<story><title>I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test</title><url>https://old.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/comments/1ap1345/i_applied_for_a_software_role_at_fedex_and_was/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>doublebind</author><text>Two years ago, I had a similar experience with Chainlink. I underwent hours of interviews and completed an extensive work assignment, only to be offered the job _after a personality test_.
 Simultaneously, I interviewed at a startup. There, I spent about an hour discussing my experience and providing feedback on their current system with the person who would become my manager.&lt;p&gt;I chose the startup, and it has been the best job decision I&amp;#x27;ve ever made.&lt;p&gt;Personality tests can disclose a lot of personal information. It&amp;#x27;s unclear where this data might end up or who might have access to it. I detest this practice and consider it a major red flag.&lt;p&gt;(edit: typos)</text></item><item><author>billy99k</author><text>I once had a SW interview with a job that had a 2-hour long personality test.  No tech questions.  Just random questions to test my personality.  It started  out simple, like &amp;#x27;what was the last book you read&amp;#x27; to more in-depth situations that had nothing to do with the job.&lt;p&gt;The manager interviewing me (who admit he basically just started managing a month prior) told me he just read a &amp;#x27;great book on management&amp;#x27; and wanted to &amp;#x27;try this out&amp;#x27;.  I passed the first interview, but the second was going to be a 5-hour remote codeshare&amp;#x2F;whiteboard interview with the team.  I declined the second interview.&lt;p&gt;I ended up choosing the job that had no whiteboard interview or personality test.  It was just a simple conversation with the tech lead about my previous experience and if I had the experience to work on their current system.&lt;p&gt;It was the best job I ever had and they are still my client almost 5 years later.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Beijinger</author><text>This reminds me when I tried incredibly hard to get a tiny scholarship to study abroad in country X and got rejected. In fact, there were several rounds and I didn&amp;#x27;t even make the first one. My Prof. told me to go to country Y and I hesitated because of the immense administrative burden to apply again and since I was de facto not qualified for a postgraduate scholarship. But application was easy, I got it, and they stuffed me with money.&lt;p&gt;I always remember the words of my Professor: &amp;quot;Don&amp;#x27;t you know that everything where you have to invest a lot (I assume effort, time, money, energy) nothing ever comes out?&lt;p&gt;So if your IT job requires a letter of recommendation from the pope and even if you are able to get the letter, you are unlikely to get the job. :-)</text></comment>
<story><title>I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take a personality test</title><url>https://old.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/comments/1ap1345/i_applied_for_a_software_role_at_fedex_and_was/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>doublebind</author><text>Two years ago, I had a similar experience with Chainlink. I underwent hours of interviews and completed an extensive work assignment, only to be offered the job _after a personality test_.
 Simultaneously, I interviewed at a startup. There, I spent about an hour discussing my experience and providing feedback on their current system with the person who would become my manager.&lt;p&gt;I chose the startup, and it has been the best job decision I&amp;#x27;ve ever made.&lt;p&gt;Personality tests can disclose a lot of personal information. It&amp;#x27;s unclear where this data might end up or who might have access to it. I detest this practice and consider it a major red flag.&lt;p&gt;(edit: typos)</text></item><item><author>billy99k</author><text>I once had a SW interview with a job that had a 2-hour long personality test.  No tech questions.  Just random questions to test my personality.  It started  out simple, like &amp;#x27;what was the last book you read&amp;#x27; to more in-depth situations that had nothing to do with the job.&lt;p&gt;The manager interviewing me (who admit he basically just started managing a month prior) told me he just read a &amp;#x27;great book on management&amp;#x27; and wanted to &amp;#x27;try this out&amp;#x27;.  I passed the first interview, but the second was going to be a 5-hour remote codeshare&amp;#x2F;whiteboard interview with the team.  I declined the second interview.&lt;p&gt;I ended up choosing the job that had no whiteboard interview or personality test.  It was just a simple conversation with the tech lead about my previous experience and if I had the experience to work on their current system.&lt;p&gt;It was the best job I ever had and they are still my client almost 5 years later.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ipsento606</author><text>&amp;gt; Personality tests can disclose a lot of personal information&lt;p&gt;In my experience the only thing personality tests disclose is how good the testee is at guessing which answers will be viewed most favorably</text></comment>