Personality tests are used by some companies for employment management, and some people are rejected because of "unqualified personality tests"
Difficulty finding a job with "character barrier"?
Our reporter Yu Lingge
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Recently, topics related to the MBTI personality test have been on the hot search.
Some companies use similar tests to quickly screen job candidates when recruiting. Many job seekers said they were rejected because they failed the personality test.
Experts believe that many questions in this type of test involve the personal privacy of workers that are not related to labor contracts. In addition, conducting personality tests and not recruiting specific workers based on this is to exclude workers with abstract standards that are not related to work. , there is a tendency of employment discrimination.
"I passed the written test and interview, but failed the personality test" "The results of the evaluation show that I have a high anxiety index and I am not suitable for this job"... In July, it was the recruitment season. In some job search forums, many people shared My own experience of failing a job search because I failed a personality test.
In April of this year, topics related to the MBTI personality test became popular.
This personality test combines 16 types of personalities from 4 dimensions, and is used by some companies to profile job seekers when recruiting.
In addition to the MBTI personality test, some companies also use various personality tests such as the Big Five personality, Hollander career interest, and personality color test to evaluate employees.
Is it reasonable for a job applicant to be rejected because of a personality test?
When personality tests are applied to enterprise employment management, where are the legal boundaries?
Job seeker: Introverted personality is not suitable for technical positions?
Fan Ming did not expect that he hit a wall when applying for a job because of a personality test.
In June last year, Fan Ming interviewed for a technical operation and maintenance position in a Beijing company when he was looking for a job.
After passing the interview, HR sent him an online personality test with more than 100 questions. The questions are very similar to the MBTI test.
What he didn't expect was that he eventually failed the job application because he "failed the personality test".
"If it is said that sales positions require extroverted and sociable people, what kind of people do technical positions need?" Fan Ming said, the evaluation showed that he was introverted and his scores in interpersonal relationships were not up to the standard.
"I thought it was enough to have good technology, but I didn't expect to be brushed when I did the question, and I didn't think about cheating in the past."
The reporter learned that nowadays, it is not uncommon for companies to add personality tests in the recruitment process, and most of them are online tests.
Some tests are conducted after submitting the resume and before the interview, while others will arrange the personality test before and after the final round of interviews.
At the same time, some marketing accounts or scalpers take the opportunity to charge consulting fees, claiming that they can pay to consult the “personality test” question bank commonly used by well-known companies.
Others shared their experience on how to "build a workplace personality" to pass the test, "For example, when doing questions, you should emphasize your optimism, substitute this virtual character, and have the same caliber before and after."
"Internationally-renowned personality testing tools such as MBTI may be misused in the current recruitment process." Yi Lingfeng, executive director of the Cross-Strait Human Resources Center of East China Normal University and a professor at the School of Business Administration, believes that MBTI should not be solidified by HR to become an awareness The only tool of the candidate's character.
The personality test itself has limitations, such as the possibility of fraudulent candidates; the personality test itself is unstable, and some candidates have changed their personality types when they are tested again, which has also been confirmed by research.
Businesses: Quickly screen job candidates with personality tests
Why are some companies keen to conduct personality tests on employees?
An employee of the R&D department of a technology company told reporters that due to the heavy workload and high pressure of their company, a personality test was set up when recruiting, and the focus was to check whether the candidate's emotions were stable and how well they could withstand pressure.
If the candidate has a positive personality and can withstand pressure, it means that he is likely to be competent for the position; otherwise, it means that he may not be able to handle pressure well.
Some HR said that the personality test results are only used as a reference when recruiting, but they can also be used for rapid screening.
"Personality test is like a common language, which allows companies to quickly have a general understanding of candidates and combine them with interviews." He Ou, who is engaged in human resource management in a large company, told reporters.
Some experts believe that due to the unstable results of the MBTI test, it is not suitable as a tool for selecting talents, like most common personality tests on the market.
"Professional personality tests need to be supported by reasonable psychological theories, sufficient evidence, and to solve measurement problems before they can be considered as selection tools." Wang Chongwei, a lecturer at the Department of Management, Lingnan University Business School, Hong Kong, told reporters, "Professional personality Tests can aid recruitment to a certain extent, but should not be used as the main indicator of recruitment selection and need to be combined with competency tests.”
Yi Lingfeng also said that personality tests should be used with caution in enterprise employment management.
"Personality is an invisible thing. Without understanding the purpose of the test, the theoretical basis and scope of application of the test tool, it is easy to misuse the assessment technology when identifying candidates." Therefore, the personality test puts forward higher expectations for HR. Evaluate theoretical and technical requirements.
Before carrying out the assessment, it is necessary to deeply study the relevant test theories, technologies and cases, so as to combine more relevant candidate information to make a correct judgment in the recruitment.
Experts: Beware of Employment Discrimination Tendency
"From blood type to constellation, everything is detailed, and it also involves 'color psychology'. IMHO, this is not for recruiting at all." In the job search forum, some netizens shared their own experience of non-professional "personality tests".
Compared with the personality test with hundreds of test questions, some companies use "original test" and "exotic test", using information such as blood type, constellation, or choosing theories without scientific basis to analyze the personality characteristics of job applicants.
Lawyer Yang Baoquan, senior partner of Beijing Zhongyin Law Firm, told reporters that according to the relevant provisions of the Personal Information Protection Law and the Labor Contract Law, employers can obtain information about workers and job requirements when inspecting workers.
Many questions in personality tests such as MBTI involve the laborer's personal privacy unrelated to the labor contract, and the employer compels the laborer to provide it, which is suspected of breaking the law.
"For example, in the test questions, 'sometimes I tell lies', 'sometimes I also gossip about other people' and other such content has nothing to do with the labor contract, and the laborer can refuse the employer to obtain this information." Yang Baoquan said that in practice It is not advisable to arbitrarily expand the scope of the employer's right to know, thereby infringing on the worker's right to privacy.
Shen Jianfeng, dean of the Law School of the China Institute of Labor Relations, also believes that not all workers need to take a professional personality test, and personality tendencies have little impact on a large number of ordinary jobs.
"Taking a personality test and not recruiting specific workers based on this is tantamount to excluding workers with abstract standards that are not related to work, and there is a tendency to discriminate in employment," said Shen Jianfeng.
Yang Baoquan also holds the same view.
He said that according to the basic principles of equal employment, such as the Labor Law and the Employment Promotion Law, employers must not discriminate against laborers' inborn characteristics and character.
"To a certain extent, the character is innate, and it is difficult to change only through individual efforts. Therefore, unless there are direct and clear job requirements and descriptions, the employer shall not set other employment conditions, especially setting up the relationship between people and life. The conditions of employment that cannot be changed.”
"If the employer only votes down the job seeker with the results of a dozen personality test questions, the laborer can protect their rights through arbitration, litigation, etc." Yang Baoquan said, "At that time, the enterprise will not only face legal compensation, but also Negative impact on reputation."