Personality Quizzes on Online Applications

Post Reply New Topic

I can't be the only one who's against this cheap practice to sort through potential interviewees.

This particular trendy thing, especially for lower end jobs that may otherwise be easier for Aspies to get into, I think is really cutting off potential jobs to a lot of people who have social difficulties.

A lot of these tests ask role playing questions which ask you how you'd act in a certain situation, and I find these questions really difficult. Questions like, "If you see your coworkers gossiping about another coworker" for example. They really bother me because a lot of times I find it difficult to picture myself in that situation, and also because oftentimes I would do the "wrong" thing, even though I think it's right. A lot of these questions go against how I act in real life because honestly either I'm not aware of how something is "wrong" or I think that the "right thing to do" is wrong.

As such, I found it extremely difficult to find a job, while those in my agegroup seemed to ease from job to job, almost as if they were some sort of abundance. It's incredibly unfair.

I've filled out easily 20 of these questionnaires, and none of them lead to anything. I managed to pick up a job because the hiring manager actually met me in person and realized my personality, and I think these tests give a really bad impression to Aspies and those with other social difficulties. Like, when people meet me in person, they realize that I'm actually a pretty cool person with quirks, but I guess those online tests score me with some bad number or something because I don't even get as much as called in for a potential interview for those things ever. Especially considering their prevalence, I think people should stop this practice.

Have you every filled out a questionnaire that included "social desirability" questions? Sometimes they are hidden so you don't even know that's what you are filling out. I find these ones particularly frustrating because they are there to make sure you aren't just giving deliberately "desirable" answers whether it is true or not, but IMO there are a lot of questions that aspies would answer honestly, and appear to be lying.

Examples:
If I could get into a movie without paying and be sure I was not seen I would probably do it.
I like to gossip at times.
I can remember “playing sick” to get out of something.
I always try to practice what I preach.
I would never think of letting someone else be punished for my wrong-doings.
I have never deliberately said something that hurt someone’s feelings.

You have to answer true or false, and they expect that you would answer Yes to the first three, and No to the last three, if you were being honest. I would think that a lot of aspies could honestly answer many of these the other way around. But if you do that too many times, your results come back that you have probably lied for the rest of the test just to make yourself look good, so you are not a trustworthy employee. *sigh*

This trend irritates me to no end. It's so invasive.

Today I had to take something like this. It wasn't so bad, but some parts were pretty funny.

I was just reading a blog about this today (though the article is from 2010): Ethics of Workplace...

That's more about taking tests for team-building.

The irritating thing about this test is I don't get to see the results--and I don't know who does. HR I guess? How am I supposed to improve if I don't even get the results? It feels like the employer is completely discounting my willpower or my ability to improve upon my "disposition" or whatever it's supposed to be testing for.