Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

old.reddit.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 448 posts

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

#191

Post by rvba »

foofie wrote: post #19
billy99k wrote: 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…

Well, after their interviewing process they end up with things like this:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16833100/why-does-the-mo...

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

#192

Post by drewcoo »

andrewstuart wrote: post #27

“I detect you are a type F person….. the type who says no thanks to personality tests” Personality tests in my opinion are what happens when companies want ever more certainty that they are hiring the right person. I don’t think they’re helpful, and throw a spanner in the works of the hiring process.

Well when a company has problems with retention, "HR, go fix it!"

What can HR do except add stuff like this to the hiring process? They're not allowed to actually fix teams with problems. Or "culture." Or bad execs.

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

#193

Post by tick_tock_tick »

billy99k wrote: 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…

Personality tests are stupid but I don't know if I'd be willing to join a company that didn't do any-kind of whiteboarding/live coding exercise.

I've interviewed way too many people who can't write a for loop. Fizzbuzz is supposed to be a joke not something people legitimately fail but it happens all the time.

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

#194

Post by tick_tock_tick »

NickC25 wrote: post #34
Maro wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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,…

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

I mean your low ball easy to answer question gives you exactly zero information other then yes they in fact worked on a team that did stuff. They just talk about what their peers did you've got such a short interview your not going to figure out they didn't actually do that shit.

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

#195

Post by glitchc »

Eddy_Viscosity2 wrote: post #66
bluefirebrand wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to me that what you are getting is people who are both decently clever and fairly dishonest. Which is an awful combination to select for, imo

Not clever honest people are taken advantage of Not clever dishonest people can do ok sometimes Clever honest people can be moderately successful, but can always be out-maneuvered by the clever dishonest people, thereby limiting how high they can climb, Clever dishonest people rule the world.

So true. How does one become dishonest?

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

#196

Post by rvba »

AtlasBarfed wrote: post #155
niceice wrote: post #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",…

So, guessing: Two Drinks - Frequently Change My Mind Laptop Screen - "Hard to Start a New Task" Painting - Easily Offended Couch Happy/Sad - "Tend to Feel Sad" Sculpture Yawn - Art Isnt My Thing Four Stars - "Good Enough" Puzzle - Starter Not a Finisher Flower - Unstoppable Clock - "Always Wonder Why" Gift - "Make Friends Everywhere" Superhero - Natural Leader Talking during Party - Chats in Elevators Tweezers - "att…

> Superhero - Natural Leader

Management and HR claims to want those, until they actually get one

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

#198

Post by JohnFen »

acheron wrote: post #143
Maro wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SWE is a common abbreviation for Software Engineer. Others: PM, DE, PE, DS, UX, QA, etc.

> SWE is a common abbreviation for Software Engineer This only started in the past 10 years or so, and I don't think I've ever actually seen it in real life. I don't live in SF though -- I assumed it was something Google did and all the SF types slavishly copied.

I think I started seeing it about 25 years ago, and I'm nowhere near SF/SV.

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

#199

Post by devmor »

I’ve interviewed for a couple roles recently that had me undergo both a personality test and a general intelligence test. Was a very odd experience to say the least.

I especially find the general intelligence tests confusing as my roles over the past decade have all been senior level - I have a hard time imagining someone could have my resume without demonstrating the same problem solving skills that were tested.

It makes me wonder what the motive for both types of tests are, and if they are quite different than what us non-HR people would think.

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

#200

Post by JohnFen »

chaosharmonic wrote: post #137

I recently withdrew an application for the first time, after a recruiter connected me w Fidelity, bc their initial "interview" was a 1-way video screen that expected me to devote an hour of my time and gave me 24 hours to do that. Normally an interview is supposed to enable you to find out more about how the company operates, but honestly that alone was pretty telling.

Yeah, I'd have withdrawn too.

Job interviews must go both ways. When I'm the applicant, I'm interviewing the company just as much as the company is interviewing me. If the communication is so one-way that I can't do that, then I have no basis on which I could decide to accept any offer, so going further with the process is just a waste of everyone's time.

Post reply on HN