A job applicant was taken aback by a personality survey that she had to fill out just to get a summer job at Olive Garden.
The TikToker, who posts under @oh.hxnxy, documented her experience of having to take the online test while applying for a job as a server.
“I just need a summer job THIS IS SICKKKK,” she writes in the caption of the post. The video shows her clicking through the online test.
“What does this have to do with Olive Garden?” she asks, as she clicks through her responses.
One question asks the applicant whether she tends to feel easily criticized.
“Not me,” she selects as her answer.
The personality test later asks whether she considers herself a “freethinker.”
“Yeah, I’m a free thinker,” she says, before reconsidering her answer.
“Or wait, do they want people to follow orders,” she wonders. “Because what if the whole thing is like you want to say you’re a free thinker, but you really need to be like a rule follower?”
In the end, she decides to identify as a freethinker anyway.
There are a number of scenarios in which the applicant is confused about how to answer. She’s asked whether the person on the screen has “too much work” and if she’s thinks she is competitive or a perfectionist.
Finally, the applicant shares her assessment results. According to her answers, she scores as a “Mentor” on the Olive Garden personality test.
At the end of the video, she asks the most important question, “Am I getting hired?”
@oh.hxnxy i just need a summer job THIS IS SICKKKK #jobapplication #fyp ♬ original sound – ☆
CVS and McDonald’s use the same personality test when hiring
404 Media reported in February 2024 that a number of service jobs now require applicants to complete a personality test as part of the hiring process. The assessment was developed by Paradox.ai. It is being used by several large companies including FedEx, CVS, McDonald’s, and Darden Restaurants. Darden Restaurants operates Olive Garden among other chain restaurants.
The quiz is being met with confusion by applicants. Many job hunters are already struggling to find jobs and are frustrated with long, drawn-out interview processes. “Man, I just want a dishwasher job,” reads the headline of one Reddit post which shares a screenshot of the quiz on the subreddit r/KitchenConfidential.
The TikTok video from @oh.hxnxy received almost 725,000 views in less than 24 hours of being on the platform. Viewers were as confounded as the applicant about having to take a personality quiz to work as a server at Olive Garden.
“All this for Olive Garden is crazy,” wrote one comment.
“Why do we have to play mind games to get a simple job?” asked another.
“I LITERALLY JUST TOOK THIS TEST,” said someone else. They added, “It felt like a trap having this on a job application.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @oh.hxnxy on TikTok direct message and to Darden Restaurants via email.
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