First Step...Personality Eval

Hello Savages,


In the process of interviewing for a new job (golf claps). First step of the interview process is a personality assessment. I know these are normal. I have taken them before. In fact i failed one(?) to get a job at Dick's in college.


The question is more so for people who have hired in here, how closely do you look at these? Have you ever tossed a candidate because of one?


Thanks all

Personality Exam

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๐Ÿค Interviewing/Offer
11
funcoupons
WR Officer
7
๐Ÿ‘‘
I think it's cool to have a general idea of someone's personality before hiring them, but knowing that plenty of people misinterpret the questions on those tests or lie on purpose I don't place a ton of importance on them. I'd rather just have some conversations with that person to learn about them...I mean, I'm in sales myself and would like to think I can get a good read on someone pretty quickly. Would be kind of sad if I couldn't. ;)

When I was a recruiter we did rely on personality tests to some extent because of the volume of candidates and the types of positions we handled. If we were looking for an accounting assistant and the person's test came back saying they prefer working on big picture, creative projects and are not detail oriented at all that would likely put them into the "no" pile.ย 

Sales is a different beast though. Many personality types can succeed in sales - the more important things to focus on when hiring are someone's previous experience and track record, level of dedication, hustle, if that person is coachable, resiliency, and culture fit for the vertical/organization they'd be selling into and for.ย 
TheOverTaker
Politicker
2
Senior Account Executive
appreciate the insight. I always thought think they are used to see how insane I am...but its sales so the more insane the better?
funcoupons
WR Officer
3
๐Ÿ‘‘
Everyone who works in sales is at least a bit insane - usually the longer your tenure the more insane you are. And then depending on the person, you either get really good at hiding it or stop giving all fucks and let the crazy come out.ย 

When I've used them in hiring it was to screen out people who would absolutely hate the job or totally clash with the rest of the team. If the entire dept is a bunch of quiet and analytical introverts, placing a boisterous big idea extrovert on the team is likely to cause a rift. Doesn't mean I'd auto reject the extrovert but if it came down to an introvert and extrovert with very similar attributes I'd hire the introvert as that's the person who is more likely to fit in with the existing team. Also seen them used where they'll personality test some of the top performers and then try and find a candidate who closely matches their profile, hoping they'll also be successful. That sort of thing.
TheOverTaker
Politicker
2
Senior Account Executive
Interesting. Again thank you
jefe
Arsonist
1
๐Ÿ
I've sold them before, although I never QUITE understood how the validation works. They're supposed to be basically 'unbeatable' though I don't quite get how.

I've done several different ones in my time (academic and career), and they're generally very accurate, but there have been some glaring discrepancies I brought up to that employer that they never really addressed properly. Felt like I was being objection handled and just let it go.

I wonder if they take into account a lot of the neurodivergence we now know is extremely prevalent.
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
7
โ˜•๏ธ
Important for sure at small, early-stage comanies. A team of 5-10 people better work well together. I worked for one company where all 5 early-stage employees were all Tauruses...that wanted to murder each other in weekly team meetings.
jefe
Arsonist
0
๐Ÿ
Can be really helpful for cultural fit.ย 
CuriousFox
WR Officer
7
๐ŸฆŠ
BTW I am a Captain according to my results. ๐Ÿ”ฅ
TheOverTaker
Politicker
1
Senior Account Executive
o captain my captain
Diablo
Politicker
1
Sr. AE
Aye aye cap ๐Ÿงข
TheOverTaker
Politicker
0
Senior Account Executive
Done. I am a persuader
jefe
Arsonist
0
๐Ÿ
Heh, me too.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
3
๐ŸฆŠ
Which assessment are you taking?
TheOverTaker
Politicker
2
Senior Account Executive
the PI Behavioral Assessmentย 
CuriousFox
WR Officer
4
๐ŸฆŠ
Ah yes. The good ole PI. Look it up online. You can practice.
TheOverTaker
Politicker
2
Senior Account Executive
I am just trying to decide which personality of mine I should use...or just a healthy mix of all of them
funcoupons
WR Officer
2
๐Ÿ‘‘
Spoken like a true ENFP.ย 
AlphaCharlie
Arsonist
2
Account executive
I have not hired myself, but I do believe they take this into consideration, if they are applying them, they do spend money on them, so if they would ignore them, why ask candidates to take them?ย 
Diablo
Politicker
1
Sr. AE
I don't hire but I feel it's important to know the trait to see if the person in the right fit not just from sales closing point of view but things beyond work.
NoSuperhero
Politicker
1
BDR LEAD
It's important to know, however, I don't see it as the ultimate factor. Someone could be a real introvert and still be quite successful as a salesperson. Just my two cents, I've never hired anyone ever, but I'm just speaking for myself here, I'm an introvert and I actually have very good communication skills, and for whatever reason I'm likable... Idk why, but that's what people say.
LegacySales
Politicker
1
Account Executive
I worked at one of these companies that sold the personality assessment tests to hiring employers.ย 
sold mainly to:ย 
- retailย 
-restaraunts
- Hospitalityย 


The main goal is they take the personality assessment of their highest performer and then they make applicants take the same test.ย 

Main goal is to filter out high probability of turn over job candidates.ย 
LordBusiness
Politicker
0
Chief Revenue Officer
Iโ€™ve never hired or not hired someone because of a personality assessment. Ive found the assessments most valuable in how to best coach/lead certain individuals. Just another tool in the toolbox really.
brrr
Good Citizen
0
Account Executive
Iโ€™ve never taken a personality test that I thought provided good questions. I always feel like a lot of the questions are way too extreme and end up answering most things somewhere around the middle.
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