My second-ever job out of university required me to take a 'personality test' (not sure if it was MBTI exactly but it had a lot in common) as part of the screening - this was in 1999. The final hurdle in the process was an interview with the CEO, during which he discussed my results with me. I still think that what I said to him then holds true now: the results of these tests are strongly influenced by the context a person is operating in when they're taking them - not just in the test room, but in their day-to-day outside of that. A large chunk of people don't fall into that white-hot self-referential group that are broadly the same whatever they do, but are adaptable to what their team or colleagues need (within limits).
(Mine said something about me having a problem with authority. At the time, I was under a completely toxic supervisor who policed every minute of my working day, micro-managed my work and took every chance she could to reprimand me in a hyper-critical rather than constructive fashion. HELL YES I had a problem with authority. And *everyone* who knows me now would laugh themselves silly to hear me described that way.)
I did! And it was a great one until the dotcom bubble burst, WELL ahead of its time with flexible working policies in particular. 'Core hours' and home working back in 1999 - taken advantage of by senior people so modelling the change. The dream.
@Bruce Daisley having sent a reply I would really be interested to hear from the supporters of tests/MBTI as to whether the tests accurately ‘catch’ unsavoury people (I gave an example of a former boss who would belch in my face, touch colleagues inappropriately and make demeaning/sexualised comments). From memory, he took one of those tests and it didn’t mention any of these traits. I’d much rather know about what he as actually like instead of how ‘extroverted’ he was.
I wonder if anyone using it for dating has a tale to tell!
I just had an experience where going into a final interview I took one of these tests, I was mystified by the results but it blew my confidence to bits - I didn’t get the role. Thanks for this timely piece and for the parting advice!
The other thing about the MB test is that it asks you questions about yourself. It then takes your own answers and feeds them back in Barnum type statements. No wonder people think 'Wow, that is so accurate' when they read their perceptions of themselves.
Far better to get colleagues perceptions of your strengths and areas for development
My second-ever job out of university required me to take a 'personality test' (not sure if it was MBTI exactly but it had a lot in common) as part of the screening - this was in 1999. The final hurdle in the process was an interview with the CEO, during which he discussed my results with me. I still think that what I said to him then holds true now: the results of these tests are strongly influenced by the context a person is operating in when they're taking them - not just in the test room, but in their day-to-day outside of that. A large chunk of people don't fall into that white-hot self-referential group that are broadly the same whatever they do, but are adaptable to what their team or colleagues need (within limits).
(Mine said something about me having a problem with authority. At the time, I was under a completely toxic supervisor who policed every minute of my working day, micro-managed my work and took every chance she could to reprimand me in a hyper-critical rather than constructive fashion. HELL YES I had a problem with authority. And *everyone* who knows me now would laugh themselves silly to hear me described that way.)
ah man! Did you get the job btw?
I did! And it was a great one until the dotcom bubble burst, WELL ahead of its time with flexible working policies in particular. 'Core hours' and home working back in 1999 - taken advantage of by senior people so modelling the change. The dream.
@Bruce Daisley having sent a reply I would really be interested to hear from the supporters of tests/MBTI as to whether the tests accurately ‘catch’ unsavoury people (I gave an example of a former boss who would belch in my face, touch colleagues inappropriately and make demeaning/sexualised comments). From memory, he took one of those tests and it didn’t mention any of these traits. I’d much rather know about what he as actually like instead of how ‘extroverted’ he was.
I wonder if anyone using it for dating has a tale to tell!
I just had an experience where going into a final interview I took one of these tests, I was mystified by the results but it blew my confidence to bits - I didn’t get the role. Thanks for this timely piece and for the parting advice!
The other thing about the MB test is that it asks you questions about yourself. It then takes your own answers and feeds them back in Barnum type statements. No wonder people think 'Wow, that is so accurate' when they read their perceptions of themselves.
Far better to get colleagues perceptions of your strengths and areas for development