I failed the interview personality test/survey!

[PeachPie]

I applied to a prestigious hospital as a CNA/PCT/Student nurse, and I made it to the 2nd round, which was a computerized personality test with the choices Strongly Agree, Moderately Agree, Slightly Agree, Slightly Disagree, Moderately Disagree, Strongly Disagree. It didn't occur to me until after I had completed it that I should have answered what they wanted. I just received an email stating that I would not be suited for their workplace.

I think that the place that I messed up was the questions along the vein of, "When following safety precautions, all accidents can be avoided?" "I attribute lack of injury to luck," and "Healthcare workers are stressed and overworked because of administrators." I worked LTC and can absolutely state that even with the best safety precautions, injuries are still unavoidable sometimes.

I'm not too fazed about this rejection, as I saw that they're all about customer service. In fact, during the personality test, they never once said patient, it was always about the customer. Hmmm...

Yes, I strongly agree that rude people are always right and should be treated with respect.

Yes, I strongly agree that even when extremely busy, I can still take the time to explain something to somebody of get something for them.

Yes, I strongly agree that any accidents are at the fault of the careless person because s/he did not follow safety procedures.

(Yes, these were actual questions. I answered correctly on these b/c they were thinly disguised).

For pete's sake, there was a gift shop in the lobby that sold Rolex watches! I'm currently waiting tables, and the customer service I do now is less obsequious than the job expectations at this hospital!

The moral of this story: When they say that there is no right or wrong answer with these personality tests, it's bullcrap. Answer the way they want you to in order to get your foot in the door.

[nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN]

I hate to admit it, but I've passed those things for my last 2 jobs. It was / is a big thing in Information Technology.

This is a game, folks. Imagine you're the HR director. What do you want? Quiet. Compliance. No waves. Meek idiots who will buy whatever line you feed them without question. You want to cut wages, increase hours, whatever it takes to get the execs their bonuses, these folks will buy it and be happy about it. So when I took the tests, I put on my "Human Refuse" hat and answered accordingly. Passed with flying colors every time. Told'm I just LOVED pareto charts....

If I go for a job interview as a nurse and see this kind of stuff, I will RUN for the door. I've put in my time as a "Stepford wife"

[mvanz9999, RN]

I wish I had started a list of the buzz words I've come across in all my career. Paradigm, codependancy, consumer driven, service line, transformation, drive/driven, and even "health care" itself.

best practices

service level agreement

downsizing

initiatives

knowledge transfer

mission critical

paradigm

synergistic

Really neat and totally meaningless groups of useless words.

[Antikigirl, ASN, RN]

To me that is actual BS and I would certainly AVOID those places like the plague!!!!!! Personality is not something you can test on, and your own views on things are your own business, it has (well should) have nothing to do with quality of care people give!

Say I strongly agree that a pt has a right to decline a blood transfusion, however I do not agree that a parent can do that to their child if it is a life threatening situation! Given a situation where a child was ordered for a blood transfusion and the parents declined...I would NOT give it and communicate this need to all the displines I needed to. Just because I feel that the parents don't have that right doesn't mean I will go with my own feelings...it is not my choice! I go with the patients choice/parents choice if it is a minor, and illicit help and try to find out why so I can assess for underlying causes for such a choice! I do NOT put my two cents in...again, not my choice to make!

Would I fail a test...that one perhaps but No, because ultimately it is situational based and I always follow the rules and protocols and leave my own personal choices at the door when I walk in!!!!

If I heard a hospital used these tests, I would not only NOT apply, but would NOT be a pt there! They should be doing diversity training instead of this BS! (diversity doesn't just mean race/creed/color but the differences in all peoples and to learn different thoughts and ideas!).

[PeachPie]

The title of this thread cracked me up.. I thought "how can you *fail* a personality test"? Don't worry about it unless you don't have one!

Hehe, reminds me of Julie Brown's "Cause I'm a Blonde:"

I took an IQ test and I flunked it of course!

I can't spell VW but I got a Porsche

Cause I'm blone B-L-I-N-D

[PeachPie]

Update: (Yes, I'm double posting, sorry). I talked to some people who have been working as techs and clerical staff at this hospital, and they said that the HR department had been slashed visciously and replaced by computers. All fo the people I talked to either saw right through the test and answered correctly (one of my friends was even praised that she got a high score on the test even though HR stressed that there was no right or wrong answer), or they've been working for years and applied before the survey replaced human interviews. They say that a lot of people have been rejected due to the test, including one person who had already started orientating on a floor.

Is this happening a lot at hospitals?

[CseMgr1, ASN, RN]

best practices

service level agreement

downsizing

initiatives

knowledge transfer

mission critical

paradigm

synergistic

Really neat and totally meaningless groups of useless words.

Add to this list: "Rank and Yank"....used extensively by the late Ken Lay (Enron).

Need I say more?

[PANurseRN1]

Many years ago I applied for a job at a hospital that thought it was "all that." They gave applicants a personality test, but in person, with two people asking you questions.

One of them asked me "Is it wrong to bend the truth?" I said "That depends on how badly you want to bend it."

I did not get the job.

[kukukajoo, LPN]

okay I had to giggle on this one! First I thought that would be just like me to fail a personality test!

Then when I got down to the post about the squirell--- oh man!!

Thennnnnn when I saw the one about the lady whose test got snickered at and pointed to and never heard back from- I laughed out loud on this!! I can't help but think they had the stinking answer key upside down the whole time and NEVER knew it! I wonder how many psychos they hired who 'passed'!!!!!!

I am howling with laughter thinking about this!!

[BSNtobe2009]

My interview at Kohl's department store went well but when it came to the personality test, I can remember the associate putting the scoring key on top of my answers, then getting a few people to look at it. They were all ina huddle, frowning & one of them asked who's test was it. The guy pointed to me and they "sort of" snickered.---They called me up to the desk & said "you'll hear from us" I left feeling like crap ----standardized personality tests should NEVER replace the good judgement of the interviewer.... I'ts all pretty lame.

....and it does. I applied for a job in college at a Hallmark store. Part-time! It was a corporate owned store and got turned down because of one of those stupid personality tests. They actually told me it was the reason they couldn't hire me.

Anyone on here that has worked in HR can attest: It's the employers that abuse the tests. When they are "sold" to company to use, they are told it is a TOOL to ASSIST them in the hiring process, and should never be used to make a hiring decision. The tests are not without flaw.

Too many employers don't hear the "tool" and "assist" part and use it to make the hiring decision...and it causes some very well-qualified applicants to go work for a competitor.

Side note: I realized after I posted this that someone else applied to Hallmark on this thread got turned down too. I feel so bonded now :)

[Little Flower]

These funky little tests are also used as "deal breakers" when the HR person can't decide which person to give the wonderful employment deal to. Say 2 people come with exact qualifications and everything else is the same, i.e., age, height, weight, well, you know what I mean. They will use these little tests to decide.

It is nothing but a "test" to see how well the person can "play a game and give them the response they want". It is all part of a "package" ....you are a "package" or "packet of information/data". This neat little "package" is then converted to a "file". When you screw up they refer back to the "package/file" to render appropriate discipline...........like "see, you were such a good employee before but something has now HAPPENED to you".

On the other hand when you take a personality test up front before submitting an application they are not looking at you for your qualifications at all but simply how well you can "play the game" and that includes LIE (but of course that means ...lie for them to protect them, to side with them, to deny for them, to cover-up for them). It is all part of the "game".

It is all part of being a "team-player". Haven't you heard those words before. Have you ever wondered what that really meant? Well, you have to have a certain level of intelligence to be able to first think of the correct answer and then second to go above that and think of what they "want" you to say to safisfy the "game". AND, you have to customize ALL of your answers based on what type of job you are going in for, considering the mind set of those that are employed there and the types of personalities you have encountered along the way that match those jobs.

What a twisted world we live in now. Newspeak on words .....right is left and yes is no.

Qualities like conscience, ethics, prinicples, even education and such are on the back burner to quick deceit. Of course, the answer to that statement is: Oh, we NEVER lie here. That is frowned upon. Truth is that is what is meant by the "best candidate for the job = the best liar".

The new "key-words" here are adaptation and flexibility. Can you wing-it? Can you fit into/move into other spots fluidly? Can you please by saying and DOING what they want?

Personality tests are like try-outs for the major leagues. You don't have to have good academic grades to make the team. You just have to be a team-player, know how to throw the ball, when to hold and when to run, how to sweat at the appropriate time and when to smile for the camera.

Psych 103

Think about it.

Just my 2 cents.

[monsterbaby]

Don't worry about it! They're loss is your gain. That's how I feel when I go for an interview with 17 years of nursing under my belt, and whether they will admit it or not, people just don't like tattoos, and I have at least 15 of them. But I'm also 48 years old and not a kid, so that's what I always say, your loss not mine. Maybe that's why I'm back in corrections, where I'm comfortable. Keep your head up!!!

[jeffrey_rn]

These are not personality tests; they are intelligence tests. If you really want the job, you put your honesty on hold, and answer the questions the "right" way- the way that leads you to employment. If you're smart enough to recognize the "right" answer, you will easily "pass" the test and get the job. If you don't really want the job, then you don't compromise your integrity, you answer truthfully, and continue your job search. And if you do want the job but can't discern the "correct" answer, well... that's when you've really failed the test.