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Behavioral Interviews for New Hires?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the corporations-work-in-mysterious-ways dept.

banetbi asks: "I am a PHP developer and FreeBSD administrator, and have been looking for a new job for a couple of months. Finally, I got a call back from a company, but they want me to take an on-line questionnaire before I come in for an interview. After doing some research I found the company that makes the test and checked out their website. It looks like this is some sort of personality test (they call it an artificially intelligent behavioral analysis). What does my personality have to do with my ability to perform in a job? Have any of you had to take a personality test to get a job? Should I do it, or just keep looking?"

1 of 396 comments (clear)

  1. fact of interviewing life these days. by yagu · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Behavioral and Personality Type tests are becoming almost standard for larger companies (read, ones that can afford them). Whether or not they add value is debatable, and whether you should "move on" obviously will be a personal choice. If it's a job you really want, you probably should consider taking it.

    I don't consider these tests harmless, especially since many companies allow too much weight to the results. I wonder how many industry leaders today would get "passing" results.

    All that said, if you're interested in what they're looking for and some info on why, and what you might do to improve your results visit this site.

    For a perspective from the "hiring" side, you might want to look at this article.

    Also, here's an article that describes what behavioral interviews/tests are. It claims (I won't agree or disagree):

    ..., behavior-based interviews are said to be 55 percent predictive of future on-the-job behavior, while traditional interviews are only 10 percent predictive. They can help hiring managers get more objective information about a candidate's job-related skills, abilities, interest and motivation, and make more accurate hiring decision. Currently, 30 percent of all organizations are using behavioral interviews to some degree.

    It's mostly voodoo garbage (no offense to voodoo practicers) but is a fact of life in the interviewing world.