经济学人下载:巴托比专栏--打工人,你做过入职心理测试吗?(2)

Questions in such tests may ask a candidate to describe their behaviour in hypothetical situations: dealing with an angry customer, for example. The suggested answers may all be plausible (apologise profusely, fetch a manager and so on), so there is no obviously “right” answer. Nevertheless the aim is to build a profile of the candidate to see if they have the right character traits for the job. 

这些测试中的问题可能会要求应试者描述他们在一些假设情况下的行为，例如与愤怒的客户打交道。测试中所推荐的答案可能都合乎情理（不断道歉、找经理解决等等）。所以这些问题显然没有“正确”答案。然而，进行测试的目的是建立应试者的个人资料，查看这些求职者的性格特征是否符合这份工作。

People are generally judged on the basis of five characteristics with the acronym OCEAN for openness, conscientiousness, extroversion (or introversion), agreeableness and neuroticism. The ideal characteristics can be surprising: it turns out that introverts are the best traindrivers as they seem to pay more attention to details such as safety procedures and can cope with spending long periods of their time on their own. 

公司通常会根据五项特征对求职者进行判断，即开放性、勤勉谨慎性、外向性（或内向性）、亲和性、以及情绪不稳定性，这五种特质可缩写为“大海（OCEAN）”。一些职业所对应的最适合的性格特征可能会使你大跌眼镜。事实证明，内向的人可以成为最好的火车司机，因为他们似乎更注重安全程序等细节，而且能够从容独处很长一段时间。Extroverts do not make the best callcentre employees because they can spend so much time chatting to customers that they don’t get much done. The most useful trait among such workers, according to Steve Fletcher, an occupational psychologist, is assertiveness; this enables them to deal with more calls. 

外向的人并不是最合适的呼叫中心员工，因为他们会花费很长时间与客户聊天，也就没有完成很多工作。职业心理学家史蒂夫·弗莱彻认为，自信才是这类员工最实用的特质。自信的呼叫中心员工有能力处理更多的来电。

These tests are used to assess senior managers, as well as new hires. Along with OCEAN characteristics, testers are also looking for what is known as the “dark triad”—psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism. Factors that can make people successful as junior managers may limit their ascent. Candidates who are good with detail turn out to be obsessive micromanagers; people who flourish in sales may have an excessive need to be the centre of attention. 

公司会应用这些测试评估高管和新员工。测试人员不只会注意你的“大海”特征，还会挖掘所谓的“暗黑人格”，即精神病态、自恋、和马基雅维利主义。让初级管理者收获成功的因素可能会同样阻碍他们的升职。事实证明，长于细节的应聘者往往是拥有强迫症的微观管理者；擅长销售的应聘者则很可能有着出风头的过度需求。

A large majority of big companies use these tests but they are hardly perfect. Paul Flowers, the former head of Co-op Bank, a British lender, passed his psychometric tests with flying colours, according to testimony at a parliamentary inquiry. But he was later ousted in a sex-and-drugs scandal that led him to be dubbed “the crystal Methodist”. Mr Johnson says the tests can be useful, but only in conjunction with aptitude tests and structured interviews. 

多数大型公司都会使用这些测试，但它们并不完美。保罗·弗劳尔斯是英国一家合作贷款银行的前行长。根据议会调查的证词，保罗通过了心理计量测试，而且测试成绩斐然。但他后来因性丑闻和毒品丑闻被赶下台，因而被戏称为“水晶湖公理会教徒”。约翰逊表示，这些测试可能有用，但只能与能力倾向测试和结构化面试结合起来。

That probably won’t save job candidates from having to take these tests in future, because they winnow down the list. But at least they beat the old-fashioned method: drop half the applications in the bin and pick from the other half. 

这可能并不会阻碍求职者将来继续参加这些测试，因为公司能够以此对求职者名单进行筛选。但至少心理测试战胜了传统的筛选方法，即把一半申请书扔进垃圾桶，再从另一半中进行选拔。