My question is what quality of goods and services can we expect if this is the way American companies select their workforce? Sure, they think they’re protecting their bottom line, but it’s a tragic irony when they fall behind the rest of the world in quality and service. More outsourcing in store.

These tests aren’t accurate, face to face interviews worked great for years, and our entire economy suffers. Yes they should be illegal. We should asks our representatives if they want to keep their jobs based on a head game. And if they pass do they advertise to the whole country how mediocre they are? Sounds like they’re a lot smarter than us in the U.K.

When this economy turns around, and companies are begging for workers, I think I’ll go back to all the companies that harassed me with these tests, get hired, and then tell them to go to Hell.

If it is a corruption of the MBTI, that’s disgraceful. “An introvert is less open and thus more likely to steal”? I could argue that extraverts are more likely to steal as they are more susceptible to external influences and are usually never as idealistic. As an INFP I’d never be able to justify such an action. Principles and so on.

I’m not too fond of parties because I hardly ever know anyone there, 80% of the chatter will be meaningless and insipid small-talk, and let us not forget it’s impossible to enjoy yourself without first drinking yourself into a semi-conscious stupour. Exaggerated or not, these things are anathema to me. The parties I enjoy could scarcely be called parties, I suspect.

Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy or even co-ordinate teams, where there is an actual objective to focus on, and everyone’s not blind drunk.

Now, about the whole honesty thing. I’d probably fail that test based on honesty alone. The sheer fact that you can fail by being too honest, or people not believing it’s possible, says it all, really. They say with questions about stealing they are filtering out your propensity to deception, but the truth is I honestly would not concern myself with such things, and if I did know, would report them unless I had a good reason not to. That’s another thing – a lot of these questions are HIGHLY CONTEXT DEPENDENT. I want to slap these pseudo-psychologists in the face.

Questions about murder? Sex? WHAT? No, I wouldn’t hate anyone’s mother if I murdered them in revenge, because I would never murder anyone in revenge for anything, and why would that have anything to do with their fucking mother? Those questions should be constitutionally outlawed, it is both abnormally invasive and downright illegal if you ask me. Makes me glad I live where I do!

…Almost.

BTW I don’t argue with coworkers

I have taken a bunch of such tests, such as MBTI, tests over various talents, IQ tests, career interest tests, etc. as part of my own career exploration which included Community College “Life-Career Development Class” and paid (by me) counseling. They were enlightening if not as helpful as I would have liked.

Also, of course, I had to take CEEB and SAT tests to get into college. Inconsistincies in CEEB and SAT results have raised questions in my mind about their validity. What was funny I did poorly on the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) which is required for admission to some grad schools AFTER I already HAD a graduate degree. I came away thinking the GRE was chiefly a test of short-term memory at which I am a bit weak.

I am beginning to wonder about the validity of all of these tests . Including, the pencil and paper corruptions of the Stanford-Binet IQ test. (The real Stanford-Binet, I read, requires an extensive interview). These things got started during World War I and seem to have spawned like smelt. The results have to be used with discretion. They may have some good points in defense of the Stanford-Binet in screening potential college students in “The Bell Curve,” especially against “cultural bias,” but overall I think employers and college admissions officers put far too much faith in these things.

Parenthetically I think college admissions officers and employers put too much faith in grade point averages. I went to a small Catholic high school and there were at least a couple students who flunked out who then went to the public high school and got straight As without breaking a sweat.

Regardless, I still think the store tests are corruptions of these by half-educated psychologists and are a disservice to everyone. And I still haven’t got a clue as to how to pass the things.

Odd is that the more menial the job, the more likely a test. I have applied for many jobs of high pay and high responsibility just by e-mailing my resume.

By the way, the funniest one I ever took had about every third question regarding drinking habits. By the end of the test I was beginning to wonder if the company only hired lushes! :-s

Best wishes

Best wishes.