Personality Testing of New Hires
Personality Testing During the Hiring Process
Personality testing is not a new topic. What is new is the ongoing shift in mindset that has diluted the value of personality testing during the hiring process and only finds a value in using personality testing after the candidate has joined the organization. This will be challenged by first providing a brief history on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and reviewing the years of dedicated research that went into the development of the test. Second, it will reveal the correlations of the test results to job requirements through specific examples. Third, it will discuss why applicant honesty and company policy makes personality testing necessary. Fourth, it will identify and support how many organizations successfully use the MBTI for applications other than pre-employment. Finally, organizations utilizing personality testing, specifically the MBTI, as a part the hiring process will identify the strongest and most compatible candidate for the required organizational needs.
Many organizations are following the notion that personality tests have no relevance to job performance and should not be used as a tool to support the hiring process; however, it can be used appropriately for leadership identification, self-awareness and team building (Robbins & Judge, 2008). The testing of personalities was at its peak in the early nineteen fifties with MBTI leading the way (Overholt, 2004). Banks initially used the MBTI as a pre-screening tool in nineteen forty six. Not one or two banks, but the entire industry was committed to utilizing the MBTI. This concept of capturing personality was developed by Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother Katherine Cook Briggs. They performed rigorous studies of some earlier work by a Swiss psychiatrist by the name of Carl Jung. The first assessment was a couple of simple questionnaires that would gauge people by their personality type. There are sixteen possible types that are configured
Personality testing is not a new topic. What is new is the ongoing shift in mindset that has diluted the value of personality testing during the hiring process and only finds a value in using personality testing after the candidate has joined the organization. This will be challenged by first providing a brief history on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and reviewing the years of dedicated research that went into the development of the test. Second, it will reveal the correlations of the test results to job requirements through specific examples. Third, it will discuss why applicant honesty and company policy makes personality testing necessary. Fourth, it will identify and support how many organizations successfully use the MBTI for applications other than pre-employment. Finally, organizations utilizing personality testing, specifically the MBTI, as a part the hiring process will identify the strongest and most compatible candidate for the required organizational needs.
Many organizations are following the notion that personality tests have no relevance to job performance and should not be used as a tool to support the hiring process; however, it can be used appropriately for leadership identification, self-awareness and team building (Robbins & Judge, 2008). The testing of personalities was at its peak in the early nineteen fifties with MBTI leading the way (Overholt, 2004). Banks initially used the MBTI as a pre-screening tool in nineteen forty six. Not one or two banks, but the entire industry was committed to utilizing the MBTI. This concept of capturing personality was developed by Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother Katherine Cook Briggs. They performed rigorous studies of some earlier work by a Swiss psychiatrist by the name of Carl Jung. The first assessment was a couple of simple questionnaires that would gauge people by their personality type. There are sixteen possible types that are configured
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