of experience but they can't trade a personality for one that fits with their company culture.

Most companies have had incredible results using personality tests even before interviewing. As some tests take over an hour to complete other skills become apparent like patience and perseverance.

Employers can choose from many tests to find some that suit their company (and the position) as well as for ease of interpretation. In the age of efficiency and effectiveness Interviewers are looking to weed out people who wouldn't be a match for the company. Many positions have hundreds or thousands of applicants and sometimes skills and experience alone can't narrow that field down. The use of testing can also help to eliminate prejudice or biast.

Some of these tests may seem trivial. I've had experience with a few. Some felt like an 'online IQ test' whiles another was how quickly and accurately I could match groups of information. I can certainly see the benefits of companies knowing some of the information offered in the results but should that really have a huge stake in who is hired? A lot of candidates make up for what they lack in experience with willingness to learn and being a great addition to the company culture.

There is many important skills and 'quirks' that wouldn't be able to be evaluated through a test. How do you deal with stress? Pressure? Are you consistently late?

The best indicator of future behavior is past behavior. It's hard to justify the expense of testing each new applicant but its also a hard end result to hire the 'wrong' person. In the end its up to the discretion of the company and the interviewer to decide which tactics work best for them and their company. Though, I don't see the benefit of such testing when there is more than a handful of sites(found easily) that help you 'cheat' a personality test.

[1] Information on Myers-Briggs Type Indicator http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indic ator

[2] Information on TIMS http://www.thomasinternational.net/5/default.aspx

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