Occupational interest inventories

They measure interests as they relate to various jobs or careers. Examples include, strong interest inventory and self-directed search (Brown, 2007) they focused on the likelihood of jobs satisfaction than job success. The scores indicate how similar your interests are to the typical interest of people in various occupations, for example a high score on the accountant scale of a test means that your interests are similar to those of an average accountant. This correspondence in interests does not ensure that you would enjoy a career in accounting but it is a moderately good predictor of job satisfaction. (Hansen, 2005).

Intelligence test

An intelligence test is designed to understand ability. It does this by assessing critical thinking, learning abilities and so on. Thomas' General Intelligence Assessment (GIA) measures an individual's aptitude in 5 key areas: Reasoning, Perceptual Speed, Number Speed & Accuracy, Word Meaning and Spatial Visualization.

Hiring tests

It has become standard practice to test candidates for jobs. There are various types of tests and advice for how to prepare for job interviews. Different employers do things differently.

Tests can be at any time in the hiring process. The most common types of tests are: Personality, Skills, and Case Interview. Employers use tests to get an idea of what your personality is and your level in a given skills. Normally, an employer will discuss your test results with you during the interview.

A personality test is normally a questionnaire made up of between 100 and 300 multiple-choice questions. Personality tests are used to give the employer an idea of what your personality is like and the way you work. Amongst the things a personality test can reveal about an individual are; how structured you are, whether you tend to be more detail-oriented or more overview-oriented, your leadership traits, whether you take initiative socially, how empathetic you are. A personality test typically works by measuring 20 to 30 traits that influence your work performance.

Personality tests are normally untimed. Answers are compared with a control group. Most tests can be used as employee-development tools, as well as to assess candidates during the hiring process. The results of a personality test are never decisive for an employer. They are intended to serve as a starting point for discussion. During a review of your test answers, you will be asked to provide examples from your professional life that support your answers.

Example

If a position requires you to be detail-oriented, the employer will seek to identify how detail-oriented you are. If your test solidly indicates you are detail-oriented, it is unlikely the employer will spend much time on your results. If your test suggests that you aren’t very detail-oriented, expect the employer to discuss your results with you. In reality, it may be that you are sufficiently detail-oriented overall, but in some situations you aren’t.

Discussing your answers will give you the chance to add a layer of detail. Most personality-test developers require that the person administering their test be certified. This is to make sure that your answers are interpreted correctly.

Importance of Personality Tests in Job Interviews

To See if You Are a Good Fit for the Company Culture

Every company has a particular workplace culture, and it’s important to some employers to determine if your personality will be a good fit with the overall culture of the company.

For instance, if you are a very serious-minded person, you may not do well in a company that has a more laid-back and easy-going atmosphere. By the same token, if you value a looser environment, you may not do so well in a more stringent corporate setting. The employers are most likely trying to get a general sense of work values and/or preferences.

To See if You Are a Good Fit for the Role/Team

Sometimes a company uses a personality test to determine if a candidate has the right attitude for a particular type of work. We see this most often with sales roles. Not everyone is cut out to be in sales and deal with rejection and the pressure of meeting a quota. An assessment can help the manager see if you have the potential to thrive in a sales role, especially if you don’t have sales experience.

To Determine Your Communication Style

Good communication is essential in any work environment. Your communication style may be particularly important to the company if you are interviewing for a management and/or customer-facing position.

This type of assessment is designed to help them understand how you prefer to communicate, handle conflict, and collaborate with teammates.

Or

A survey that relies on an individual's own report of their symptoms, behaviors, beliefs, or attitudes. Self-report data is gathered typically from paper-and-pencil or electronic format, or sometimes through an interview.

Self-reports are commonly used in psychological studies because they can yield much valuable and diagnostic information to a researcher or a clinician. One of the most commonly used self-report tools is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) for personality testing.

Self-reports get information direct from the participants about their behavior or thoughts; observations are the researchers' interpretations of what the participants are doing or thinking

There are Two Types of Self-reports:

1). Interviews

2). Questionnaires (surveys)

The Edexcel Specification uses the term "self-report" as well as interviews and questionnaires - it's helpful to group them together and contrast them with observations.

Self-reports are non-experimental in design - they describe but they don't point towards causes. However, they are often used as part of an experimental design as a way of gathering information about the independent variable (IV) or of measuring the dependent variable (DV).