Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - (Page 2) 2 PROSPECTS GRADUATE Issue 63 · 19 March 2008 · Fortnightly www.prospects.ac.uk BLOGGERS AT WORK ‘It’s happening again I’m the most indecisive man alive’ MATT REVISITS HIS RETHINK ‘I mean which employer is going to email you at 2am?’ HALIMA KEEPS ON SEARCHING MIND READING PERSONALITY TESTING IS GAINING GROUND ‘Transparency’ is a great buzz word. Many recruiters do their bit by indicating the competencies and qualifications they want. But one aspect of selection remains mysterious - personality testing. It is often said there are no right or wrong answers for these tests, unlike assessment of something like numerical reasoning. This is true in the sense that you can’t do homework to improve your answer to the often asked personality question: ‘do you enjoy going to parties?’ Yet careers can be helped or hindered by the results. The underlying idea is that particular jobs need certain sorts of people. Recruiters also often look for the type of person who best fits into a particular team or company. Personality testing promises to rationalise recruiters’ search for hard-to-pin-down personal traits. In doing so, it has become a multi-billion dollar industry. There are a bewildering range of products used increasingly widely by employers. THE DOUBTERS Not everyone is convinced, however. ‘You might as well throw dice,’ says Dr Steve Blinkhorn who runs a longestablished consultancy, Psychometric Research and Development. Steve accepts that personality tests can WHAT TO DO? Steve Blinkhorn’s and Geoff Bunn’s views may strike a chord with some job applicants. But tests have to be sat, like it or not. SHL recommends you practise their tests in advance purely to get a feel for them (at www.shldirect.com). But if a candidate has an idea of the personality that a recruiter wants, there could be a temptation to bend answers. Geoff Bunn advises against this, ‘because the THE SUPPORTERS However, Geoff’s and psychologist is always trying to outwit you’. Steve’s misgivings are not generally shared Tests tend to have trick questions to catch by occupational psychologists. In the UK the leading company for all sorts of psychometrics insincere or just inconsistent answers. Steve Blinkhorn has a different including personality testing is SHL. Howard Grosvenor, SHL’s managing consultant, says: recommendation for graduates taking tests. ‘Our measure of work style - the OPQ32 ‘Present yourself positively, optimistically and is recognised externally by the British neutrally - nothing too extreme. They may be Psychological Society as meeting the using the tests to try to eliminate weirdos.’ measure the ‘Big Five’ personality traits (agreeableness, extroversion, conscientiousness, anxiety and openness to experience). But he asserts that there is little proven correlation between these and employment success. ‘It’s lick your finger and stick it in the air time unlike what you get with aptitude and ability tests, which are very predictive.’ Despite popular stereotypes, even introverted sales people can succeed, says Steve by way of example. Another critic of personality testing in recruitment is psychologist Dr Geoff Bunn, an academic at Manchester Metropolitan University. He argues that personality testing is more of an art than an exact science. He concedes the use of the tests to provide extra information for recruiters, but warns: ‘If a company is taking psychological testing very seriously they are mistaking its nature.’ highest standards of scientific rigour in its development and validity.’ Both on paper and online, personality tests generally pose a multitude of statements about a person’s outlook, behaviour and preferences. The person taking the test may be asked to answer yes or no, choose from two alternatives or select one from a list of five or six, depending on the test. Testers want an instant reaction, not lengthy thought. The personal traits that the questions are trying to uncover often go beyond the Big Five. Even at the top end of the market, says Steve Blinkhorn, ‘the tests have a multiplicity of scales’. Down below, he says, ‘there is in my view a lot of cheap and quite nasty personality testing around. All sorts of highly technical claims are being flung around which employers aren’t in any position to evaluate.’ Best practice recommended by SHL involves personality tests being used ‘as part of a wider selection with other tools, and most value is gained when the candidate has an in depth feedback discussion as part of the process.’ However, top-of-the-range tests like OPQ have a big price tag. Employers may be tempted to cut corners with less prestigious products. JOB-HUNTING INFORMATION www.prospects.ac.uk/links/tests\ www.prospects.ac.uk/links/appsinterviews GRADUATE EMPLOYERS www.prospects.ac.uk/links/coprofiles QUESTIONS ANSWERED www.prospects.ac.uk/links/careerfaqs TEST YOURSELF ALL ABOUT APPLICATIONS PROSPECTS INTERACTIVE SERVICES GRADUATE FORUM ADVICE AND COACHING CAREERS CHAT LIVE http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Graduate_jobs/p!edcaefX http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Feature_Articles/Feature_articles_2008/Matt_s_job_log__6/p!ecadegj http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Feature_Articles/Feature_articles_2008/Halima__guest_blogger/p!efebamc http://www.shldirect.com http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Interactive_advice/p!eacXi http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/tests http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/appsinterviews http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/coprofiles http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/careerfaqs
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 Royal Bank of Scotland Hertfordshire County Council Barkers Advertising Agency Compass Management Consulting Limited Digby Morgan Exchem Virgin Atlantic Limited University of Liverpool Perriam & Everett Recruitment 3 mobile IAMCO Strategy Consultants Finnings Scotia Gas Networks Plc Propeller Training TRI-London Mason Blake Halcrow Group Ltd National Engineering and Construction Recruitment Exhibition Warwickshire County Council Smith Wright Bell University of West of England Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - (Page 1) Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - (Page 2) Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - Royal Bank of Scotland (Page 3) Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - Royal Bank of Scotland (Page 4) Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - Hertfordshire County Council (Page 5) Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - Compass Management Consulting Limited (Page 6) Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - Digby Morgan (Page 7) Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - University of Liverpool (Page 8) Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - 3 mobile (Page 9) Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - Scotia Gas Networks Plc (Page 10) Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - Propeller Training (Page 11) Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - Halcrow Group Ltd (Page 12) Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - National Engineering and Construction Recruitment Exhibition (Page 13) Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - Smith Wright Bell (Page 14) Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - Smith Wright Bell (Page 15) Graduate Prospects - March 19, 2008 - University of West of England (Page 16)
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