''' STUDENTS PERSONALITY
TESTING '''
MOTHER ANNE, gave me and Christopher, a long, penetrating, quizzical look. The one she specially reserved for us. and our reputation and our turbid habits.
Typically, I inched forward towards her desk and -moused-mouthed, ''Please, mother, can we get two more library comics issued?''
'What are you both reading?' she asked
''I am reading, Robin Hood, and The Lone Ranger comics, Mother,..... and Christopher here, is reading about, the famous US Sheriff, Wyatt Earp.''
This sent the old nun into fits of laughter. A laughter that bright the other nuns scurrying in.
'Fancy you,'' she said. 'Sorry, silly, -you both.'' And with those remarks she began nodding her head in a unique gyrating motion.
When out of her chamber, and on safer grounds, we both let out a yelp or two, as if celebrating a successful space rocket lift-off
But some firms think and firmly believe that ''psychometric tests'' help. And, so, an industry has appeared to supply them.
No one knows how big it is, but the vendors of such tests estimate it to be worth between $2 billion and $4 billion a year, says Nik Kinley, a co-author of ''Talent Intelligence'', a forthcoming book.
Headhunters such as Heidrick & Struggles and Egon Zehnder are trying to get a foothold in the market.
Another Korn.Ferry, paid $80million for PDI Ninth House, a specialist vendor.
IBM and Oracle, two software giants, have bought firms with a talent measurement arm. Consultancies such as Deloitte and Bain are rumoured to be eyeing similar acquisitions.
Firms like psychometeric tests because they are cheap -as little as $30 per candidate- and allow an employer to whittle a mountain of job applications down to shortlist with minimal effort.
But do they work?
Many seeks to measure touchy-feely traits such as personality, leadership potential and ''emotional intelligence'' .
These are hard to measure. Tests that purport to do so are as likely to mislead as to inform, says Mr Kinley.
Unsurprisingly, the firms that attempt to measure personality disagree.
Korn/Ferry says that its blue/chip clients are convinced of its test's efficacy. It assesses candidates for four ''leadership styles'', task-focused, social, intellectual, and participative.
It then compares results against the best talent already working in the position for which they are applying.
One writer/author was tested in the Korn/Ferry test. He was assessed for to see if he would make a good director of a publishing firm. He was later told that his leadership style was intellectual.
Having studied thousands of examples, Korn/Ferry says one-thing good leaders have in common is a willingness to let a new evidence change their views.
So, the firm asks candidates to put themselves in the position of a manager who has been sent to a tricky overseas office, and judges how well they react to different scenarios.
However, some think such tests are easy to game.
John Rust, the director of Cambridge University's Psychometrics Centre, says the expected answers are usually obvious.
Firms, he says end up ''selecting the people who know what the right answers are''.
This would fine for a calculus test, but not for one that purports to measure personality, he argues.
With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW! -the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:
''' Future Leaders '''
'''Good Night and God Bless
SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless
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