SATs for J-O-B-S

By Lisa Takeuchi Cullen

Applied for a job lately? Then your prospective employer probably knows how you spend your Saturday nights. Your could-be boss may also know more about your bathroom habits, sexual preferences and deep thoughts than does the person who shares your bed.

That's if you, like millions of other job applicants, submitted to a personality test. At least 30% of employers--from governments to hospitals, restaurants to law firms, Wal-Mart to DuPont--use a version of the tests in hiring. Even CEOS get tested, which makes sense given their salaries. Carly Fiorina reportedly took a 900-question test before landing the top job at Hewlett-Packard.

Although the tests have been around for more than a century, employers have increasingly glommed on to them for one main purpose: retention. Companies yearn to nip turnover, which averages about 15% across the workforce and costs at least a quarter of a departing worker's salary. Poorly performing employees are costly, to the tune of $100 billion a year in the U.S., according to one study. The tests claim to predict a worker's "fit" with the job and corporate culture--thereby increasing chances that the hire will stick. (H-P, of course, may want its money back; Fiorina was ousted last year.)

Computerization has made administering the tests easier and cheaper, helping the industry grow to about 2,500 companies raking in $400 million a year. Here's what you need to know:

What do personality tests measure? It depends on the test. "Screen-out" tests like the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) are used to detect the proclivity toward substance abuse and psychopathology; 60% of police departments in the U.S. use the MMPI. The California Psychological Inventory, a popular "screen-in" test, can help determine the right person for the job by attempting to predict how someone will behave. The Myers-Briggs is frequently used by employers on existing employees to measure leadership and teamwork skills. Other tests gauge dependability, stress management and motivation.

How accurate are they? No test is an infallible predictor of behavior, says Paul Sackett, a professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota who has studied the tests for 25 years. But standards have improved vastly over the past decade, thanks to the emergence of a uniform language involving five main types of behavior. The testing industry remains largely unregulated, however. "There's still a Wild West of unsupported, unproven tests out there," says Annie Murphy Paul, author of The Cult of Personality Testing.

Can you game a personality test? Yes, say books and websites that purport to tell you how. Applicants often try to answer questions to make themselves look attractive. But tests have got better at fingering the liars, mainly by arranging questions to indicate a pattern--"a lie scale, if you will," says Sackett. Dinah Daniels, CEO of testing company PI Worldwide, says built-in alarms go off when an applicant is faking. Says Sackett: "My advice is to take the test at face value and describe yourself clearly and honestly. If you fit the job, great. If you don't, maybe it wasn't for you."

TESTING, TESTING

o Number of FORTUNE 100 companies that use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in hiring and promoting: 89 o The Big Five personality traits include extroversion, agreeableness, emotional stability, conscientiousness and openness to experience o Percentage of employers who say they don't screen effectively for the job applicant's moral character: 75

Sources: Annie Murphy Paul; Paul Sackett; Challenger, Gray & Christmas

At least 3 in 10 employers use personality tests in hiring

6,000 Number of U.S. employers that administer "integrity" tests to root out dishonest job applicants