Web-based interview/assessment for RN position

Nurses Job Hunt

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

I applied for several jobs at a local hospital, and they sent me a web-based interview assessment/test to complete. It is also sometimes referred to as a personality test. I have taken one of these before and I did not score "correctly" and therefore no longer a candidate for the job. I don't know if maybe I think differently or what (???) I know I am a very visual person, but beyond that no clue:confused:. I am freaking out, I was so hoping that they would not use this test, but it seems all the hospitals here do. Any advice or wisdom?

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

These tests are the latest craze in HR. I had to take one before I was hired for my current job as the DNS and I was hired so I guess I passed. I did fail one once when I was much younger. I wanted to get a job at the local pharmacy and they used a test..okay so it was the dark ages and NOT on line since the Internet hadn't been invented. I 'failed' two questions. 1. Have you ever stolen anything, and 2. Have you ever cheated on a test. I didn't get the job and the store manager told me they all thought I was a liar. What??? He said everyone steals and everyone has cheated on a test. I told him I never stole anything in my life and all those people who did, didn't have MY father for a father. And as far as cheating on a test...I told him I never met anyone smarter than me so why would I bother.

I'm supposed to look at the results of these 'tests' which we're not supposed to call tests, another HR thing, when I am interviewing people. I've never found them to be the least bit helpful in determining who would be a good fit for the job.

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These things are so frustrating! How can they determine someone's personality by administering an online test. I did google tips for them once and, among other things, I read that the answers in the middle of the "Strongly Agree/Strongly Disagree" scale are never correct. If I recall, the explanation was that it makes you seem "wishy washy" if you can neither Strongly Agree nor Strongly Disagree. To me, this sounds ridiculous. I did score "unfavorably" on one of these once (that's how the HR person worded it). Evidently, she wanted me to come in for the interview anyway because she asked me to redo it. She didn't tell me what, exactly, I didn't answer favorably and I don't remember what I did differently the second time around but apparently I passed. The trick, I've been told, is to answer truthfully because they can somehow pick up on the fact that you're trying to give the "best" sounding answer. I guess they can ask the same question in a number of ways to throw you off. I think the best thing to do is sit quietly and in a place where you will be uninterrupted so you can think about your answers and answer honestly. Good luck!!!!

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
These tests are the latest craze in HR. I had to take one before I was hired for my current job as the DNS and I was hired so I guess I passed. I did fail one once when I was much younger. I wanted to get a job at the local pharmacy and they used a test..okay so it was the dark ages and NOT on line since the Internet hadn't been invented. I 'failed' two questions. 1. Have you ever stolen anything, and 2. Have you ever cheated on a test. I didn't get the job and the store manager told me they all thought I was a liar. What??? He said everyone steals and everyone has cheated on a test. I told him I never stole anything in my life and all those people who did, didn't have MY father for a father. And as far as cheating on a test...I told him I never met anyone smarter than me so why would I bother.

I'm supposed to look at the results of these 'tests' which we're not supposed to call tests, another HR thing, when I am interviewing people. I've never found them to be the least bit helpful in determining who would be a good fit for the job.

"the dark ages.." lol, made me laugh! I needed that.

On the first one that I failed, I even asked if there was any chance I could come in and they could determine my personality face to face. The answer was no, of course, due to the HR policy. :uhoh3:

The next commenter was told to never choose in the middle, makes you look wishy-washy, makes sense. Can you tell me if you have noticed for the ones in the 'correct' scoring range, do they answer with only answers on the far left and far right, no middle ground?

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To shed a little more light: We had a nurse recruiter come talk to us from the hospital in which our school was based they use these tests for every candidate. She said that when she got the results, they came back as either a "thumbs up", "thumbs down" or "thumbs in the middle". What I gathered from this was that she didn't get a detailed report of the answers. It's a cruel way to "narrow down" the application pool, if you ask me, lol

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I have only one comment about personality tests....i hate it

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Specializes in Aesthetics, Family Medicine.

Ugh, those tests are ridiculous to me. I guess just answer exactly how you would rather than what THEY want you to put?

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

When I was applying to new grad jobs the past few months, I reapplied to a hospital where I interviewed before, interviewed strong, but they went with a internal candidate...fast forward ten years later, they STILL have my results??? That makes me wonder...

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I had one for Kaiser (I won't say which state) and since then I've gotten a rejection email saying that "based on your online assessment you are not a candidate for this position. You may retest in 6 months" so I'm screwed out of a big, local employer because they didn't like my "strongly agree/strongly disagree" answers. How can my OPINION be wrong?

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