So, your resume is in order, your LinkedIn page is up to date, and you're confident of your interview skills. Look out job seeker you might not get the questions you expect. Many companies now believe personality testing is best to measure an applicant's friendliness, curiosity, and independence, not everyone agrees. The cover story of Time magazine this week takes a close look at the trend. The story is by time staff writer Eliza Gray who joins us with more, good morning, Eliza. Good morning. So, it's interesting more than 450 of the top Fortune 500 companies are now using this kind of personality testing what insights are these employers gaining? You know what they're learning is, that what they're looking for is a fit for a job so, you know you can imagine you might want a different kind of person to be a Wall Street trader than to be a nurse in a neonatal unit right, but you know a lot of what they're really looking for is correlations to their bottom line. If you're a call center employer and you look at your best applicants, I mean your best employees and look at their traits you can measure them against the people who are applying for the job and say this correlates to lower turnover and, higher success you know let's use this data and get these people in here. This isn't just being used for executives now it's being used sort of across the board, right?Yeah, absolutely you know that was the thing in my reporting that I found most fascinating in fact it's across all jobs, and for people who are hourly workers waitresses, and things like that this can be the most confounding for them. I talked to one woman who's a working mother in school and she was up until 2:00 in the morning answering hundreds of these questions for a test.
I think that's what's so confounding for a lot of people here some of these tests can take anywhere from 20 minutes to several hours, asking questions like I trust data more than my instincts or I understand why stars twinkle. I mean what kind of a question is that how do applicants begin to prepare for an interview like that? The problem is that they really can't. There's no transparency about what it is exactly that the employers are looking for. They’re looking for a certain personality type and you mean know exactly what that personality type is. And so, and often the questions can be quite confusing because they'll try to trip you up, they'll ask the same question ten times and then a few minutes later they'll ask you it in a different way and some people get really nervous like did I answer it this way last time and I'm going to look inconsistent. So, it can be actually very disconcerting for people who are taking the tests. Obviously, employers are convinced now that these tests actually work and revealed with the trip the trends they're looking for.
“they're seeing real benefits from it”
Sure, I mean what the tests do often I would say is for turnover and sometimes even in sales numbers like they can show at Jet Blue for example that if you fit one of their personality profile to a tee customers are 15 to 25 percent more likely to compliment that particular employee. Oh, wow!So, they're seeing real benefits from it it's sort of a legacy of our big data obsession. This idea that you can collect all this data about someone and you can use it to make predictions about how they're going to do. I thought the job market was tough already this only makes it harder. Elisha Gray thank you so much for being with us this morning.
Questions:
Part 1: Comprehension
Watch and summarize the video thinking of who, what, when, where & why.
Part 2: True or False Questions
a) True or false – The report recommends updating your LinkedIn page. T/F
b) True or False – The majority of Fortune 500 companies in America believe that this test can measure an applicant’s ability to do the job. T/F
c) True or False – Some of the tests take a long time to complete. T/F
d) True or False – applying for a job has become easier since the introduction of these tests. T/F
Part 3: Guess the meaning of unknown vocabulary
a) "Fit for a job" (0:44 min)
b) "Correlations" (0:55 min)
c) "Across the board" (1:20 min)
d) "Transparency" (2:06 min)
Part 4: Dictation
a) Fill in the blanks (0:10- 0:19 minutes) Many companies ____________________________________________, not everyone agrees.
b) Fill in the blanks (1:34 - 1:44 minutes) I talked to__________________________________________________________ for a test.
c) Fill in the blanks (2:10 - 2:17 minutes) They’re ______________________________________________________________ type is.
Part 5: Talking Points
Part 6: Role play Scenarios
Scenario 1: Interview with a Call Center Employer
In this scenario, one person plays the role of a call center employer who is conducting a personality test interview with a job applicant. The other person plays the role of the job applicant who is taking the personality test. The employer asks questions related to the applicant's friendliness, curiosity, and independence to see if they are a good fit for the job.
Scenario 2: Waitress Job Interview
In this scenario, one person plays the role of a restaurant manager who is conducting a personality test interview with a job applicant for a waitress position. The other person plays the role of the job applicant who is taking the personality test. The manager asks questions related to the applicant's communication skills, customer service experience, and ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
Scenario 3: Executive Job Interview
In this scenario, one person plays the role of a CEO who is conducting a personality test interview with a job applicant for an executive position. The other person plays the role of the job applicant who is taking the personality test.
Part 7: Writing Activity
Describe a family member in as much detail as you can, describing both appearance and personality.
Part 8: Critical Thinking - Hiring based on personalities.
Objective: To reach a consensus on whether personality testing should be used in hiring.
Team A supports this statement and team B opposes it.
In groups talk about the pros and cons of personality testing job applicants, then come back as a class and reach a consensus on whether personality tests should be used for job applicants in your country.
Answers:
Part 1: Comprehension
This is a news report that looks at how many companies now believe personality testing is the best way to measure an applicant’s friendliness, curiosity, and independence, but not everybody agrees with this method. Time staff writer Eliza Gray joins “CBS This Morning and gives more insight into this latest trend in recruiting. They report that around 450 companies in the top 500 in America are now using these types of tests on new job applicants. They talk about how companies are now matching applicants with certain jobs based on their different personality traits. This approach isn’t just being used for executive jobs; it’s being used right across the board. Some of the problems with this method are that applicants have reported spending up to 20 hours answering the questions set by employers and that there is a real lack of transparency. Lastly, the reporters conclude that some companies are obsessed with data and that this trend will no doubt make job hunting more difficult.
Part 2: True or False
A: False B: False C: True D: False
Part 3: Guess the meaning of unknown vocabulary or phrases
a) "Fit for a job" Answer: This means someone who is a good match for the job and will be able to do it well because in the video the speaker talks about the new personality test that his helping companies find suitable candidates for their jobs.
b) "Correlations" Answer: I think correlations mean mutual connections or relationships between two or more things because in the video the speaker proposes that companies want to use personality tests to find personality traits that best match the types of character needed for the job.
c) "Across the board" Answer: I think this means applies to all or everyone in this situation because the speaker answers the question posed by the reporter by saying that companies are applying these tests to everyone from waitresses to executives.
d) "Transparency" Answer: I think it means that their hiring criteria is not clear or easy to understand because in the video the speakers talk about job applicants not knowing what employers want and this is creating confusion.
Part 4: Dictation
a) Fill in the blanks (0:10 - 0:19 minutes) Many companies now believe personality testing is best to measure an applicant's friendliness, curiosity, and independence, not everyone agrees.
b) Fill in the blanks (1:34 - 1:44 minutes) I talked to one woman who's a working mother in school and she was up until 2:00 in the morning answering hundreds of these questions for a test.
c) Fill in the blanks (2:10 - 2:17 minutes) They’re looking for a certain personality type and you mean know exactly what that personality type is.
Part 7: Writing (example)
My mother is 68 years old and she is very special to me. She has gray hair and kind eyes that always seem to be smiling. She loves to read mystery books, her favorite being stories by Agatha Christie. My mother enjoys walking in the park every morning, where she watches the birds and flowers. She also likes swimming in the local pool, especially in the summer. She is a strong woman who never gives up, like the time she learned to bake a perfect apple pie after many tries. She is kind and funny, often telling jokes that make the whole family laugh. But sometimes, she can be strict, like when she insists on everyone finishing their dinner before dessert. I learn a lot from her about being strong, kind, and determined.
