After reading the Personality Plus article, I think that it is really neat that so much money is being put into finding personality types. This way we can create a top quality workforce or military. However, i feel like certain careers will only pursue certain personality types. For example, the military would want more people like Alexander Nininger. The only problem with this quest for a top notch workforce, is that once all the preferred personality types are taken, what will happen to the less desirable personalities? I hope that they won't be forced to work in less desirable professions as a result.
My only hope is that a new personality test is designed that is shown to to diagnose preferred personalities. I don't have much faith in the Myers-Briggs test because is was designed almost a century ago.
I do not agree with your views and usage of the personality test in determining employment. I believe that you should be able to work in any profession regardless of your personality, and quite frankly personality should be the last thing anyone should take into account. Personality tests are not 100% accurate and do not determine ones aptitude for doing a job, merely how they may behave/interact at said job. It is not a measure of aptitude and does not determine how knowledgeable you are about the job you are to be performing. In your example, if I wanted to serve my country with honor and distinction and I was turned away because I was an introvert or because I was an emotional person then I'd feel discriminated against. It would be even worse if I had an aptitude for leadership and they picked someone else who is less of a leader, but fits their personality profile better. The different personality types are not without their flaws either. They each point to possible behaviors on the job that are consequentially negative. Bottom line is no personality is perfect and therefore why judge employees on personality to begin with, besides it being discrimination anyway. My last comment is on the meyers-briggs test, and how you say it is out dated. I didn't think the human mind/behavior has changed all that much from a hundred years ago?! The environment is still the same, the human mind is still the same, and I'm sure they had pretty much the same resources to draw on at the turn of the century as we do now for creating such a test. Thus I find it hard to believe why you find the test lacking. Just my two cents.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the previous comment. Personality plays a much more prevalent role, especially in the business world, than you make it out to. For example, if you were a partner at a CPA firm, you would not want someone with a socially awkward personality going out and working at client sites where constant social interaction is a must. I also do not believe that it would be considered "discrimination" if an accounting firm denied employment to someone because of their personality. Anyone applying for a job in the accounting field should know that an outgoing personality is required, because firms that come on campus even tell students what kind of personality best fits the field. The same can be said for other areas of business (finance, management, HR, marketing). Since students are made aware of this, they could try to become more outgoing, or whatever they need to do to become an overall better fit for the accounting position (or finance, marketing, HR, or management position). If the student does not like that a certain personality is preferred for a certain position, then they might want to re-consider their career choice.
ReplyDeleteNo personality is perfect, that is correct. But I do have to agree with Nick in saying employers need to be concerned with their potential employees' personalities. It does play an important role in the decision process. If your personality doesn't fit the job description requirements, then you're probably not fit for that career.
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