Applicants' Personalities Put to the Test
By TODDI GUTNER
Armed with an M.B.A. from Arkansas State University, 24-year-old Dana
Lund figured she had what she needed to succeed at her new job in the
sales-training program at Acxiom Corp., a global interactive marketing
firm.
But it wasn't until she took the Birkman Method personality assessment
test -- a 45-minute assessment to identify an individual's work style
and behavior -- that she really got the tools she needed. The Little
Rock, Ark.-based Acxiom requires nearly every new employee to take the
298-question test. Ms. Lund, who joined the company last year, says she
quickly learned she worked best by planning a task step-by-step, being
creative and having time to reflect. "It has helped me to learn how to
interact better with work teams and to leverage my strengths in the
workplace," she says.
Many young people are facing this extra hurdle. These days, more than
80% of midsize and large companies use personality and ability
assessments for entry and midlevel positions as either pre-employment
or new-employee orientation tools, says Scott Erker, a senior vice
president at Development Dimensions International, a global
human-resources consultancy. These assessments have been widely used in
retail positions but are quickly spreading to other industries,
including finance, technology, health care and operations.
Ultimately, these tests aim to help a company hire a specific type of
person for a job that might require particular traits -- or conversely,
to rule out traits that are likely to lead to job failure. "Companies
understand that the right personality fit is a critical criteria for
good performance," says Mr. Erker. Getting that fit right reduces
turnover costs -- typically one year's salary -- required to recruit
and train each professional. "You can reduce turnover up to 50% with
the right pre-employment assessment," Mr. Erker says.
What's more, companies are using them to screen candidates as they
apply; candidates won't even get an interview unless they reach a
certain score or result.
That's how Murrel Karsh, president of Windy City Fieldhouse, uses a
test that measures attention to detail to hire for the team-building
and corporate-event company. In the past three years, more than 100
applicants have been required to take the test, which asks takers to do
things like do a count of the letter "l" in a three-sentence paragraph
to measure how carefully a respondent works. The test, provided by
Roswell, Ga.-based PreVisor, has done its job. Mr. Karsh says he has
found that people who have results below a certain score don't do well
on the job.
While you can't study for a personality assessment, there are some
things you can do to get a leg up. First, do your homework to
understand the job and the organization, says Mr. Erker. "The criteria
used to score the test is linked to the job being filled," he says. Try
to find out which assessment is being used and then research how and
why companies use it. That will give you insight into the company and
the particulars of the job.
If the job you're applying for has a high customer-service requirement,
for example, then it's likely that the test will try to determine
whether you have those personality characteristics that are necessary
to deal with people of all temperaments and the patience to solve
problems on a continuing basis. If that's not you, you might not want
to continue your application.
It might be tempting to study up on what kind of answers you should
give to score well, but experts caution against doing so. "Don't try to
psych out the test," says Jo Bennett, a partner at Battalia Winston, an
executive recruiting firm in New York. Be honest and open in your
answers. If you lie or try to manipulate your answers to land a job
that doesn't fit you or your personality, you're more likely to be
miserable at work. If you land a job and then try to fudge a work-style
assessment, you could find yourself misunderstood by your boss.
Matt Rion, a 29-year-old marketing and operations manager at Windy City
Fieldhouse, was a bit anxious when asked to take the
attention-to-detail test a few years ago. "I didn't really know where
the assessment factored into the application process," says Mr. Rion
who now administers the test himself. "I understand now that we just
want to make sure that someone has the capability to do the job."
Results of the pre-interview assessments aren't generally shared with
job applicants. But if your assessment was given after you agreed to
take a job, the results of the test are typically shared.
Ms. Lund, now a client-relationship manager with Acxiom, not only
learned she was a planner in her work style but also what that meant:
She tends to be very organized and needs to know well in advance what
needs to be done to complete a job.
The Birkman test also gave her insight into her co-workers. Results are
given on a four-square matrix attached to a color: green
(communicator), red (problem solver), yellow (detailed scheduler) and
blue (planner). At Acxiom, everyone wears their Birkman colors on a
badge. If Ms. Lund is working with a communicator she says she knows
she will need to provide a lot of information to that person, or if her
work partner is a detailed scheduler Ms. Lund knows she needs to be
very specific.
"We see the assessment as an opportunity for our professionals to
better understand themselves," says Debbie Pyle, human-resources
training and development leader at the company.

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