“Using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator in Making Hiring

Decisions”By Barbara Tunney, LCSW,

CSWM and Bruce Friedman, PhD,

CSWM.

http://www.socialworkmanager.org/

Learning Goals

• Presenters will give a brief overview of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and how it is traditionally used.

• Presenters will explain how the Myers Briggs relates to a candidate’s fit with a specific job.

• Presenters will show how using the Myers Briggs concepts can enhance the interview process.

Prize Giveaway

• At the end of the course, a prize will be given to the first person who can summarize the main points of the presentation.

• The winner will receive a 3-hour on-line ethics course worth $45. It can be used thru December 31, 2007. This prize is from the National Network for Social Work Managers and Social Work p.r.n.

BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR MYERS BRIGGS PRESENTATIONOctober 26, 2006 NASW Texas

• Websites:• All of the websites have links to many other sites. This is a sample of a list generated from

entering Myers Briggs in the Google search box.• www.myersbriggs.org • Their mission is to continue the work of Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers in the

field of psychological type, especially the ethical and accurate use of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator.

• www.teamtechnology.co.uk • This site contains a PowerPoint presentation explaining the basic concepts of the Myers

Briggs. There are many links to sites for the test and articles regarding many aspects of uses for the test results.

• www.personalitypathways.com The site contains an informal short test that helps people verify their Myers Briggs personality type.

• www.wikipedia.org A description of the history, type dynamics and further reading resources, such as articles and news stories.

• Books:• Berens, Linda V., etal, Quick Guide to the 16 Personality Types in Organizations:

Understanding Personality Differences in the Workplace. Huntington Beach, CA.: Telos Publications, 2001.

• Keirsey, David. Please Understand Me II. 3rd ed. Del Mar, CA.: Prometheus Nemesis Books, 1998.

• Martin, Charles R., Looking at Type and Careers. Gainesville, FL.: Center for Applications of Psychological Type, 1995.

• Tropman, John E. Supervision and Management in Nonprofits and Human Services. Peosta, IA.: Eddie Bowers Publishing Co, Inc., 2006.

Overview of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and how it is

traditionally used

• The Myers Briggs Type Indicator comes from Jungian psychology and was developed by a mother and daughter team during World War II in England.

• “Whatever the circumstances of your life, the understanding of type can make your perceptions clearer, your judgments sounder and your life closer to your heart’s desire”

Isabel Briggs Myers

According to Jung’s typology, all people can be classified using three criteria, these

criteria are:

• Extroversion - Introversion

• Sensing - Intuition

• Thinking – Feeling

• Isabel Briggs Myers added the fourth criterion:

• Judging – Perceiving

• The first criterion defines the source and direction of energy expression for a person.

• The extrovert (E) has a source and direction of energy expression mainly in the external world while the introvert (I) has a source of energy mainly in the internal world.

• The second criterion defines the method of information perception by a person.

• “Sensing” (S) means that a person believes mainly information he or she receives directly from the external world. “Intuition” (N) means that a person believes mainly information he or she receives from the internal or imaginative world.

• The third criterion defines how the person processes information.

• “Thinking” (T) means that a person makes a decision mainly through logic. “Feeling” (F) means that, as a rule, he or she makes a decision based on emotion.

• The fourth criterion defines how a person implements the information he or she has processed.

• “Judging” (J) means that a person organizes all his or her life events and acts strictly according to this plan. “Perceiving” (P) means that he or she is inclined to improvise and seek alternatives.

• The different combinations of the criteria determine a type. There may be sixteen types. Every type has a name (or formula) according to the combination of criteria. For example:

• ISTJ• Introvert Sensing Thinking Judging• ENFP• Extrovert Intuitive Feeling Perceiving• There are refinements within the types, as well,

which determine whether the 2nd or 3rd criterion is dominant for that individual. For our purposes we will not go into that much detail.

The Myers Briggs

• Indicates inborn preferences, in the same way as right-handedness or left-handedness.

• Is not predictive of behavior, as the person has a choice of how to use preferences.

• Does not have a “lie scale” on the test, so a person can slant his or her answers to present a different profile.

The Myers Briggs is useful in:• career counseling • mental health counseling; • increasing self-knowledge; • helping assess one’s preferences & how those

can impact or help explain direction in career, performance as a team member, & behavior in his or her personal life, etc.

• Organizational Development consultation in team-building or in analyzing productivity or morale in an agency.

• Its application for job interviewing is to use it collaboratively with the interviewee. The Myers Briggs test is not approved for pre-employment applicant testing for the following reasons (among others):

• It would create bias.

• Informed consent would be difficult if not impossible. (The interviewer can assure the applicant that it will not eliminate them from consideration, but there could be no proof of this.)

• Psychometric testing is not how we want to engage with applicants.

• It does not predict behavior or competence. A person has his or her inborn preferences, but the behavior that emerges is situational.

How the Myers Briggs relates to a candidate’s fit with a specific job:

• Since the Myers Briggs is not useful in assessing the candidate, it can be used in assessing the specific job duties and expectations.

• If we turn the test “upside down” we can administer the concepts behind the four criteria to the job description. A job description is a written list of duties. There are also organizational culture and context to consider in mutual assessment of job fit.

How using concepts from the Myers Briggs

can enhance the interviewing process:• Agency will have already performed the

basic screening of credentials, background, skills and experience.

• Interviewer can use the “expanded” job description utilizing the concepts of Myers Briggs to present the realities of the job beyond the list of duties.

• Interviewer explains that he or she is looking at the position from the perspective of the Myers Briggs criteria in order to provide a platform for discussion.

• Almost all jobs involve contradictory preferences, e.g., ability to work autonomously and in a team.

• Discussion can center around managing preferences.

Examples of contradictory preferences

• An introvert is asked to do marketing and public relations as well as writing for publication.

• An ENFP is expected to maintain an accurate and detailed database of client resources as well as organizing community groups.

Traditional Job Description Based on Duties

“Long Term Care and Skilled Nursing Facility Social Worker”

• Job objectives, job responsibilities and qualifications required are a four-page document with details of tasks and time-lines, such as:

• New assessments within 14 days• Completes Medicaid certifications and re-

certifications according to schedule and time frame provided by fiscal office

Interviewing beyond the job description

1.Introvert – Extrovert aspects

• Interdisciplinary team care-planning and staffing

• Interaction with patients and families

• Interaction with community

• In-service training with staff

2. Sensing-Intuition Aspects

• Assessing patients and families

• Discharge planning

• Documentation

• Understanding staff perception of Social Work role

• Agency “politics”

3. Thinking-Feeling Aspects

• Death and dying issues – helping clients cope while you are coping

• Objectivity vs becoming numb

• “Compassion fatigue”

• Ethical issues

• Questioning agency’s policies and practices

4. Judging-Perceiving Aspects

• Managing workload

• Prioritizing tasks

• Handling interruptions and emergencies

• “Thinking on your feet” versus planning ahead

• Dealing with change and the unknown

Summary

• Presenters will give a brief overview of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and how it is traditionally used.

• Presenters will explain how the Myers Briggs relates to a candidate’s fit with a specific job.

• Presenters will show how using the Myers Briggs concepts can enhance the interview process.