As a FedEx stock owner, this alarms me.
I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test
161–170 of 448 posts
Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test
#162It's legal for companies to make hiring decisions based on the results of personality tests. It's legal for them to make other personal decisions, such as promoting, firing, giving raises etc. It's legal to make these kinds of decisions based on personality tests that have poor scientific evidence in their efficiency. It's legal to ignore the tests and not make decisions based on them. Largely companies use this as a…
Slavery was also legal one day. And I bet there was also some "science" (if only political) to back it up. Just sayin)
I'm confused, I thought I was very critical of these tests in my comment.
Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test
#163Coincidentally, was listening to the latest episode of 'You are not so Smart'[1], interviewing Charles Duhigg on his new book. One of the anecdotes brought up was how NASA changed their astronaut interviewing approach in the 80's when they wanted to start vetting candidates to stay on a space station. Turns out that screening for personalities becomes a rather important aspect when you're going to trap people together for an extended period of time, and occasionally put them into high pressure situations.
It seems like similar considerations might apply to a number of team based jobs, even if the team isn't locked in a pressurized tube miles above the earth.
[1] https://youarenotsosmart.com/2024/02/05/yanss-280-the-scienc...
Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test
#164Earlier 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…
Reminds me of the narcissistic personality disorder test which consists of one question: "are you a narcissist?"
Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test
#165You 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",…
Am I missing something, or is it geolocked outside the US? I just get a login page.
I think someone caught the issue and blocked it. It opened for me earlier today.
Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test
#166Glad to see feedback from real users. My company was pitched by Paradox [1] to use their chatbot and this bizarre questionnaire to hire SW. Their solution target mostly McDonalds workers and other bluecollar, where I believe it's "okeish to put human beings thru the mud first". They claim [2] there is science behind it, but me and my partner's feedback was it will never work for IT workers. [1] - https://www.traitify…
What does “putting humans through the mud” achieve?
Selecting people with low self-worth that can be easily broken. You don't want a free thinker with vocal opinions and entitlement (warranted or not) working at your McDonalds - you want a drone that is just good enough to do the job.
Hiring process often is a reflection of work culture. Shitty process will remove candidates that won't fit the culture.
Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yup, the manager mentioned something about the NFL using it?
It's an IQ test but does it help evaluate NFL players? Ryan Fitzpatrick went to Harvard and was said to have gotten a perfect socre of 50. It turns out he might have only got 48 which is still really high. He bounced around 9 teams and threw tons of interceptions. He would go from amazing to horrible "Fitz-Magic" to "Fitz-Tragic" In contrast Lamar Jackson is said to have scored a 6 which is laughably bad. He just won…
Yeah, a lot of it is snake oil. Like how does a mental test access how someone does on a physical task like sports?
Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test
#168Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
Did you ask to see which questions you supposedly got wrong?
"How much sawdust is legally acceptable to put in the chicken tenders breading? 10%, 25%, 50%, sawdust in the chicken tenders breading is unacceptable".
OP put unacceptable but the answer was 25%
Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test
#169Earlier 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…
> why would they admit that in an interview?
To demonstrate their honesty. ;)
Re: I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test
#170I 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 got asked "what was the last book you read" in a SW startup interview once. I told them and then the interviewers started arguing amongst themselves about whether or not they liked the book, based on what I had told them about it, instead of asking me what I thought about it and what I learned from it. That was one of about thirty red flags. I left without completing the interview.
I had a high school literature teacher that asked me what I thought about the assigned reading, and then told I was wrong. After arguing that the question was not "what did it mean" vs what I thought. I think think whatever the hell I want to think. This was pretty much the death knell of my desire to participate in literature, and freed me up to spend my time in math/sciences. yes, it was just an excuse for something I was going to do anyways, but still a total lack of bedside manner from a teacher can have devastating results.