Why the Myers-Briggs test should never be used in recruitment

In the 1960s, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was rolled out across offices in the US and it proceeded to spread round the world.

It wasn’t long before the personality test was deemed an essential tool in determining whether a job candidate was a good fit for a company. Across the world, more than 50 million people are estimated to have taken it.

But according to a top psychologist, it shouldn’t be used in recruitment at all.

The test breaks people down into 16 personality types, depending on their preferences for Sensing (S) or Intuition (N), Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I), Thinking (T) or Feeling (F), and Judging (J) or Perceiving (P).

So each person is assigned a four letter type, such as ENTP or ISFP.

Huge companies such as General Motors and Procter & Gamble have admitted to using the test on employees, but many critics say it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

Top Chartered Occupational Psychologist, Dr Angelina Bennet, who has a particular expertise in the Myers-Briggs assessment, believes the test should “never” be used in recruitment.

She admits that she’s a “big fan” of the test and uses it a lot, but not for hiring.

“It can get people’s type right approximately 80 per cent of time, but it should only be a small part of a larger process,” Dr Bennet told The Independent. “It’s just an indicator of what you might be.”

She explains that the Myers-Briggs assessment doesn’t predict behaviour and was never supposed to - it tells you your type, which is a level underneath behaviour.

“It’s about your motivations, your reactions, your natural tendency to pay attention to some things and not others,” Dr Bennet says.

So if you’re a “big picture” person and someone starts talking to you about nitty gritty details, you might switch off. And that can be good to know.

But behaviour is different to type in that it’s more certain, such as if someone is introverted or extroverted.

Just because you’re an introvert who likes quiet time and space in the evenings however, that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be great in a job where you have to spend your days talking to people.

“For recruitment, the test really isn’t suitable because it doesn’t say how you’ll behave and really doesn’t give any indication of how effective you are in your type,” Dr Bennet says.

“Some people of one type can be really stubborn and crotchety and others of the same type can be open-minded, adaptable and flexible.”

Despite this - and the fact that many other psychologists have spoken out in agreement with Dr Bennet, around two million people take the Myers-Briggs test every year, earning the company that produces the test about $20 million each year.

Research has found that as many as 50 per cent of people get different results when they take the test for a second time after a five week gap, and it also doesn’t allow people to land at different points on a spectrum.

So next time a recruiter asks you to take the test, it may be best to walk away.