Have you ever filled out an Unicru questionnaire and never heard back about the job? Do you find the questions bizarre? Do you want to beat them at their own game?
While job hunting, I have run into MANY sites that use unicru. Let me start off by saying, they are never looking for you to agree or disagree -- stick to the Strongly agree/disagree answers. >>>>Wiki it<<<<.
>>>>WrongPlanet.net<<<< features a forum of information regarding how to handle these 'personality tests'. I think their is a lot of information you can get from a personality test, but each person is different -- and just because they disagree with something certainly does not mean they could never amount to being a good employee.
I am simply being a good samartain and passing along the useful information that was passed on to me.
http://www.newsreview.com/chico/Content?oid=47170Posted by: >>>>YowlingCat<<<< of WrongPlanet.net
Quote: With the increased use of personality employment tests, the résumé and cover letter may soon be a thing of the past.
Perhaps just another condition for living in the computer age, with online job applications and background checks galore, personality pre-employment screening is quickly becoming a common feature in corporate America. Awaiting job applicants at many large retailers are 100 questions designed to measure personality compatibility before an interview is even scheduled.
Anything, it would seem, is fair game on these personality tests, with questions ranging from comfort levels in crowds to an applicant’s opinion regarding the legal system. Applicants are given a score--color-coded green, yellow or red--that indicates which applicants are worth interviewing in person, with little regard for actual work experience. Critics have called the tests discriminatory, resulting in lower scores for some racial or socioeconomic groups.
Unicru, an Oregon-based company, is one of the administrators of the personality tests and provides the questions and guidance for pre-employment screening used at numerous retailers in Chico. Founded in 1987, Unicru estimates it will process up to 15 million applications this year for its clients, which include Target, Raley’s, Albertsons and Lowe’s Home Improvement.
Kim Beasley, Unicru public relations representative, said the tests “try to measure underlying traits that are important to clients [including] customer service attributes, sales [and] dependability.”
David Scarborough, chief scientist at Unicru and one of the test’s creators, is perhaps its most passionate defender. He said for hourly jobs, personality can be one of the best predictors for job performance.
“I personally believe that when you use a well-designed test, you are helping that applicant find their way into jobs that they are going to be successful at,” Scarborough said.
The benefits for employers are hard to ignore. Chris Ahearn, spokeswoman for Lowe’s Home Improvement, said the Unicru testing helps by making the application process more efficient.
Illegible handwriting on applications is no longer a problem, she said, and the system “can gather information about potential employees and then plug them in where they best fit.”
Lowe’s has been working with Unicru for about three years, and although Lowe’s does not release turnover figures, Ahearn said the Unicru system helps with openings that “change frequently.”
But with ambiguous questions and others that refer to private matters, the real concern is whether or not these tests discriminate against specific groups of people.
If applicants are completing the test honestly, questions about comfort levels in crowds may lead to discrimination against those with mental disabilities, such as social anxiety disorder.
In a June 2005 case in Illinois involving a psychological test called the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, presiding Judge Terence Evans cited a federal Health and Welfare code that states it is discriminatory for employers to use “qualification standards, employment tests, or other selection criteria that screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a disability.”
Scarborough said unlike the MMPI test, Unicru’s are “designed to measure normal personalities.”
Although Scarborough said to date there has not been a successful lawsuit against Unicru, Claudia Center, the senior staff attorney for Legal Aid Society–Employment Law Center in San Francisco, said she thinks there is definitely a case to be made against the tests.
So basically, we are getting lazier and lazier. Because someone might not have perfect hand writing and you might have to try a little harder to read their application.....we should just ask stupid questions?
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