Answering Talent Assessment Survey Questions
For the past 10 years, I’ve been utilizing insight from talent assessment surveys for both executive coaching and hiring decision making. Occasionally I’m asked about how to put your best foot forward when completing these surveys. Here are my insider’s opinions.
This Is Not A “Test”
I’m sensitive about the wording/positioning of these surveys. I NEVER use the T-word. With a test, there is an implication of passing and failing. I believe that you can’t really fail a talent assessment. Approaching your survey like a school test or trying to beat the system is more likely to backfire than not.
So here is my advise. You should consider the source. Based on extensively using the TriMetrix System for over a decade, I value and trust the insight we can gain. When career coaching clients ask me about how to approach assessments, I offer these dos and don’ts.
Do…
- Answer honestly
- Read and follow the instructions carefully. Haste makes waste.
- Remember that when you’re asked to complete the survey, the potential employer believes you are qualified enough to make an investment in learning more about you.
- Understand that this is an assessment and not a “test” like you would take in school where there is a passing or failing grade.
Don’t…
- Try to guess what answers are expected. You are more likely to portray yourself as a more conflicted person than who you really are.
- Try to over-think your answers. Assuming you’ve carefully read the question, your first impression is likely the best choice
- Believe that the system can not detect if you’re attempting to beat it. You’re likely playing roulette with your job opportunity. The odds are stacked against you.
- Attempt to complete the survey if you are especially stressed or anxious. Wait until you are in a normal or relaxed state of mind
I admit that as a talent evaluator, my desire is to gain the most accurate insight possible for talent decision making. That said, I’ve found that people who try to beat the system by portraying themselves as someone else are setting themselves up for failure in several ways.
- By attempting to be all things to all people, you will likely appear to be personally conflicted and thereby hinder your attractiveness.
- The assessment results will likely used to identify your potential challenges. If you’re somehow successful in landing the job despite skewed input, you will not benefit from the on-boarding benefits and coaching opportunities that your assessment will provide.
- If you should somehow succeed (this is really unlikely) in portraying yourself as someone you are not, you are potentially setting yourself up for job failure. Do you really want to pursue a position where you are a poor fit?
Throughout your career you will continue to learn that honesty is the best policy. And it applies to taking talent assessment surveys as much as anywhere else.
What is Failure?
In the interest of transparency, it is true that your assessment results can either enhance or hinder your prospects for advancing in the hiring process. So if you view “failure” as preventing yourself from pursuing a poor fit, then we can agree to disagree. Try to beat the system if you wish. Just know that the system that I know is not that easy to beat.
A Career Is A Terrible Thing To Waste
Whether you attempt to skew an assessment or over embellish your resume, you may gain short term term success. But what is the long term cost when the truth surfaces. It always does, eventually.
More On Assessments
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