The most important tips for more scientific research in your personnel selection
More and more companies are using brainteasers to uncover applicants' thought patterns and test their analytical skills. These are brain teasers that quickly upset inexperienced applicants in particular. Exemplary tasks that need to be solved include: “How many tennis balls can a Boeing 747 fit?” or “How many reindeer does Santa Claus need to give all children presents?”. Sounds weird? Companies in the tech sector seem to see this differently — companies such as Apple, Google and Tesla in particular are notorious for unusual brain teasers. The aim is, in particular, to measure problem-solving ability, creativity and analytical skills. In this way, brain teasers are also assigned to behavioral and logical questions. The solution, which should provide information about the way the applicants think, is more important than the actual right solution. Can applicants, for example, logically combine facts and develop creative solutions?
But how reliably do they actually predict professional suitability?
A recent scientific study by Louisiana State University comes to a sobering conclusion: Brain teasers are useless for predicting professional success (Highhouse, Nye, & Zhang, 2019). Not only could no meaningful or job-relevant skills be measured, but the candidate experience also proved negative. Brainteasers therefore not only do little but also leave a negative impression on applicants. Other researchers admit that brain teasers certainly have potential validity in predicting professional suitability — but only if the brain teasers are developed, formulated and evaluated in a structured and objective manner and are based on predefined requirement profiles (Kersting 2012).
Our Conclusion
If you use brain teasers, derive them from an empirical requirement profile and supplement them with scientific assessments.
Sources
- Kersting M. (2012), On the trail of logic. Statement by Martin Kersting on “Brainteasers” Staff Magazine 7:36-39. Retrieved from: https://kersting-internet.de/wissenschafts-praxis-transfer/presse-interviews-und-stellungnahmen/
- Highhouse, S., Nye, C.D. and Zhang, D.C. (2019), Dark Motives and Elective Use of Brainteaser Interview Questions. Applied Psychology, 68:311—340. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12163
Make a better pre-selection — even before the first interview
In just a few minutes, Aivy shows you which candidates really fit the role. Beyond resumes based on strengths.
