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I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

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Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

#33
post #19
post #2

I once had a SW interview with a job that had a 2-hour long personality test. No tech questions. Just random questions to test my personality. It started out simple, like 'what was the last book you read' to more in-depth situations that had nothing to do with the job. The manager interviewing me (who admit he basically just started managing a month prior) told me he just read a 'great book on management' and wanted…

> I passed the first interview, but the second was going to be a 5-hour remote codeshare/whiteboard interview with the team. I declined the second interview. Last year I interviewed for MongoDB. They proudly boasted that their hiring process consisted of a 7 interview marathon. I asked if that wasn't too many interviews, and the interviewer boasted that they already managed to streamline their process down from 12 in…

> The extremes to which they take their cargo cult mentality is out of this world.

Nah, just "webscale" like everything else Mongo.

Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

#34
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every job/client I've acquired has been a 10-15min informal chat with a stakeholder and a technical peer, and then an offer. I don't really see the value in going through hiring gauntlets and opt out of any process that looks like it might waste time like that.

Interviews are for weeding out poor candidates; what you have left are the good ones. Weeding out poor candidates is not possible with 10-15 minutes informal chats.

It most certainly IS possible.

That's the whole point of resumes and LinkedIn...especially in technical fields. You self-select for the hiring criteria you're looking for. You then speak to the candidate to understand a bit more about their experience as it relates to the job you're seeking a candidate for. That's why it often makes sense for such roles, for technical people to interview other technical people.

"Oh, you have experience with XYZ technology stack, and you worked with it for a few years, awesome. That's what we use here, but could you please talk about some of the projects you worked on with said technology?"

But no, tell me how that's not possible to do quickly.

Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

#35
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every job/client I've acquired has been a 10-15min informal chat with a stakeholder and a technical peer, and then an offer. I don't really see the value in going through hiring gauntlets and opt out of any process that looks like it might waste time like that.

Interviews are for weeding out poor candidates; what you have left are the good ones. Weeding out poor candidates is not possible with 10-15 minutes informal chats.

[deleted]

Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

#36
You can take it here: https://fedexdataworksprod.traitify.com/assessment/31449c4a-...

Each one has a title like "Starter Not a Finisher", "Frequently Change My Mind", "Always Wonder Why", "Easily Offended", "Art Isn't My Thing", "Unstoppable", "Make Friends Everywhere", "Good Enough", "Not My Job", "Tend to Feel Sad", "Volunteering", "Believe the Best of People", "Hard to Start a New Task", "Loves the Social Scene", "Chats in Elevators", "Natural Leader", "Sometimes Thoughtless"

Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

#37
I had a major vector db startup require a take home leetcode (4 questions in an hour and a half), as well as a in person leetcode (hour and who knows how many questions)... and I thought that was bad because it had nothing to do with the job.

This isn't even in the same realm as the job.

Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

#38
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every job/client I've acquired has been a 10-15min informal chat with a stakeholder and a technical peer, and then an offer. I don't really see the value in going through hiring gauntlets and opt out of any process that looks like it might waste time like that.

Interviews are for weeding out poor candidates; what you have left are the good ones. Weeding out poor candidates is not possible with 10-15 minutes informal chats.

Depends on the role, applicant pool, experience, and risk tolerance.

Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

#39
post #14
post #5

I have never seen "software" abbreviated to SW before. Let's not do that.

Wait till you see HW (hardware) and FW (firmware). People who regularly have to work with a mixture of these will abbreviate them. You'll see them everywhere now.

Wait until they hear about upgrading the FW on the FW! [1]

[1] firewall

Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test

#40
post #18

I received a three question geometry quiz inside of a google form as a screening for a backend nodejs a couple weeks ago. Apparently it was critical for the role that I know the relationship between the circumference and the radius of a circle.

Yikes. I mean, on the one hand that’s literally elementary—as in elementary school, if only just barely—knowledge. On the other, I’ve not needed to find the circumference of a circle given the radius ever in adult life, and I’m quite sure I’ve forgotten more than a handful of “elementary” things due to lack of practice, over the years, especially in math (for which needing to reach for knowledge or techniques beyond about 6th grade is very rare, at least in my life).

… I am pretty sure I’d be fine on that particular example, but there are surely others about as “easy” that I’d flub because I’ve not used that knowledge in 20+ years.

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