Pre-Employment Survey Prior to Interview

Nurses Job Hunt

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I was sent this survey via email and wasn't sure why. About an hour later a recruiter calls me to set up an interveiw for next week and tells me to take the survey before then. There were a few questions I wasn't sure how to answer, so I chose somewhere in the middle. The choices for most answers were

  1. Strongly Agree
  2. Agree
  3. Neither disagree/agree/neutral
  4. Disagree
  5. Strongly Disagree

If the recruiter did not like my results, do you think I will be notified prior to my interview; would they cancel my interview?

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They are more of a way to see what kind of person you are. Loyal, team player, or loner, so they can see if and where you will fit in. I think they would still interview you. Hope this helps.

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Were the questions related to how you work with others; teamwork; and ethics? One hospital I have applied at has a "test" that you have to take once (a year I think), no matter how many times you apply. I am not sure how they use it, but have heard that supervisors use it to determine if you are a good match for their unit.

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You should be fine. Somewhere in the middle is a good way to go on the trickier questions imo. I dislike those tests. I try not to answer like I think they want me to, because the test itself is often little more than a BS meter. I love questions like... "You put a dollar in a soda machine and an extra bottle of soda dispenses. Do you put another dollar in to pay for the extra soda?" Um, no! In reality, about 0% of the population would put an extra dollar in the machine if that happened, and the test makers know this. Applicants trying to impress will answer "Yes" Or "Agree," thinking that's what the employer wants to hear. In reality, putting "No" makes you seem a lot more honest and reasonable and it's worked for me... I've been offered a job both times I had to take this kind of test. So, putting middle of the road answers on the tricky questions is probably a safe bet, and you should be fine. Good luck w/ your interview.

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Example questions: Do you like to read difficult material? Or do I prefer to work alone? How many friends do I have working for this organization? How many people can I rely on in a real emergency? My life is slow paced [something like that]? Committees and groups are used to divert blame [something along those lines]?

Oh, and the one I had the hardest time with: A coworker breaks the rules do you:

  1. Get very upset and say something
  2. Get very upset and say nothing
  3. Get very upset and [i forgot]
  4. As long as it doesn't affect me, do nothing.

I think I chose number one. But I wouldn't be like in-your-face-confrontational either.

I'd hate to get all nervous and prepared for this interview and have them tell me when I get there I 'failed' my personality exam without getting the chance to sell myself.

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I really, really doubt you failed the personality exam. I've had friends tell me that interviewers have asked for clarification to answers my friends gave on a pre-screening test. In one case, the interviewer even went so far as to say "I know you really meant to say this, right?" (person in that case got hired). Clearly, in the hardest example above, if someone breaks a rule, you should report it. Would you really in real life... depends. But among the choices given, that is clearly the "right" answer. A better answer would be "Don't get upset and say something," but it wasn't a choice. In the interview, if the personality exam even comes up (it might not), you might address some of the questions and state that what you believe to be the optimal answer wasn't a choice.

In any event, I believe you are perhaps worrying a bit too much about this test. If you found a question to be tricky, rest assured so did every other interviewee. The actual interview will be much, much more heavily weighted than that personality test. If anything, answers you have given on your personality test might trigger an interviewer to dig deeper in certain areas, or ask certain questions based on particular answers. The test itself is likely not a deal breaker, but rather a gauge for them to explore potential pitfalls and weaknesses in a candidate. I truly believe you will be fine.

I only know of one friend of mine who took a personality test and absolutely failed to get an interview. It was an online assessment for PetsMart. After she took the test (it was really long....like 75 questions I believe), the computer screen simply stated "We thank you for your interest in PetsMart...blah blah blah ...You currently don't meet our needs." But that was online, and set up to screen x number of people out. In your case, you already have an interview scheduled. And this friend tends to be impulsive and speaks her mind... I'm sure she answered questions w/out thinking too much about them and she wasn't even all that excited about working there anyway. You do not sound like this at all, so again, I don't believe you have anything to worry about. Just knock 'em dead in the interview!

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I had my interview and I think it went good. The nurse mananger asked a few questions based off of my answers on the survey. She said she normally doesn't do that, but my guess is, she wanted some clarity on why I answered the way I did for a few questions. I felt like I was able to clear up some potential misconceptions.

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