Assessing Students BEYOND the Classroom: Businesses are Assessing Future Employees!
The online application process typically has a “Personality/Employment Assessment” included as part of the application process. This is for screening purposes, serving as another tool that helps match a specific position and a person who fulfills the criteria for the position. There are indeed right and wrong answers that relate to specific job criteria. Typically, you have four options to choose from, when asked whether a statement applies to you or not. In most cases the correct answer is always “Strongly Agree” or “Strongly Disagree”:
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
If you get enough right answers, you go in the “interview” pile and you may be called in for an interview. If you get too many wrong answers, you go in the “no interview” pile and the store will be unable to proceed with the hiring process. Some businesses allow a wait time before you can retake the test to be reconsidered for employment.
The general idea of the test is to try to make sure that you are honest and hard-working but not too ambitious. You must be cheerful at all times and enjoy being around people all day. The answers are mostly straightforward. The only surprising answers are that they think it is good if you think that “You are somewhat a of a thrill-seeker” and that it is bad if you think “Many people cannot be trusted.”
Here are a few commonly used questions and answers:
Question
Answer
Any trouble you have is your own fault
SA
It is easy for you to feel what others are feeling
SA
It is fun to go to events with big crowds
SA
It is maddening when the court lets guilty criminals go free
SA
When someone treats you badly, you ignore it
SA
When you are done with your work, you look for more to do
SA
When you go someplace, you are never late
SA
When your friends need help, they call you first
SA
You agree with people more often than you argue
SA
You always try not to hurt people’s feelings
SA
You are a friendly person
SA
You are always cheerful
SA
You are careful not to offend people
SA
You are proud of the work you do at school or on a job.
SA
You are somewhat a of a thrill-seeker
SA
You avoid arguments as much as possible
SA
You can wait patiently for a long time
SA
You chat with people you don’t know
SA
You could describe yourself as ‘tidy’
SA
You do not fake being polite
SA
You do things carefully so you don’t make mistakes
SA
You finish your work no matter what
SA
You give direct criticism when you need to
SA
You got mostly good grades in high school
SA
You hate to give up if you can’t solve a hard problem
SA
You have always had good behavior in school or work
SA
You have confidence in yourself
SA
You have no big regrets about your past
SA
You have no big worries
SA
You ignore people’s small mistakes
SA
You keep calm when under stress
SA
You know when someone is in a bad mood, even if they don’t show it
SA
You like to be in the middle of a big crowd
SA
You like to plan things before you do them.
SA
You like to talk a lot
SA
You love to be with People.
SA
You love to listen to people talk about themselves
SA
You make more sensible choices than careless ones
SA
You rarely act without thinking
SA
You think of yourself as being very sensible
SA
You try to sense what others are thinking and feeling
SA
You were absent very few days from high school
SA
You work best at a slow but steady speed
SA
You would rather work on a team than by yourself
SA
Your friends and family approve of the things you do
SA
Your moods are steady from day to day
SA
It bothers you a long time when someone is unfair to you
SD
It bothers you when you have to obey a lot of rules
SD
It is hard to really care about work when the job is boring
SD
Many people cannot be trusted
SD
Other people’s feelings are their own business
SD
People are often mean to you
SD
People do a lot of annoying things
SD
People do a lot of things that make you angry
SD
People who talk all the time are annoying
SD
People’s feelings are sometimes hurt by what you say
SD
Right now, you care more about having fun than being serious at school or work
SD
Slow people make you impatient
SD
There are some people you really can’t stand
SD
There’s no use having close friends; they always let you down
SD
When people make mistakes, you correct them
SD
When you are annoyed with something, you say so
SD
When you need to, you take it easy at work
SD
You are a fairly private person
SD
You are more relaxed than strict about finishing things on time
SD
You are not afraid to tell someone off
SD
You are not interested in your friends’ problems
SD
You are unsure of what to say when you meet someone
SD
You are unsure of yourself with new people
SD
You change from felling happy to sad without any reason
SD
You could not deal with difficult people all day
SD
You criticize people when they deserve it
SD
You do not like small talk
SD
You do not like to meet new people
SD
You do not like to take orders
SD
You do some things that upset people
SD
You do what you want, no matter what others think
SD
You don’t act polite when you don’t want to
SD
You don’t believe a lot of what people say
SD
You don’t care if you offend people
SD
You don’t care what people think of you
SD
you don’t work hard because it doesn’t pay off anyway
SD
You don’t worry about making a good impression
SD
You get angry more often that nervous
SD
You get mad at yourself when you make mistakes
SD
You have friends, but don’t like them to be too close
SD
You have to give up on some things that you start
SD
You ignore people you don’t like
SD
You like to be alone
SD
You like to take frequent breaks when working on something difficult
SD
You look back and feel bad about things you’ve done
SD
You say whatever is on your mind
SD
You show it when you are in a bad mood
SD
You sometimes thought seriously about quitting highschool
SD
You swear when you argue
SD
You would rather not get involved in other people’s problems
SD
You’d rather not compete very much
SD
You’ve done your share of troublemaking
SD
Your stuff is often kind of messy
SD