Reply to: Thomas Personality Tests

[hairymouse]

What role are you looking for?


Sent from my iPhone using Contractor UK Forum

Data Warehouse, Data Engineer, recently Azure Certified.

Please don't say "those are hot skills right now, you should find something easily." Like I said, I'm getting some activity so not going absolutely crazy. I'm sure there are others who are having as tough a time.

[GhostofTarbera]

Thanks for that, I really appreciate it right now. I'm really, really finding it hard to find any role right now and it's starting to get me down. Usually I'm pretty good at recognising BS like this and not letting it get to me but lately it seems every single possible gig has something to kick me. A ridiculously low rate and/or ridiculous wishlist of skills required and/or technical tests that you could spend days on.

Whatever, I spent a few hours practising and took the test again and this time scored reasonably high. in the 80th percentile instead of 1 or whatever. Then they pulled yet another test to take out of the air. I'm sure at the end of all this they are going to tell me they have a permie job 100 miles from my house for 35k.

What role are you looking for?


Sent from my iPhone using Contractor UK Forum

[Old Greg]

Thanks for that, I really appreciate it right now. I'm really, really finding it hard to find any role right now and it's starting to get me down. Usually I'm pretty good at recognising BS like this and not letting it get to me but lately it seems every single possible gig has something to kick me. A ridiculously low rate and/or ridiculous wishlist of skills required and/or technical tests that you could spend days on.

Whatever, I spent a few hours practising and took the test again and this time scored reasonably high. in the 80th percentile instead of 1 or whatever. Then they pulled yet another test to take out of the air. I'm sure at the end of all this they are going to tell me they have a permie job 100 miles from my house for 35k.

At least you're not sitting at home after giving up. Keep plugging away and keep your spirits up as best you can.

[hairymouse]

Just hang on in there, it has nothing to do with yourself or your skillset. Probably a bit but we all do rubbish under stress or the tests might not evaluate skills useful for the role and in the greater scheme of things - it does not serve much purpose.

Thanks for that, I really appreciate it right now. I'm really, really finding it hard to find any role right now and it's starting to get me down. Usually I'm pretty good at recognising BS like this and not letting it get to me but lately it seems every single possible gig has something to kick me. A ridiculously low rate and/or ridiculous wishlist of skills required and/or technical tests that you could spend days on.

Whatever, I spent a few hours practising and took the test again and this time scored reasonably high. in the 80th percentile instead of 1 or whatever. Then they pulled yet another test to take out of the air. I'm sure at the end of all this they are going to tell me they have a permie job 100 miles from my house for 35k.

[GigiBronz]

All of this and they haven't even told me what role I am being considered for and how much it will pay. It's almost like this process is designed to find people who will put up with almost any level of abuse.

It probably is, it also makes you consider doing roles that you would not normally do. It is how this society works.
Just hang on in there, it has nothing to do with yourself or your skillset. Probably a bit but we all do rubbish under stress or the tests might not evaluate skills useful for the role and in the greater scheme of things - it does not serve much purpose.
You should definitely read that book.

The way to look at recruitment business is partially necessity to find resources, partially enforcing the rules of the game, pushing people around, tiring them so you can easily get them to do what you want.
It is an orchestrated effort accross the business to make a better environment for them and for the economy. It might be surprising but it is one of the reason why even without a role, recruiters are still expected to be on the phone, calling people around,looking busy in the office.
Sounds a bit paranoid but I have no doubt that this is how the situation actually is.

[vwdan]

Because I've been on the bench for almost 6 months and there's not much else out there right now. If I drop every opportunity that's less than perfect I might not get another job for months.

No, that's fair! Needs must and all that.

[hairymouse]

Seems to be working. Why are you putting up with it?

Because I've been on the bench for almost 6 months and there's not much else out there right now. If I drop every opportunity that's less than perfect I might not get another job for months.

[vwdan]

All of this and they haven't even told me what role I am being considered for and how much it will pay. It's almost like this process is designed to find people who will put up with almost any level of abuse.

Seems to be working. Why are you putting up with it?

[hairymouse]

Since you guys are posting here, I'll continue with my story.

The HR lady set it up so I could take the test again, for no good reason other than I didn't do well. I spent some time practising and took it again yesterday. No idea when I'll get my results as another unique aspect to this hiring process is that they send one email every 10 days, always starting with an apology about why it has taken 10 days to respond.

All of this and they haven't even told me what role I am being considered for and how much it will pay. It's almost like this process is designed to find people who will put up with almost any level of abuse.

[GhostofTarbera]

How different it was before student loans and the internet. Fewer people going to university made for degrees having some value.

Most Degrees are irrelevant these days unless you want to be a teacher


Sent from my iPhone using Contractor UK Forum

[NotAllThere]

Could not find a better expression... I don’t hold going to univ to a high esteem. It only puts people into debt and teaches some how to look up on google. .

How different it was before student loans and the internet. Fewer people going to university made for degrees having some value.

[edison]

I don't know the Thomas test but there is typically bugger all evidence base for these types of test.

In my experience, few people receive any kind of training in interviewing. Unstructured interviews are a worse than average predictor of employee success.

The best predictor seems to be a mix of structured interview, cognitive ability test and behavioural test. In many organisations, it becomes more likely there'll be some psychometric element in hiring for senior/exec roles.

One I've heard good things about is Hogan. Another I've done and used myself is Insights. It's based on Jungian theory (like the discredited Myers Briggs) but I've found it eerily accurate at assessing personality types.

[hairymouse]

Just got my results back.

Apparently I did really well on the horoscope test where I had to rank the words that describe me several times over. One notable result is "Rewards should be geared to loyalty and sincerity, and should provide fringe benefits."

However, I did absolutely awful on the "jump through stupid hoops" test and am apparently in the bottom one percentile of the population in counting the number of columns where the lowercase and uppercase letters coincide.

The hiring lady asked me to explain, which could possibly be the real reason behind the test. I was careful to NOT criticise them or try to argue that the entire test was stupid, just one line to say "doesn't reflect the feedback I've ever received from previous employers or clients. Would you like to set up a time to talk about any open roles....."

[ladymuck]

I once had to do one of these tests, 90 minutes to answer 350 questions. I realised going through it that most questions were repeated but asked in a different way.

The results came back saying I was a control freak. All they had to do was ask and I could have saved those 90 minutes

Ah but if you'd told them, they wouldn't have believed you.

[Batcher]

They're not measuring personality anyway. They're measuring your ability to game a personality test. You can research how to manipulate these tests to get ideal results.

I once had to do one of these tests, 90 minutes to answer 350 questions. I realised going through it that most questions were repeated but asked in a different way.

The results came back saying I was a control freak. All they had to do was ask and I could have saved those 90 minutes