Posted by Wayne Chuen on Fri, Sep 12, 2008 @ 06:02 PM
Criteria's employment test portfolio includes three personality tests: the Criteria Personality Inventory (CPI), the Customer Service Aptitude Profile (CSAP), and the Sales Achievement Predictor (SalesAP). The CSAP and SalesAP are actually the same test instrument and measure the same personality traits, but they produce different score reports and recommendations because customer service and sales positions require different personalities. For example, personality traits such as Assertiveness and Competitiveness are traditionally associated with sales roles, while traits like Cooperativeness and Patience are associated with customer service roles.
If you interview enough salespeople, invariably one of them will tell you that he can sell snow to an Eskimo. Personally, I doubt that I would be able to sell a fireplace to that same Eskimo. The point is that people generally have a good grasp of their personal strengths and weaknesses, and tend to apply for jobs in which they can thrive. Our data bears this out.
We examined the differences in average percentile scores for each of the 18 personality traits measured by the CSAP and SalesAP, and found that there was a distinct and measurable difference between the populations of customer service and sales applicants. For example, those that applied for customer service positions and took the CSAP scored in the 40.2 percentile for the "Sales Closing" trait on average, while those that applied for sales positions and took the SalesAP scored in the 56.9 percentile on average - a difference of 16.7 percentage points. For other traits typically associated with sales, there were strong differences favoring those that took the SalesAP as well: Sales Disposition (8.7 percentage points), Cold Calling (6.9), Competitiveness (8.1), Assertiveness (10.5), and Extraversion (5.5). Similarly, for traits typically associated with customer service, there were differences favoring those that took the CSAP: Cooperativeness (14.5 percentage points) and Patience (5.2).
Of the people that took the CSAP, 47.2% were Highly Recommended for customer service. However, we wanted to see what would have happened if those that took the CSAP actually took the SalesAP, and vice versa. If those applying for sales positions had actually applied for customer service positions, only 32.1% would have been Highly Recommended for customer service, a difference of 15.1 percentage points. Similarly, of the people that took the SalesAP, 17.4% were Highly Recommended for sales. If those applying for customer service positions had actually applied for sales positions, only 7.0% would have been Highly Recommended for sales, a difference of 10.4 percentage points.
Does this mean that all of your applicants will be well-suited for the jobs for which they're applying? Of course not. It does, however, demonstrate that consciously or subconsciously, people understand themselves and tend to apply for jobs at which they can feel comfortable and succeed.
Posted by Eric Loken on Wed, Aug 13, 2008 @ 07:11 PM
We found this article on introversion and extraversion to be interesting. (Another article on the same topic by the same author is found here.) We agree that certain personality dimensions tend to be valued with a one-way function, (e.g. the author points out there are even self-help courses aimed at "curing" introversion and helping people discover their inner extrovert). The article is a good reminder that there are merits at both ends of the introvert-extravert spectrum. The discussion focuses largely on the subjective experience of an individual in accepting (and being accepted for) their orientation when it comes to crowds and interactions. The pictures, however, remind us of people who have achieved great public distinction despite a preference for plenty of alone time.
From the perspective of employee testing, it's important to view employment personality tests in the context of the job demands. Criteria recommends that employers tailor the value they place on certain personality traits to the job characteristics. Extraversion might be a trait better suited to working in reception rather than accounting. There are no right or wrong answers
on personality tests, but in certain jobs there is evidence that people with certain traits tend to perform better than those who don't exhibit these traits. "More" is not necessarily always better when it comes to extraversion, and most employers are aware of this.
What we'd like to add to the discussion is that the construct of introvert/extravert is probably more of a continuum than two sides of a coin. Criteria has an extraversion scale as part of its personality inventory. We find that the scores of prospective employees tend to fall in a rather smooth bell curve, and not as clusters at each end of the continuum. So there's good evidence that it's an oversimplification to describe people using the "introvert" and "extravert" labels from the ends of the continuum (as the Myers-Briggs test does, among others).
Let's also not forget that people may act differently in different contexts. The list of famous introverts contained two outstanding comedians — Jerry Seinfeld and Johnny Carson. Although the definition of introvert is given as "someone who gets their energy from themselves," would anyone doubt that Seinfeld and Carson would prefer a large, packed auditorium to an empty coffee house? Some comedians might like to spend time alone; but all comedians perform best for a crowd.