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Subject:Re: Putting the Thumbscrew on Another Hand From:John Hughes <hughdoc -at- ENTERPRISE -dot- POWERUP -dot- COM -dot- AU> Date:Fri, 17 Jan 1997 11:41:29 +1000
On Wed, 15 Jan 1997, Daniel Wise wrote:
<snip>
> I am beginning to grow weary of the personality tests that have become the
> fad of the HR folks--at least here in the US of A.
<snip>
Recently I applied for a tech writing position advertised through a
HR company. Their claimed expertise included psychological
appraisal, quality management and service delivery.
As part of the interview process, I agreed to take a personality
test consisting of approximately 280 questions. Answers were to be
indicated by a tick in a Yes or No box. Simple enough. Written
instructions on how to complete the questions emphasised that a RED
pen be used.
As the HR company had not supplied a RED pen, I asked the HR
psychologist for a RED pen, as per their printed instructions. The
advice was "don't worry about it, the book happened to go to the
printers like that, just use a black pen".
Some of the questions were in the vein of "have you stopped beating
your wife?" while my personal favourite was "have you ever fainted
other than during a heart attack?" From memory I think I answered
that question with a tick in both boxes.
Not knowing anything about psychology but having a son who studied
psychology at University, I asked him if these questions
were...err...normal. He asked if there were any rats involved in the
tests and, not remembering any rodents being present, answered no.
He said " sorry dad, they only taught me about rats at university" :)
Conclusion. After an interview process spanning two months and four
interview trips to the HR and their Client company, someone else got
the job and good luck to them. However, I rather suspect he/she had
a rather long nose, wore a short fur coat, had huge whiskers, a
rather stylish tail and perhaps carried a strong odour of cheese.
Either way, if asked to take another personality test...I'd rather
eat a brick...or maybe develop a taste for cheese.
Cheers...my 0.2c worth
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