Self portrait?

October 28, 2009 8:40 AM

A prospective employer is sending me a Rembrandt Portrait Profile for me to fill out. Does anyone in the hive have any experience with this tool? What will it really tell them about me?
posted by bluejayway to work & money (4 comments total)

It tells you more about them - in particular, that they use bizarre and non-scientific methods for hiring. The only companies that I've seen use these sorts of techniques are either Wal-Mart or cults. Stay far away, and find a better employer.
posted by saeculorum at 8:53 AM on October 28, 2009

You can't really fail a test like this. It has probably been included in the hiring process to fulfill a well-meaning Human Resource mandate to understand prospective employees. I would doubt that the test itself had much to do with whether or not you were actually hired.

If you actually want the job, I would approach the test with the appropriate amount of respect. They might use the test methodology as a vocabulary to talk about your strengths and weaknesses. The employer values it and you can show that you're on board by being interested in discussing the results in light of your abilities and work ethic, etc.
posted by dobie at 9:56 AM on October 28, 2009

This falls squarely within my line of business, and I had never heard of the test. So I looked at their promotional material and "technical manual". It purports to measure several personality dimensions, but they provide a hiring recommendation to the employer. So they must be working from some profile of the job for which you are being considered.

If you check out their website you can see the dimensions they assess. They provide no hints about their methodology, but I would expect there are some simple statements to which you indicate agreement or degree of agreement.

Because there's no real validity data provided, nor any sample reports, it's hard to say what the prospective employer might learn about you from this. As dobie says, though, you need to take the process seriously if you actually want the job.

I would recommend, though, that you make and keep a copy of the test itself. Just in case. (And if you'd happen to memail it to me, either before or after the fact, I would like to see it and would be happy to offer some more substantive comments based on the test itself.)
posted by DrGail at 10:56 AM on October 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

I had to take something like this once, I think. Can't remember what it was called, it may not even be related, but it was a bunch of questions like:

Is it ever okay to take something from work, even if it's not very valuable?

Is it okay to be late to work if you have a good excuse?

Is it okay to come to work under the influence of drugs if it only happens once a month?

And lots of different wordings of these three basic questions.

I think part was yes/no and part was Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree.

I realized immediately that this wasn't a place I ever wanted to work so answered very honestly (sure it's okay to come in high once a month, it's a desk clerk position at a hotel, not a bloody aircraft piloting position). Needless to say, I wasn't called back.
posted by Jawn at 1:20 AM on October 29, 2009 [1 favorite]