Personality tests are widely-used tools, both by individuals and organizations. Many organizations, such as Apple and AT&T use them to aid in the hiring process. Vittorio Chiu, in his blog post, shows both sides of the debate, of whether such tests are effective tools for organizations to use.
Personality tests can be used to show whether the candidate fits the image of an ideal employee that the organization is looking for. The MBTI was actually created for this in the 1980s, driven largely by a desire to select employees who fit the organisational culture. As Vittorio presents, especially with the recent advancements in personality tests, an employee can be assessed properly from the initial selection to seeking specific job traits. Dr. Lochner believes that a person’s personality has a limited degree of variability over time, making personality assessments an integral aspect of recruitment.
Yet, much of the evidence nowadays points out many problems with such tests. First, an individual’s personality is very flexible and results vary, as Vittorio points out in his blog. Adam Grant, a professor at Wharton, points out this problem, as the results of his tests varied from month to month. It would mean that, by the time the individual began working at the organization, his or her personality could be completely different, which renders the test results useless.
Moreover, the MBTI treats all the factors as binary. It forces people to be either introverted or extroverted, with no in-between options. Many people nowadays, including myself, feel that we encompass a little bit of both. There can be times when I gain energy by going out and socializing with others, but I also need to have some time to myself. It also means that people have to be either thinking or feeling, but many people use both almost equally. By forcing an individual to be one or the other, it can lead to an inaccurate representation of one’s personality.
One must also take into considerations that there are more factors that influence personality, other than the four listed classifications. Therefore, two people that are both considered INTJ can still be very different, depending on other aspects of their personality. Such personality tests have a limit in their scope, and may be ignoring other crucial parts of one’s personality that make one unique from another.
At the end, my judgement is in line with Vittorio, in that personality tests are as good as you see it to be. They can still be a good starting point for recruiters, but they must also keep in mind the shortcomings that may influence the results.