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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

#281

Post by Exoristos »

gnfargbl wrote: post #67
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",…

Seems like a fairly standard personality test. I just ran through it and got the same kind of answer I usually get on these tests. I don't really see the value in these tests but, apart from the weird avatars, this one seems to be just Myers-Briggs with different words (for me, "thinker" instead of "INTP").

It seems fine until you find out that most companies then weed out certain personality types, particulary INTJ. Some companies in retail are even looking for only a few personality types that they think will make these employees easy to manage.

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

#282

Post by Brananarchy »

JohnFen wrote: post #152
Brananarchy wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both. The entire concept of "professionalism" is based around the idea that certain people should be dishonest about themselves in public, for the sake of others' comfort.

I entirely disagree with that being what the concept of "professionalism" is based on, but I'm also not entirely sure what you're alluding to here, so grain of salt.

Primarily, I'm alluding to it being considered "unprofessional" for queer people to be themselves in the workplace, as that is the particular thorn I've been pricked with.

But there are other fun ways "professionalism" has been used to oppress people - from the way Women are expected to dress, to Black hair being treated as unacceptable.

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

#283

Post by strken »

UncleOxidant wrote: post #88
frfl wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine the tens of thousands of dollars saved if you had a 15 minute (okay 15 is a bit short unless someone vouches for you or you're a well known open source contributor etc, maybe 1 hour or 1.5 hour, hell even 2 hour) technical conversation and the other engineer is like, yeah this person's worth bringing onboard. Might not work in all cases, but really, if you're trying to sniff out a pretender vs someone who can…

Indeed, while it might not work in all cases you'd probably save enough time/money to make up for those cases where it didn't work out. I've often seen jobs posted that stay open for 6 months or more because some hiring manager and their team can't make up their minds on who to hire. Meanwhile, the project they want to bring someone in to work on languishes, or people who are already stretched thin burn out and go el…

One of the biggest blights on the industry is the insistence on matching tech stack. Most jobs need a handful of strict but broad requirements like "has worked in a garbage-collected compiled language" or "has used a SQL database" or "has used the .NET ecosystem", or they're looking for a specialist in a particular field like compiler design or distributed systems. Instead they've got a list of hard requirements: "Go, PostgreSQL, Azure, gRPC, 10 years of experience with RAFT (other consensus algorithms like PAXOS not acceptable), some obscure ORM," etc.

Not all hiring managers and not even all engineers understand that every requirement winnows down the available candidates. Eventually you're left with only the people who are desperate enough to apply despite not meeting half your list of requirements. Those candidates are on average not as strong as the ones you'd get if you just asked for software engineers with any experience in consensus algorithms and listed your tech stack as an FYI.

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

#284

Post by Brananarchy »

kube-system wrote: post #158
Brananarchy wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both. The entire concept of "professionalism" is based around the idea that certain people should be dishonest about themselves in public, for the sake of others' comfort.

If someone isn't capable of being honest without making their coworkers socially uncomfortable, I don't think the honesty is a redeeming quality.

If a coworker can't handle a woman wearing pants instead of a skirt, can't handle a black person wearing their hair in a way that's comfortable, or can't handle a queer coworker dressing in queer ways... They're the problem. Not the person who's "unconventional".

All of those things have been called "unprofessional" as a way to oppress minorities.

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

#286

Post by bloqs »

doublebind wrote: post #101
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…

Two years ago, I had a similar experience with Chainlink. I underwent hours of interviews and completed an extensive work assignment, only to be offered the job _after a personality test_. Simultaneously, I interviewed at a startup. There, I spent about an hour discussing my experience and providing feedback on their current system with the person who would become my manager. I chose the startup, and it has been the…

Personality tests are screening principally if you are Conscientious and Agreeable. The hack is: Suggest you answer every question to imply you are orderly, hardworking, calm, stable and cooperative with others.

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

#287

Post by mrinterweb »

I don't know if there is some secret agreement across software companies that stipulates that they all need to make the application process as painful as possible for retention reasons. Last time I was applying at companies, I noticed it was taking about 10 hours per company of interviews. It is so grueling that I don't want to go through that again so I stay put.

I took a personality test at one company. I hated the interview process so I told them I would not move forward with future interview rounds. If a company thinks processes like this are a good idea, just imagine all the other bad processes and policy you'd have to endure after landing the job.

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

#288

Post by woobar »

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.

An alternative take from Venkatesh Rao managed two narrow it down just to 3 types of people in his Gervais Principle [1]

[1] https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-...

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

#289

Post by strken »

rthomas6 wrote: post #176
NickC25 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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,…

People lie about what they personally did as part of a larger team. They claim to have skills and expertise they don't actually have. I'm not saying you need a gauntlet of tests. I liked the approach mentioned elsewhere of a technical discussion about what they did. But it takes, like, an hour or two to make sure they're not BSing and that they're actually as much of an expert as they claim to be.

Does that matter?

I mean, of course it would be better to find the most qualified candidates every time with perfect accuracy. Does having a longer interview process help with that goal, or does it deter the exact candidates you want? Is it okay to end up with the guy who wrote the FrobNizzle compactor instead of the woman who wrote the FrobNizzle extractor?

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

#290

Post by vpilcx »

squeaky-clean wrote: post #104
vundercind wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m convinced most use of these is actually testing for: 1) bright enough to answer to achieve just about any desired outcome (usually not a high bar), 2) socially/politically aware enough to realize which outcomes will be good, and which will be bad; and, 3) agreeable/compliant enough to go ahead and game the quiz to achieve a good outcome without raising a fuss.

I interviewed at Burger King in college, the manager told me I was the only applicant in their system to get above 80% on the personality test. It was incredibly easy things like, "How many minutes are acceptable to show up late for your shift? 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, being late is unacceptable". Or "If you knew there were no cameras able to see you, and no other employees around, how much money is okay to…

Maybe that was a while ago, because almost all of the personality tests that I've had to take are, question: "I enjoy the challenge of collaborating with my coworkers" answer: strongly agree, slightly agree, neither agree nor disagree, slightly disagree, strongly agree

With the questions all being like that with different wording, "I find myself getting frustrated in high stress situations.", "I enjoy high stress situations because they are exciting.", "Being around a lot of people all the time can be annoying", etc.

Over and over and over again for about fifteen minutes.

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