I have to admit I have always had a very, very, very strong aversion to assessment tests. I took one in high school and it told me I was supposed to be a plumber… and although I am a huge fan of Home Depot and have never met a home improvement project I didn’t like, I’m pretty sure that test was wrong… Well, at least I think so. For now.
Personal history aside, I have always felt that most assessment tests are set up to put people in a box (or an elbow pipe, as the case may be) – rather than open doors to possibilities and options. Perhaps it’s because so many of these tests stem from acadamia, and are more focused on being statistically significant than being useful… but whatever the reason, the mere premise that a “fill in the blank test” could predict the path of one’s career just feels so wrong on so many levels. But for those looking for “the right answer”, perhaps some guidance is better than none.
That said, assessment tests can provide very useful data to employers when they are used as part of their recruitment screening or talent development efforts… almost like the SATs for the post-college world. But are they effective? Are they discriminatory? Do they work better for predicting success in certain types of jobs more than others?
So… what do you think about assessment tests? Friend or foe?
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This post was written by:
Jennifer Floren - who has written 7 posts on Cheezhead Recruiting News and Opinion.
Jenny, founder and CEO, launched Experience in 1996 with the mission to educate, assist and inspire college graduates as they forge new paths into the world of work. Experience has grown its network to include more than 3,800 universities, 100,000 employers and 3 million students and alumni – all of whom are focused on launching the careers of the world’s most important talent.
Jenny has been recognized as one of the nation’s youngest business leaders and achievers by numerous organizations including Forbes, Business Week, New York Times, Working Woman, Boston Business Journal, Women’s Business, and Entrepreneur, and is a frequent speaker at nationwide universities and major business events such as the Kennedy eRecruiting Conference, EMA, the MIT Enterprise Forum, Springboard Venture Capital Forum, and the Association of Colleges & Employers. With a career path as a psychology-major-turned-entrepreneur, a relatively young CEO, a woman in business, an Internet pre- and post-bubble survivor, a venture capital fundraising veteran, an advisor to top universities and Fortune 500 employers, and as someone who helps millions of people find their true calling every day, she has many perspectives to share with her audiences.
Jenny earned a BA in psychology from Dartmouth College in 1993, and was a management consultant with Bain & Company in Boston prior to starting Experience. She is currently a board member and active participant in the MIT Enterprise Forum, Junior Achievement, the Dartmouth College Rockefeller Center for Public Policy, and the Caring Canines organization which certifies and manages therapy service dogs (along with her wheaten terrier sidekick, Bailey).
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