Charlatan

I have just found out that I have to take a psych test for a job that I am trying to get.

I have no idea what to expect other than that it should take 30 to 45 minutes.

My biggest worry is that they are going to confirm what I have always suspected... that I am just a little bit mad.

On a more serious note, has anyone else ever had to take one of these tests? What can I expect?

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

ubertuber

I didn't have to take a test to get my current job, but they seem to be doing everything in their power to drive me crazy. I guess being crazy ahead of time would have been a moot point.

Whoever this employer is, they must take their stuff pretty seriously!

__________________
Cogito ergo spud -- I think, therefore I yam

healer

It would depend on the job, wouldn't it?

I've never been asked to take any kind of psych eval/test, but I can see how - for certain types of work - it'd be important.

__________________

RAGEAngel9

Is it like with a shrink?
Or is it those crappy behavioral questions?
I get asked those for most jobs now.
I hate them so.

Charlatan

It's not with a shrink. As far as I know it is a behavioral test.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

snowy

Both my aunt and her wife have had to pass these tests in the past to work in corrections.

If they can pass, you'll be fine.

__________________
If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

fresnelly

My current employer did ask me a few informal psych questions. "If you could be an animal, what would you be?" etc... By that time the job was in the bag and they were just going through the motions, trying to draw me out beyond resume-speak.

You'll do fine. I hope you enjoy your stint with Consumer Recreation Services.

highthief

The only thing you can do is answer it honestly. There is usually a portion of the test results that the reviewer (often a computer program these days) interprets called "distortion", which basically measures whether you were being honest about your answers or trying tailor your responses to what you think the employer wishes to hear.

Answer honestly, be yourself is the best approach

__________________
Si vis pacem parabellum.

Cynthetiq

I took a psych eval test a couple months ago. it was filling in all the bubbles of strongly agree strongly disagree... questions ranging from feelings to situations and outcomes.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

BigBen

Seriously, I have taken those tests that are about 500 questions long, and you HAVE TO answer either Yes or No;

Q: I feel bad because I want to hurt my father.
Y or N

Um. What if I Don't want to hurt my father? Do I answer No? Or does that just mean that I quite enjoy the urge to inflict pain upon my papa?

Q: I am the only one that hears the voices in my head.

Uh oh. Well, since I am quite sure that others have also heard the anguished cries of the tormented spirits that are begging for violent release, I should say no. I mean, how could anyone NOT hear the voices rattling around upstairs? They are loud enough to wake the neighbors.

Take it easy, Charlie. Although you are crazy, you are also smart enough to realize that only a trained professional will be able to diagnose it, not some stupid test.

Just answer the way a normal person would. (and for fuck sakes, don't ask me for any of the answers...)

__________________
3.141592654
Hey, if you are impressed with my memorizing pi to 10 digits, you should see the size of my penis.

Charlatan

Oh God... I'm doomed!


/me also scratches Ben off his list for the "call a friend" option.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

rockogre

I'll bet you aren't any madder than the rest of us or you wouldn't worry about it. I remember taking one of those in boot camp. They often asked the same question in more than one way to see if you always answer the same.

I remember one of the most interesting questions was "Do you have a fear of doorknobs"? Being a small town boy fresh out of high school, this struck me as strange. I asked about it later and was told it was part of a set of questions to see if I had an inordinate fear of germs. Who woulda thought. By the way, being a perverse sort of guy, I answered yes just for the fun of it. Didn't seem to matter.

Just answer truthfully and don't overthink the questions.

So BigBen, should I be concerned about those voices in my head? It is really true that no one else hears them? I really only worry about that one that keeps saying "Hey ya'all, watch this".

__________________
Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you,
Jesus Christ and the American G. I.
One died for your soul, the other for your freedom

Shuma

Got one of those comming up as well, behavior interviews that is..
and finished another one a few weeks ago..

I'm try to land a tech job and any big company seems to want these.


The first one i had was for CGI and it went smooth... and i was told that i passed it and put on to the 3rd interview level (technical ) which i also passed..

as for the behavior interview though.. they both seem to be the same sort.. cept Accenture is a bit more detailed.. They outline a senario and you need to tell them what you would do and provide them with examples of how you have been in simular situations in the past. ie: a teamate is not pulling his weight on a project what do you do? You and your teamate disagree on how to approach a problem what do you do? etc..




right now i'm waiting on the closing interview for one company and the behavior for another. i swear these corp. interviews are going to make me insane.

good luck with yours.. my next one will either be tomorrow or the next day.


Shuma

Craven Morehead

I've taken them before. Usually its a behavioral test to determine personality traits. There are no wrong answers. Unless you are totally dishonest. Best to answer truthfully and if that knocks you out of the job you just saved yourself from being miserable in that job if you were hired.

percy

I think they are a bunch of BS. I applied for a job about 6 months ago and did the test.But first, a friend who worked where I was seeking employment leeked me the test that I could do online.

So I do the test online and the score comes out 37/42. Not bad I thought. The online test even gave explanations as to right and wrong answers for each question.

Now the actually test I did had every question from the online test with the exception of about 5 questions. Well blow me away when 2 months later I get my results thanking me for applying for the job BUT my psych score didn't get over the minimum 60%. Total utter bullshit.

The only difference between the scores was the online score was calculated by a computer program while the written test was marked by an actual person.

At the same time I also wrote an English test and scored 88%. I think one of the questions was to define subjectivity.Hmmm,...got that one right.

CaliLivChick

I worked at a company that hosted/updated an online behavior test. This one was to identify if the candidate had the right personality for the job, and we had to take it every once in awhile to make sure it was working/printing correctly. I agree with Craven... if the test says you're not right for the position, and you've answered the questions honestly, then be thankful that you didn't take a position where you wouldn't have been happy.

__________________
Don't trust anything that can bleed for a week and not die. Oh wait, that's me... nevermind... you can trust me.

frogza

About 6 years ago I had to take psych test for a job. It consisted of a verbal quiz with someone who was supposedly trained to administer the test, track my answers and non verbal cues. THen a written test with the standard personality test questions. The results surprised me, creative genius/insane. It word "insane" in the results were realy surprising to me, doesn't sound clinical enough.

On the bright side I got the job and had an excuse for any behaviors that they considered a little odd.

CaliLivChick

Frogza... makes me wish my job would give me a test that says I'm an insane genius. I could use the excuse. =)

__________________
Don't trust anything that can bleed for a week and not die. Oh wait, that's me... nevermind... you can trust me.

Elphaba

Charlatan, Ben is describing the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) and I don't think you will be taking that one because it normally takes at least an hour to complete. (Ben wasn't exagerating about 500 questions).

It's more likely that you will be taking personality type tests. Google "business personality tests" to get an idea. Here is one link:

http://jobsearch.about.com/cs/person...nalitytest.htm

Sage

Yeah, it's a standard thing to give a psych test. The tests are geared so that it's very hard to lie on them, usually with about twenty categories with three to five questions that are worded very similarily but are different enough that they aren't repetitive (ie- Y/N answers to the following: "I tend to smile a lot" "I have always gotten complements on how often I smile" "I find myself smiling at random times of the day without knowing why").

Unless you have hidden tendencies to buy an Uzi off the black market and kill your boss and your co-workers Nigerian execution style, don't worry about the psych eval!

__________________

Pip

One thing you might want to check up is what they're going to do with the test results afterwards, if they're going to keep them around for future reference if you ever apply for another job in the organisation or if they're going to throw them away. My brother applied for a job as a train driver some years ago and had to do a test and got labelled as having "communication difficulties". Will this be held against him if he ever applies for another job at that huge corporation? Maybe.

Sultana

Ohh, excellent point, Pip!

__________________
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath.
At night, the ice weasels come." -

Matt Groening

My goal? To fulfill my potential.

Willravel

I wrote the psych test for my company. If yours is anything like mine, it's been chewed up and spit out by the legal department, and is no longer usefull. Just answer honestly, and you should be fine (or in a white coat). If they give you a letter grade, it might be time to apply elsewhere.

Charlatan

The test is tomorrow at 8 am. Wish me luck!

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

maleficent

the nice young men in their clean white coats will be coming to take you away shortly thereafter - ha ha

Seriously, you'll do fine - don't try to 'beat' the test- just answer the questions honestly... though - not about the voices...

__________________

Charlatan

Should I take the answers from the voices? Do you think they would score better than I?

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

CaliLivChick

Good luck, Charlatan! As for the voices, are they usually right? Do you usually follow their instructions? If so, then yes, because they'll probably be the ones leading the charge at the new job too. =)

__________________
Don't trust anything that can bleed for a week and not die. Oh wait, that's me... nevermind... you can trust me.

G5_Todd

ive taken 4 of em....mine were a few hours thou....

they were just multiple choice questions......they want to see if you will contradict yourself.....they will ask the same question 5 times in five different ways....

also i was interview by the doc at the end

__________________
"....and when you men get home and face an anti-war protester, look him in the eyes and shake his hand. Then, wink at his girlfriend, because she knows she's dating a pussy."

-General Franks

Charlatan

Finished the test. It was different from the ones that I checked out online. That said, it seemed to serve a similar purpose.

I had to re-order a series of sentances so they were in an order that described me best. The second half of the test reordered the sentances into other groups. I then had to put them in order.

I was told that I met the criteria and wouldn't be required to take the test again.


It was a weird experience. I am not used to giving employers that kind of information about myself.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

NoSoup

Told you met the criteria and wouldn't have to take the test again? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?


**Rate these actions 1-5, with 1 being the best way to describe your likest action, 5 being the least likely**

_1_Go Postal and Kill all your friends, coworkers, and colleages.
_4_Work well in a team environment, completing assigned tasks on time
_2_Embezzle/Defraud the company, employees, and the public - a la Enron.
_3_Consistantly complete assigned tasks in a satisfactory manner
_5_Perform due dilligence to ensure that each task is completed properly

*Employer* - "Gee Charlaton... Can you retake the test? We're gonna need some different answers if you want to work here..."

__________________
I have an aura of reliability and good judgement.

Just in case you were wondering...