Hiring People_ Recruit and Keep the Brightest Stars - Kathy Shwiff [26]
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THE BOTTOM LINE
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ASSESSING WITHOUT BREAKING THE LAW
Since the use of personality tests to assess job candidates has become controversial, Joseph Schmitt, a labor attorney at Halleland Lewis Nilan & Johnson in Minneapolis, warns that “Employers need to do their homework before using tests” to determine an applicant’s fit for a job. He recommends finding out the answers to the following questions before using a particular test:
Is it in compliance with all current U.S. civil-rights and equal-opportunity legislation?
Has the maker of the test ever been sued?
Has it proven to be an accurate predictor of an employee’s future performance in various objective studies?
You might also want to contact your company’s legal department to check a particular test’s compliance with labor laws. After administering the test, consider hiring an experienced professional, such as an industrial-organizational psychologist, to interpret the results.
SOURCE: “More Employers Are Using Personality Tests as Hiring Tools” by Victoria Knight, CareerJournal.com (March 21, 2006).
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There are a number of types of tests available that each serve a slightly different function, but they all offer employers a more comprehensive view of a candidate’s abilities. In simplistic terms, I.Q. tests measure what you can do, personality tests gauge what you like to do, and psychometric tests determine what you will or won’t do.
The most popular tests feature questionnaires that classify candidates into general personality types. The questions in the widely used Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test measure an individual’s traits and tendencies on four scales: introversion and extroversion, sense and intuition, thinking and feeling, judging and perceiving. The test categorizes people according to their combination of traits. For example, those who rate as highly “extroverted, sensing, thinking, and judging” are identified as natural leaders who excel at directing action and organizing projects.
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory test is widely used to spot substance abuse and other symptoms of social maladjustment. About 60 percent of U.S. police departments use the test, as do banks and retailers.
These tests can cost as little as $300 per employee, including consultancy fees. Not a bad bargain for something that, if properly used, can cut costs and improve the quality of new hires.
As with interview questions, some tests might be considered unlawful if not specifically designed as a hiring tool. Before administering any tests, check your state laws.
And if it happens that you’ve nailed down the perfect candidate for your job opening, and he or she flubs the required assessment test, consider the words of Dr. Wendell Williams of scientificselection.com, the guru of corporate psychological testing: “The only test that is truly credible, is one that tests critical aspects of a job, such as driving a car. Such tests are reliable 64% of the time.” So bear in mind that assessment tests should be regarded as an indicator for screening purposes, not a foolproof guarantee of talent or ability.
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CASE FILE
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A DAY IN THE LIFE
It had become common practice for DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler Group to ask hourly wage manufacturing candidates to perform tasks demonstrating their abilities, but the division recently began requiring the tests of plant-manager applicants, as well. These candidates experience a typically stressful “day-in-the-life,” including receiving memos and phone calls, and frequent interruptions from “employees” with job problems. Some managers have mixed feelings about the tests, calling them overkill, while others see them as a way to custom-fit the worker to the job.
SOURCE: “Employers Gauge Candidates’ Skills at ‘Real-World’ Tasks” by Erin White,