Algorithms for psychological profiling are written by humans - so how accurate is the MTBI test?

The Myers-Briggs testing is one of the most used and famous in the world, and for all intents and purposes, it is the go-to for many corporations when they are employing people. the MBTI personality traits, resonate with many employers and employees alike. 

Last week I wrote a blog on the many personality types that make a high performance marketing team. If we were to do the MTBI test, I wonder what results would eventuate from each of our offices? It's something no doubt we will test.

However, I have done the MTBI test many times, with many different results, and it begs the question as to how accurate these tests really are. 

At a job interview recently a candidate brought with them a psyche profiling from Discus classic personality tests, and we hired her. Not only does she actually fit the profile, but she has a can-do attitude and came to us in her first week and asked if she could write a blog for the Marketing Eye company website. Of course, she can and did, and it has more than 2,000 readers already. That's what we like to see at Marketing Eye and it is clear that she was the right choice for the role. 

But how often do we rely on these tests only to be disappointed?

Many of these tests take into account personality measurements that incorporate IQ tests, BTW - all of which are a subset of personality measures. But these algorithms, no matter how well researched they are, are still done by a human being, making them very subjective. 

Facebook now provides a personality test, and one of the most accurate that we have found comes straight from Cambridge University, which seems to be harder to fool when filling in answers. Career One on their website has a free personality test, and if you Google personality tests, you will find that there are many out there that are either free or for a low cost, that can help you work out your own personality profile, if you fill it in accurately, so you can design your career path in front of you, with what your strengths and weaknesses may be.

How accurate these tests are simply is a "proof in the pudding" scenario. Keeping a diary on employees and their performance and measuring it against personality profiling will help you ascertain which version of psyche profiling technology is worth using for your business, or particular departments within your company.