Want a job? Pass that personality test

Employers see personality as an important measure of an applicant's job fit, a complement to application paperwork and personal interviews.

By Christina Rexrode, Times Staff Writer
Published September 9, 2007

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When people come to work for Value Pawn & Jewelry, hiring managers already know a good deal about their personal preferences:

Whether they like to drive fast, or make people laugh or plan parties. Whether they prefer to spend their evenings alone or with friends, whether they study with the radio on.

For eight years, the 500-employee, Maitland-based company has administered the Thurstone Temperament Schedule to all potential hires. And the 15-minute questionnaire is a lot more useful than the intelligence test the company used to give, said Lawrence Kahlden, the chief operations officer in Tampa.

"In the end," Kahlden said, "there was no correlation between how quick they can figure out how fast Mary crossed the river and getting the job done here."

By all accounts, personality testing as part of the hiring process is getting trendy in HR circles. The tests are an objective balance to the unscientific, subjective job interview. Estimates vary widely on how many companies use personality tests - some studies say it's as high as 70 percent - but everyone agrees that the $400-million industry is in growth mode.

At Bradenton's CraftSystems, which has developed personality tests for three decades, business is brisk. Large companies have used the tests for years, said Dr. Doug Waldo, the CEO. But in the past three to five years, numerous small and mid-sized companies also have joined his client list. Waldo credits that increase to the Internet, which has made taking and grading the tests a lot simpler and faster.

Leading the trend, Waldo said, are the insurance and financial services industries, staffing companies, call centers and the hospitality industry.

Tests average about $50 per candidate, Waldo said, though they can be as cheap as $15 for large companies that "buy in bulk."

But there are legal pitfalls to asking a job candidate to take a personality test, and the jury's still out on whether they're accurate predictors of future performance.

Suzie Boland, president of RFB Communications in Tampa, recalled taking a personality test when she was a partner at another local public relations firm. One of the firm's clients administered personality tests, and Boland took a test so she could better understand how they worked.

The results told her company, in essence, that it never should have hired her.

"This was at a time," Boland said, "when I was responsible for two-thirds of the new billing."

Still, personality testing has plenty of advocates. Here's one reason: People lie on their resumes, and they lie in interviews, but - presumably - they won't lie on a personality test.

The tests can quantify attributes that resumes and interviews sometimes can't: Who's smart, but has no sense of competition? You probably don't want to hire that person for a sales job. Who's eager to help and enjoys routine tasks? Good candidate for an executive assistant.

The Kforce staffing firm uses tests from CraftSystems to hire and to coach employees. Jason Maroney, a vice president at the Tampa headquarters, estimates that 75 percent of Kforce customers also use personality tests.

"There's nothing more difficult than making that hiring decision," Maroney said. "If I can utilize tests like this to give me some more insight into the person, then hopefully I'm lessening the risk" of a bad hire.

He doesn't use them to draw lines in the sand; e.g., a sales candidate has to score so high on self-performance standards, or so low on the need for direction. But the tests do influence his decisions.

"Sometimes I'll be on the fence with somebody," Maroney said, "and then they take the test, and their results are through the roof."

Kahlden at Value Pawn & Jewelry wants candidates who score low on the Reflective scale. It's not that there's anything wrong with people who meticulously weigh life's choices. It's just that Kahlden needs customer reps who can make decisions in a snap.

Waldo, the CEO at the testing company in Bradenton, said his intention is to complement - not replace - the human element of a job interview. A test can measure a person's social confidence, for instance, but it can't paint a complete picture.

Said Waldo: "You still want to see, do they maintain eye contact? Do they show up on time?"

Christina Rexrode can be reached at crexrode@sptimes.com or 727 893-8318.

What issues may be posed

Who's flexible, who's introverted, who's confident and who's a follower? More companies are using personality tests to find out. Here are some sample answers from CraftSystems in Bradenton:

- When I am kept from reaching an important goal, I patiently and calmly seek alternative solutions.

- I make major decisions only after seeking a lot of input and advice from others.

- I really enjoy job duties that allow me to help/serve others.

- When completing a task, I patiently follow step-by-step processes.

- I really enjoy being the center of attention.

[Last modified September 7, 2007, 17:37:27]