Essay About Behavioral Tests And Behavioral Testing

Behavioral Testing to Gain Employment
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Effective Persuasive Writing Com/110
Carmen Jones
Western International University
Behavioral Testing to Gain Employment
Effective Persuasive Writing Com/110
Behavioral Testing to Gain Employment
Behavioral tests should only be used as a guide in the hiring process and
should not be used to determine if an applicant gets the interview or not. Since
they are usually the first step in the hiring process they often lead to the unfair
elimination of candidates. Imagine being eliminated before you even get the
chance to let them get to know who you are. You’re an excellent employee, you
work hard, you have made companies money, but because you did not answer
the questions in a manner that fits the mold you’re eliminated. Just like that your
out of the running no second chances, wow!
Where did it all begin?
Physiological testing began in the 19th century, as society became interested
in what makes people tic. Some large companies adopted the idea of testing
their employees early on. They thought it would be a great to see if the people
they were hiring had the right stuff. Salesmen and public transportation workers
were among the first employees to take the test. These tests were used in World
War I and World War II to test soldiers to see which ones were apt to panic on
the battle field. These test over time evolved from describing what you see on an
ink blot to the more standardized questions and rating scales; which are still
being used in many modern tests today. (Robert Kamen p10) According to
Annie Murphy Paul, Author of Cult of Personality, there are approximately 2500
Personality tests a today a $400 million dollar a year business (p. 5).
Why Interview or review applications?
Interviewing and reviewing applications is still an important and vital part of
the hiring process. This is the time where the employer can get know the
applicants by asking trigger questions, noting responses and body language.
Reviewing the application and calling work references gives you a good idea of
what type of employee the applicant is. Hilda Camargo states that behavioral
testing should only be used as one third of the hiring process. The problem is
that employers are using these tests to determine if the applicant should get the
interview. The misuse of behavioral tests results in an unfair elimination of
potential employees and breaking privacy laws.
Some employees have complained to civil rights groups. Worrying that
supervisor’s and managers will use the information from these tests to justify
lower pay raises and poor reviews. The Civil Liberties Union has questioned the
pysclogical testing in the interview process. They say those employers who are
using these test are treading on thin ice of privacy laws (Robin Kamen). The US
Court of