Career filter: Interview then... personality test!?

My first job out of college, for an editorial assistant job, I took a personality test. The test concluded I was not very creative and might be suited to work with tools. In fact, I am awkward with tools and have since written and published a book. Personality testing is a scientifically not-very-well proven method that seems designed to screen out those who submit extremely inappropriate answers. It's a big business and it helps add to the mystique of Human Relations.

I work for a human resources consulting firm that gives out these tests. A couple things to consider: 1) Don't bother lying. There's no way to fail a personality profile, they really are just looking to understand you. A good test has questions in there that are only used to gauge whether or not you're trying to game the instrument. Too many false answers will render the results invalid, and that's far more suspicious than any supposed "bad" answers. 2) They might be giving the test to learn how to manage you if you're hired. Knowing what you enjoy, what motivates you, how you work, and other personal details can help them tailor your work experience in a way that reduces the likelihood of turnover. It's expensive to hire and train someone, so it's in the organization's best interests to keep you around for a while. Relax and take the test. It has minimal impact on the hiring process.

Don't listen to the people who are saying you should be completely honest. Better to be consistently dishonest than to be honest. I failed to get a job once because I was assured by the cool-seeming interviewer that "this is just a formality" and "you should just be completely honest because nobody really cares about these things." So I answered truthfully: no, I don't think it's wrong to steal to feed your family, etc. That friendly interviewer guy turned pretty chilly when I called back to see how things went; he said there were some "problems" with my test, thank you for applying, goodbye. Of course this was a pretty low-level job where they probably have problems with employees stealing out of the till. Maybe things would be different in a higher-status job. But maybe they wouldn't.

At least one very large consumer products company gives these to every applicant, including "career" type positions in engineering and management. (I'll give you a hint, the first name starts with P and the second one with G). I've been told about this company in specific that they take the tests quite seriously, and use them to determine if you are an appropriate fit to the type of people they want on their Team. It's of the Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree type, that naju and Debaser626 mentioned. (Frankly, that's a team I wouldn't want to be a part of...) So, that said, it's not worth freaking out about, and it's best realizing that if they take it that seriously, well, you probably wouldn't enjoy working with them anyway.

The employability personality surveys have, in fact, become very commonplace. As a former hiring manager, I administered hundreds. My advice is to answer the questions as honestly as possible. Don't look for any trends, or ways to game the survey. They really aren't anything to be alarmed about. You will do just fine.

Is this the best job offer you have available? Personality tests are a huge red flag for me - any company that wants its employees to have a standard personality is a place in which I would not want to work.

In California there's a decent chance that pre- and post-offer personality testing is not legal. See Cal. Gov't Code section 12940(d), (e), (f) (requiring that psychological inquiries or testing be job related and consistent with business necessity). If I could wipe them off the planet I would.

I am told there is at least one large engineering company which administers these tests to their engineers. They are looking for 'bold decisive types', and have a whole theory to go with it. They will only hire these 'bold decisive types'.

File this under workplace BS like saying "nice weather" and "how was your weekend." It's ordinary, it means nothing. Just pray to whatever god you have that this new job doesn't require, at some point, sending a day in a conf room with your co-workers taking tests and going over the results as a group... or at least that, if it comes to that, you get breakfast and a decent lunch. There are employers who make their employees http://www.ventureup.com/teambuilding/ropes_course.html.