OPP presents at International Test Commission Conference in Amsterdam

On Wednesday 4^th July, OPP Principal Consultant, Rob Bailey, will be presenting at the 8th Conference of the International Test Commission in Amsterdam. His presentation, ‘Do I want candidates with more personality, or more suitable personalities? The utility of broad personality factors vs. detailed ones’ will examine attempts to replicate the Big One, aka the General Factor of Personality (GFP) from the 16PF questionnaire.

Rob’s presentation will report the lack of a clear one-factor solution from Principle Components Factor Analysis and describe the two factor model found instead (as well as the conventional 16PF structure of 5 Global Factors and 16 detailed Primary Factors). However, the session will not focus solely on attempts to replicate the GFP, but also the utility of this concept, contrasting the predictive validity of a two factor solution, a five factor solution and detailed regression weights arising from the detailed 16 factors. Rob will argue that specific, granular personality characteristics give more accurate prediction for a variety of discrete areas of work performance.

At the same conference, Rob will also be presenting a poster ‘Will you look at my CV, or my pictures on Facebook? How using social networking sites for recruitment could land applicants, employees and employers in big trouble’. This research analysed a nationally representative sample of over 1000 people of working age in the UK & Ireland and reported that 65% of respondents said they were likely to look at potential employee’s online presence prior to interviewing them. Concluding that employers who use social networking sites to vet potential new employees are at risk of falling foul of employment and data protection laws, this poster acts as a clear warning to candidates and recommends locking down privacy settings and sharing only appropriate information for the social media image and reputation that you are trying to create.