Surveys have shown that about 20 percent of all companies use personality tests for job applicants, and the number of companies doing this is increasing at roughly 10 to 15 percent each year.
Used in the right way, these tests can be a big help in finding the right person. The problem is that many companies are misusing these tests.
The first thing to keep in mind with these tests is maintaining compliance with the law when you use them. As with any other tests, what they evaluate must be relevant to the duties of the job, or you risk running afoul of anti-discrimination laws. For example, personality tests should not be used to determine if a person is at risk for depression, mental illness or any kind of personality disorder, unless the person is applying for a job in law enforcement or something similar.
Also, you need to know why you are giving the test, what kinds of things you want the test to measure. And in order to determine this, you need to have well-thought-out measures of job performance, so you know what qualities are needed to be successful in the job, and then you can use the test to evaluate these particular qualities. Otherwise, the tests will be of little use.
Then, once you know what kinds of characteristics are needed for success, you must find a test that actually measures those characteristics. For example, many companies use the Myers-Briggs test, but the creator of the test has warned that this test should not be used to determine whom to hire. It was not meant for this purpose.
You also need to be aware that applicants may try to manipulate the results of the test. In this case, it is useful to compare the results of the test with what you have learned about the candidate from interviews and references to see how well they match.
You also need to be constantly evaluating the tests to see how well they actually predict job performance. In order to do this well, you should have ways of quantitatively measuring job performance, so you can compare the results with the test indicators.
If your company is looking for workers in the New York City area, Winston Resources can handle all your contingent staffing needs in a wide variety of jobs. Give us a call today.
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