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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

#401

Post by Eddy_Viscosity2 »

johnnyanmac wrote: post #365
glitchc wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So true. How does one become dishonest?

Empathy. Remove it. Don't necessarily steal willy nilly, but see people as pawns on a board to get you to the next stage of the game. You're not concerned with doing a good job, you're concerned with learning the players; their personality, their weaknesses, the power structure, etc. Your goal is to move up the ladder and move quick. Get friendly with boss, the hold it over them. then get to the next step. maybe you…

It seems you have given this considerable thought...

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

#402

Post by namaria »

Beijinger wrote: post #171
doublebind wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

This reminds me when I tried incredibly hard to get a tiny scholarship to study abroad in country X and got rejected. In fact, there were several rounds and I didn't even make the first one. My Prof. told me to go to country Y and I hesitated because of the immense administrative burden to apply again and since I was de facto not qualified for a postgraduate scholarship. But application was easy, I got it, and they s…

This reminds me of an investment maxim that has helped me a lot over the years:

You don't make a profit on the sell price. You make a profit on the buy price.

That's something I lot of people seem to not understand about investment, it's not about how high something can go. That's random chance. It's about how deep a discount you can find on something valuable. If you can't estimate what something might be worth, you're not investing, you're making a bet on things you don't understand.

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

#403

Post by paledot »

jldugger wrote: post #228
doubled112 wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems insane to me. Making somebody else pregnant doesn't affect my health, so it doesn't make sense that way either. I would be tempted to look for a wedding ring, and answer with "your mother/wife one time, you should ask her about it" accordingly. I probably wouldn't take the job anyway.

> Making somebody else pregnant doesn't affect my health, so it doesn't make sense that way either But it might affect health insurance claims, and I'm guessing cheaper underwriting is the reason HR went along with it.

Cheaper underwriting, more expensive lawsuits. Pick your poison.

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

#404

Post by ravenstine »

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…

> 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 to 'try this out'.

Did he happen to have pointy hair?

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

#405

Post by lazide »

mewpmewp2 wrote: post #386
nerdbert wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assumed that's the point - can you see things like a "normal" person does?

So the goal is to avoid anyone on spectrum?

The goal is to get the answers they want without saying it. They want people who will naturally know ‘the right thing’ to do to get paid by them, without them having to say it.

Folks on a spectrum are usually that way because they’re bad at already knowing that - or unwilling/unable to say it naturally. For various reasons.

Which is why the spectrum covers ‘disorders’ (aka things that make life suck sometimes/most of the time) instead of ‘awesomenesses’.

That said, there are advantages and utility where one can find niches and ways to adapt most of the time.

Being the same/reacting the same as everyone else, tends to get you the same results as everyone else. For better or worse.

Mixing in with the herd offers a lot of protection, as long as the whole herd isn’t being stampeded off a cliff by a smarter adversary.

You’re unlikely to starve either, but you’d better be good at eating grass other people have already crapped on/next to.

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

#406

Post by lazide »

curtisblaine wrote: post #395
mewpmewp2 wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weren't disagreeable people more successful though?

For themselves, not the organization they work in.

Notably, organizations are almost always led by disagreeable folks.

It’s a pain in the ass to lead disagreeable people.

Agreeable people are often terrible leaders, as they’ll as often lead a team off a cliff as say no. Or be unable to actually drive action among a group of disagreeing people.

leading often requires coming up with your own answer based on the circumstances you’re seeing - someone can’t ‘agree’ their way out of that.

That said, someone too disagreeable will just cause friction and internal issues all the time for no value add. Disagreeing with the right/proper thing to do is just being a pain in ass for the sake of being a pain in the ass.

Usually, the organization has settled on a middle ground somewhere for each level of it’s hierarchy.

Very top down organizations usually need very agreeable ‘bottom’ layers to do the grunt work. It has predictable consequences - good and bad.

There is a reason why militaries pride themselves on ‘breaking down’/‘rebuilding’ people in basic. And why officers almost always go through a separate process.

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

#407

Post by paledot »

snotrockets wrote: post #180

Long ago, when searching for my first swe job, I was invited to this group interview things, when they put us all in a room and asked us to complete tasks like building a spaceship out of LEGOs. After the first task, we were asked "what do you think about the task?". I raised my hand: "it's humiliating", and left the room. I didn't had any other offer at that time, and got a call from them a day later, telling me the…

Good on you for standing up to this bullshit in your first career job. I'm not sure I would've known better, and I sure wouldn't have had the guts to speak out about it

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

#408

Post by red-iron-pine »

kqr wrote: post #372
nitwit005 wrote: post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These tests usually don't have a "normal" outcome, as they are intended to group people into categories.

Normal was a bad choice of words. "How well are you able to empathise with the organisation" might be a better phrasing.

how well are you able to guess what the test wants you to say, and game the system?

i remember doing these like 20 years ago when i got out out of the military and just needed a bartending job.

corp chain, had you take a bunch like "if I see an employee slacking off I'm 1) very offended, 2) slightly offended, 3) indifferent, 4) okay with it, or 5) very okay with it

it was obvious what answer they wanted, and empathy had nothing to do with it

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

#409

Post by cainxinth »

vundercind wrote: post #48
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",…

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.

This is true of job interviews generally. It’s a game to see if you have enough sense to predict and give answer they want (not the unvarnished truth).

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

#410

Post by elektrontamer »

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'm one of those freaks that actually enjoys long technical interviews, especially the hard ones. Maybe I should get a life.
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