Employers could use new personality profiling software on jobseekers’ tweets to see if they are right for a role.
IBM developers believe they can successfully assess a person’s psychological traits by analyzing the 140 characters they use on Twitter.
The software scans the most recent tweets, be it hundreds or thousands, to develop a personality profile.
And developers say this technology, which is being tested, could be used by employers to whittle down the number of applicants for a job interview and could eventually be the deciding factor between two candidates.
Researchers believe the software can even establish how emotionally resilient a person is.
People are classed as one of the five main personality traits – extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness – depending on what they write.
IBM tested the theory by analyzing 300 Twitter profiles and getting the users to take psychometric tests.
It showed there was a close correlation between their analysis of the tweets and the results of the tests.
According to IBM, the two “highly correlated” more than 80 percent of the time.
Nigel Guenole, research director of IBM company, Kenexa, told The Sunday Times, “It could have great potential for spotting future high-flyers.”
Researchers claim words used in tweets reveal a person’s character traits.
According to the research, people who use words like perfect tend to be perfectionists.
Those who are deemed more caring use words like “we,” “friends” and “family” and people who were seen as more individualistic used words such as “words” or “school.”
Longer words are associated with people likely to get on with their colleagues and conscientious people talk about their achievements.
Source: The Daily Mail
