Management News

Web-based Tools Help Find the Right Person for the Job

Topic

Managing Individuals

Key Words

hiring, personality tests

News Story

Web-based assessments are making inroads into the electronic assessment market. Companies are finding these assessments help them to narrow down the pool of applications for a position, which is particularly important at a time when companies have reduced internal recruiting staffs.

New breeds of test can even determine how ethical a potential employee is, or how good she may be at working in teams. Some managers are skeptical, however, about the fairness of these tests used to rule candidates in or out. One company uses several personality tests to place employees in assignments or to evaluate employees for management, but not for screening job candidates.

Questions

1.	How do you feel about being required to take personality tests when applying for a job? Do you feel comfortable with these tests as an eliminator for further interviews? What do you think would be a better assessment of your compatibility with a company?
2.	As a manager, what personality traits would you be looking for in an applicant? Would the absence of these traits eliminate a candidate? How might a personality test help you determine whether a candidate had these traits?

Source

Kris Maher, "Web-based Tools Help Find the Right Person for the Job," Wall Street Journal November 26, 2002, p. B8.

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