# What's the point of those personality tests entry-level jobs give you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 22, 2021, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-those-personality-tests-entry-level-jobs-give-you/944846 "2021-06-22T17:03:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-those-personality-tests-entry-level-jobs-give-you/944846/62 "2021-07-03T12:39:28Z")
I am due this week for an annual recertification, to include a long test of questions like the “forest ranger” and AIWL. I’ll let you know how I do… Tripler “Yes I like origami…” paper airplanes. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2021, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-those-personality-tests-entry-level-jobs-give-you/944846/63 "2021-07-05T21:14:30Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I’m in agreement here but I don’t think you learn a whole lot about a candidate’s behavior until you interview them. That’s what I’m saying; my co-workers in the past have fixated _in interviews_ on experience/versions/projects, and don’t ask the sort of questions that will indicate that the person will be a good fit, not an asshole, go above and beyond, have a good attitude, etc… It’s like they don’t trust the people who’ve done the initial winnowing, or don’t have a clue what to do in an interview. I’ve always taken the approach that if someone’s got to the interview stage, they have the prerequisites on paper, so we’re trying to figure out who will fit best into our organization, not whether they’re qualified or not. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2021, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-those-personality-tests-entry-level-jobs-give-you/944846/64 "2021-07-05T21:55:40Z")
Update: My psych test is _this_ week. I was mistaken–it was just a blood draw and physical this week. Tripler Had I been thinking quicker, I would have snuck in some vials of blue food coloring for a fun switcheroo. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-those-personality-tests-entry-level-jobs-give-you/944846/65 "2021-07-08T11:47:43Z")
Split this topic on July 8, 2021, 11:47am UTC A post was merged into an existing topic: [Grundig Posts](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grundig-posts/945967/26) ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2021, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-those-personality-tests-entry-level-jobs-give-you/944846/66 "2021-07-05T23:38:08Z")
One of the entry-level civil engineering positions I applied for included a Caliper exam as part of (what turned out to be) a four-week hiring process. Most of the questions were of the sort probing at what I think of various work scenarios, like dealing with a difficult problem, working under direct supervision, how I’d behave at staff meetings, etc. Some were more analytical like predicting the next value in a sequence of numbers, or analyzing a pattern of shapes. The hiring manager gave me my test results, asked me to look them over, and comment on any results I felt were inaccurate. I thought the results were alright. I was offered the position but decided to pursue another opportunity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-those-personality-tests-entry-level-jobs-give-you/944846.md?page=3)