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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

#231

Post by vessenes »

madeofpalk wrote: post #30

Bizarre really don't capture how other-worldly (other than the lets-not-be-racist purple people) this test is. Take the fourth image, of the person (or two people) with two emotions on the couch. How are you supposed to identify if that image as a whole is "me" or not? I would be baffled at how to respond to that. Some of the images I can kind of understand (watching TV while you have laundry to fold? LAZY!), but how…

I took the test for fun (link is above here).

You are instructed as to who you are and what you look like at the beginning of the test, and there is a title disambiguating (mostly) the scenario at the top of every image.

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

#232

Post by shermantanktop »

jstarfish wrote: post #188
Beijinger wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Corollary experience: the more effort/time/money/energy you expend in a successful transaction, the more likely it is they'll impose a shitty condition at the end of it, expecting you to be too invested to challenge it.

Weaponizing the sunk cost fallacy, once again. Just like a time-share condo pitch.

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

#233

Post by Angostura »

al2o3cr wrote: post #128
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…

Just random questions to test my personality. "You're not turning the tortoise over, Billy. Why is that?" :P

"why are you calling me Billy"

         — Leon

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

#234

Post by pc2slow4webpack »

devops_palmer wrote: post #57

Before Covid I went for an interview at a remote-only company, which was a huge plus. We had the first interview over zoom (or zoom equivalent at the time) and everything went well - Then I get a follow-up email about github access and they send me a huge github repo where they want me to complete an example web application that can do x,y and z based on some of the example models included, and want it done in a week…

Similar experience with a company this year for a new grad position, they wanted me to come to 30hr unpaid hackathon hosted in the evenings.

I'm sure the signal they get is pretty good, but I'm also sure they filter outany candidates that don't want to put up with BS like this.

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

#235

Post by jahewson »

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.

I know what you're getting at but you’ll need to define “bright”, “good”, and “bad” first. The whole undertaking seems ill-conceived.

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

#236

Post by DyslexicAtheist »

these MBTI tests are basically astrology for people who think they're too smart for astrology.

I recall losing one of my most gifted colleagues once over such a test. they brought in an outside company specializing in "HR solutions" and for some reason the results demanded that there can't be another individual with the same indicator as the CEO. so they sacked him and another guy who also was a poor social fit to the rest.

the absolute damage these people do.

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

#237

Post by shermantanktop »

Alupis wrote: post #230
Macha wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having seen Canonical's personality test, while it's impossible to verify without their marking methodology, it feels explicitly classist (which in the US probably means it produces racist outcomes too)

> it feels explicitly classist (which in the US probably means it produces racist outcomes too) Please elaborate...

You'll probably get better answers to questions about polo, golf, opera, and croquet on Martha's Vineyard than you will in South Compton.

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

#239

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

mistrial9 wrote: post #206
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was the way that I interviewed. I never gave a coding test in my life. I never made a technical error, but I think that I did hire a couple of folks, over the years, that didn't integrate into the team that well. Not sure the personality test would have made a difference. Sometimes, the only way that you can tell how someone will do, is start working with them.

the first time I saw a pressure-interview for high skill coders was on campus at Apple, and the interviewing team was from Microsoft HQ. The project was audio-related and required excellent coding skills and knowledge of digital sound and associated mathematics. This was in the early 1990s IIR. After complete astonishment at the focus on "performance coding" also known as obey my commands now.. by tech-bros from MSFT…

Well, when I was younger, I would have been more responsive to that.

Not anymore.

I've been shipping (as opposed to "writing") software, for my entire adult life. That means start-to-finish, and continuing support, afterwards. In the last dozen years, I've had over 20 apps in the Apple App Store (but I deprecate them, so it's probably only five or six, now), done alone.

I can do the stuff, and I can prove it. I have a gigantic library of code, out there, along with a great deal of blog posts, teaching courses, and whatnot.

If someone wants to find out about me, they could get a really good idea, in about fifteen minutes of searching. I make it a point, to be public about my work (if possible -the app I just released is not open-source).

But it surprises me, that they are more interested in 50-line academic exercises. I've actually been told that "I probably faked" my portfolio.

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