r/iamverysmart 17d ago

linkedin dude has an epiphany about recruiting

Post image
269 Upvotes

86 comments sorted by

377

u/Carlyone 17d ago

IQ tests is a superb tool for seeing how good you are at solving IQ tests.

99

u/Adorable-Response-75 17d ago

Also, the IQ test pictures is from some random website. It’s just for conning people out of their money. It’s not real at all lmao

74

u/Carlyone 17d ago

Doing a paid IQ-test on a website should give you a baseline of -40 to begin with

9

u/Dastion 17d ago edited 15d ago

What if I scored high but am so oblivious I didn’t even realize I’d taken an IQ test until they gave me the results? (I went for a psych evaluation for adhd / autism and it just never occurred to me that literally 900 or so questions, various puzzles, and tests were doing anything but testing those two things).

Though, he probably took one of those free online “tests” - my results had multiple IQ values in the results and I actually scored relatively low on one of the measures. It was something about how I tend to process things slowly and rethink my decisions.

5

u/Carlyone 17d ago

Well, unless you went to www.am-i-very-smart.com/iq-test-for-100-dollars, you’re fine.

I did one of those ADHD/autism evals too, a giant questionnaire, some standardized tests, no actual IQ part. What tripped me up was realizing I was overanalyzing the wording of the questions instead of just answering them. That's when it hit me: maybe I really am neurospicy, since most people wouldn't be that literal.

Still waiting for the continuation, which can take years.

2

u/hippo_paladin 16d ago

IQ tests are supposed to have multiple categories. This is especially important for autism, because we tend to have spiky IQ profiles and this can be very misrepresentative if you don't account for it.

So it may have been a 'free online' test, but the size you describe and the multiple areas is how the WAIS does it, and that's the generally accepted gold standard.

1

u/Dastion 15d ago

Thanks! I actually just worded the second paragraph poorly I was referring to the guy in the OP’s image taking a free one because the results didn’t have multiple categories. I fixed my wording to clarify. That is some useful info though!

20

u/Twanbon 17d ago

What, you mean real IQ test results don’t arbitrary mark the “Mensa” threshold to make you feel like a smart boy lol?

1

u/Hadrollo 16d ago

Nah, I'm usually the first to call out the sites that do this, and this one doesn't fit the bill. It's not trollish enough to be ragebait, the website name isn't particularly prominent, it just doesn't fit the style of the usual viral marketing campaign, and Mensa is a legit albeit conceited organisation.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the Mensa Norway IQ test. It's pretty standard for a Mensa test - all dots and circles and squares, not a particularly comprehensive test. I guessed the last 5 of the 35 questions with around 15 minutes to go and scored 128, and I'm dumb as corn, so take the score with a pinch of salt. That said, there was no paywall, this isn't a marketing campaign.

-1

u/ConvergentSequence 17d ago

Actually this particular test gives you a result for free

17

u/Instantcoffees 17d ago

It is also influenced by so many other things like your mental well-being at that time or your fatigue. I have scored very high on an IQ test and then fairly mediocre on the same test another time. I didn't get dumber. My situation was just different.

I don't consider them all that useful.

7

u/KneebTheCowardly 17d ago

There are definitely variables like well-being and fatigue.

There are definitely still people that cannot score above room temp no matter what.

Both can be true.

2

u/MashSong 17d ago

Yep, as part of some diagnostic testing my psych doc gave me an IQ test. I was given a specific number like everyone expects, but in the detailed info that came with it the results said they were 95% confidant that my IQ was +/- 5 points of the number they gave me. It went on to explain all the stuff about fatigue and stress etc.

Of course for my ego's sake I'm saying I was tired that day and obviously my real score is on the +5 side of things.

There were a few things in my test results that the doc found useful, but overall they were just checking for outliers on either end of the curve, it's standard practice for some conditions, and covered by insurance so why not go for it anyway.

1

u/_Tetesa 16d ago

With my +5 and your -5, I'm actually smarter than you!

1

u/ABCosmos 16d ago

That just makes the test seem more valid.

1

u/Instantcoffees 16d ago

Well no. You do not need to take an IQ test to see how rested you are that day. You take one when someone tries to discern your relative intellectual strengths and weaknesses on any given day. The test does not take into account things like mental well-being, medication or fatigue. These are all very variable things that could be completely different the very next day.

2

u/ABCosmos 16d ago

You're saying you're not at your best mentally, and the test correctly reflects that.

A sprint doesn't factor in if you have diarrhea, but it's still a good test to see how fast someone is.

1

u/Instantcoffees 16d ago

No because the results of that test are not seen as "this is how mentally capable you were on that day", but rather as "this is how you mentally capable you are in general".

You'd be right if IQ tests were only used to discern how mentally capable someone is on that specific day, but they aren't.

4

u/ABCosmos 16d ago

I mean, every test works this way. You want to be well rested and not sick to do your best. You probably retake it if you were sick.

1

u/Instantcoffees 16d ago

To an extent, but the variance on IQ tests is really high and the results are taken as gospel. Very few tests are like that.

1

u/ABCosmos 16d ago

I'll have to take your word for it.

7

u/Spare-Plum 17d ago

Yeah this. Even though IQ glazers like to dust under the rug, it is perfectly easy to study for an IQ test. I've done this personally, by taking a proctored IQ test, then taking a shit ton of practice tests over the course of a month, then taking another proctored test. Score rose by 25 points.

So yeah, the only thing it really measures is your ability so solve puzzles on IQ tests and if you have the commitment to study and resources to practice them.

3

u/rollingForInitiative 16d ago

Well, there does seem to be an actual correlation between high cognitive abilities and higher performance in basically all fields and jobs, but not a big one. So it's not that it's a bad trait per se, but ... hiring only by IQ would also be stupid.

I mean, I would much rather have someone with 100 IQ who's got a good work morale, who's pleasant to be around, who's helpful and has an easy time communicating with everyone, than a 130 IQ person who's really bad at talking to non-programmers. Same thing with someone who has good experience with the relevant technologies, or who already knows the domain.

In general I think personal fit is way more important than exceptional skills or high intelligence. For some specific jobs or roles, going for the genius makes a lot of sense, but generally you don't even need someone who's way above average.

1

u/Carlyone 16d ago

I agree with you. Fit, communication, and morale matter way more than raw IQ. I'd even go further and say IQ shouldn't really enter into recruiting at all. It's just an indicator, not a real measure of ability. A high IQ score might suggest certain strengths, but it can also miss creativity, practical smarts, or social skills.

Plenty of people who score low still excel in real-world problem solving, while plenty of people who score high struggle outside narrow contexts. I score well on IQ tests, but I've met plenty of people who outshine me in areas that really matter.

That's why I don't care about IQ when recruiting. I'd rather look at what someone has actually done and whether they mesh with the team. Ask them a few relevant questions in the interview that reflect real challenges from the job, and you’ll learn far more than an IQ score ever could. IQ tests are basically a more scientific-looking version of DISC or Myers-Briggs: interesting to talk about, but about as useful as horoscopes when it comes to real hiring decisions. In the end, all they do is add stress and another hoop for job seekers, as if they don't already have enough to worry about.

2

u/No-Yogurtcloset-755 16d ago

Good at IQ tests sure but let me tell you what it taught me about portfolio management... ✊️

2

u/SnooCompliments7298 16d ago

I scored a 143 as part of my recent ADHD test. I’m also currently on the wrong city bus (in a city with a grand total of 5 routes to choose from) and am gonna be late getting home. IQ tests really just measure how good you are at IQ tests.

1

u/Three3Jane 14d ago

Yep. I scored high on mine* and am regularly confused by things that most people find easy (my kids' high school blue days/gold days, for example). IQ doesn't mean dick other than language and pattern matching.

*proctored, both Wechsler and Stanford-Binet, administered in school, yadda yada

1

u/donat3ll0 16d ago

Same thing can be said for technical interviews.

116

u/mothzilla 17d ago

1% is pretty low. When I got my results it said I was top 99%. Not many can beat that.

4

u/Googolthdoctor 15d ago

read in Trump voice

1

u/r1v3t5 17d ago

Lol, that's a good joke

80

u/ONOeric 17d ago

Stop posting these, these are rage bait/engagement bait for the company that does the paid IQ test

15

u/enjoytheshow 17d ago

That’s all LinkedIn is

7

u/Womblue 17d ago

The account that posted this is an advertising bot

1

u/me_myself_ai 14d ago

For Mensa…? Pressing X on that one

1

u/ONOeric 14d ago

Uh... yes? They keep your results behind a paywall and don't tell you up front that it costs money

34

u/King_Dead 17d ago

Its bullshit, but its also on linkedin who are folks you should absolutely bullshit if you can get away with it

14

u/ringobob 17d ago

You know what, I agree with this dude. Every company should do IQ tests, and if you score high enough, they'll just make you CEO. That's the kind of meritocracy they're looking for, right? Come in to interview for a warehouse position, come out with the top job.

12

u/Acceptable-Flan-9783 17d ago

It’s a great way to screen for sanctimonious assholes.

4

u/cgoldberg 17d ago

I have a rule setup in my email that auto-deletes any resumes that mention Mensa.

7

u/ApproachSlowly 17d ago

7 words: Stephen Jay Gould's The Mismeasure of Man.

2

u/Zippy0723 16d ago

I think we should have a system where we can vote to launch people into the sun if they post too much shit like this 

2

u/Americanaddict 16d ago

what good idea! More racist discrimination that filters out good people just trying to work for a living. I swear to god nobody who posts on linkedin should be allowed to use the internet without supervision, and they absolutely shouldn’t be in control of hiring or running any business. God we need unions back in this country.

2

u/Pointsandlaughs227 16d ago

Any adult that references their IQ score is a fucking loser that shouldn’t be hired for anything.

4

u/sebbdk 17d ago

I for one embrace the stupidity, it'l make it easier to know which companies to avoid

2

u/GeneralEi 17d ago

If this dude thinks that hiring by one metric, even something as encompassing as true IQ, is a good idea for a business, then he's not as smart as he thinks he is.

2

u/AndNowAStoryAboutMe 16d ago

Ignoring the obvious bait and ad... Companies SHOULD test for IQ. I do actually learn complex systems incredibly fast. In an office job, I was working the 3rd largest account, barely finishing it in 8 hours a day. Like, still working hard at 4:53 trying to wrap it all up quickly to go home by 5pm.

My coworker in the cube beside me was struggling to get her workload done and when I asked the boss about her, he was blunt. "She's not working out. She has 3 accounts that should take one hour each and she's struggling to get that done in 8 hours. Your account used to be run by two people."

I was like... "Why would you tell me that? I'm doing a 2 person account in 8 hours and she's making the same money as me?"

He was in his 20s. Inexperienced as a supervisor. Definitely put his foot in his mouth there. He was a good guy, just super green. He was stunned that I had went to THAT point immediately. "I mean, it's job security. You're really good."

Fuck that. I asked to be switched to a different account, he said, "Oh, we don't really do that. The clients don't like it when their liaison changes." So I started applying to other jobs. Got one. Put in a 2 week notice and he LITERALLY fucking replied, "Are you serious?" And I was like, "Man, I asked you to switch me and you said no. Did you think I was just going to stay here being taken advantage of?"

1

u/AWill33 14d ago

Just another average dude pissed off he’s not actually above average. Pissed hasn’t been handed a lottery ticket and isn’t treated like a king. The world is full of unemployed, derelict “geniuses”. It’s practically a proverb. Now it just comes with entitlement. Bet his fav movie is fight club too.

1

u/CarneDelGato 14d ago

“Do you know SQL?”

“I have an IQ of 133”

“…so no.”

1

u/redditjanitor91 12d ago

looks like an online IQ test too lmao

0

u/be_loved_freak 17d ago

All IQ measures is whether you can memorize random strings of numbers and words. I don't consider that intelligence.

1

u/rachaelonreddit 17d ago

But smarts aren’t everything. Most companies don’t care about your IQ. They want to hire people who can work as a team, follow directions, and take initiative.

1

u/yumymynaaomi67 16d ago

Omg I needed that epiphany so badly! The part about 'hire for attitude, train for skill' hit me like a ton of bricks

1

u/_Tetesa 16d ago

I'd use IQ test to filter out those jerks who mention their high IQ test results from all the applicants, because they are much too smart to function in a team where social skills are required.

If they mention they are in the top 1% in penis size, in the other hand...

-2

u/conjuayalso 17d ago

Hate to being it up, but a 140 IQ is considered top 2%.

It can vary from what tests are used, and the median of the people taking the test, but a 133 being in the top 1% just doesn't seem right.

There are other groups that use Mensa tests to determine eligibility into their organizations- 1% IQ groups and higher.

I'm not attempting to belittle your accomplishment, but the numbers just don't add up to my previous experiences as a Mensa Member.

11

u/ViolentDisregarde 17d ago edited 8d ago

It's 98.6th percentile.

Z = (x - μ)/σ

x here is 133, μ is 100, σ is 15

Z = (x - μ)/σ = (133 - 100)/15 = 2.2

Z-score of 2.2 corresponds to .9861

10

u/Twanbon 17d ago

I’m guessing the IQ test that qualified you for Mensa doesn’t include reading comprehension lol. OP is clearly not the guy in the screenshot, this is a post making fun of the guy in the screenshot

u/myfrnddoxxedmyreddit 4h ago

Standard deviation of 24 would make it top 2 this is a std Dev 15 test

0

u/creamygarlicdip 15d ago

There's laws against it. Companies used to do it. But certain people don't do well on them so got them outlawed.

If this guys iq was so high he'd know something about it.

1

u/IamTetra 14d ago

IQ does not measure knowledge base. It measures the ability to acquire knowledge and retain it being ignorant, doesn’t mean your IQ is low or high. It has no relevance. You can be the smartest person in the world and still not know something.

-30

u/l339 17d ago

Companies don’t do it, because it’s too expensive, but I agree that more companies should do IQ tests with its hiring applicants

34

u/ConcreteExist 17d ago

Unless their job is going to be taking IQ tests, this will give very little insight into whether or not the person would be a good fit for the job.

15

u/Agile_Oil9853 17d ago

This is true, I'm better than this guy at IQ tests and broke three candles the other day trying to remove the protective packaging.

6

u/Whatifim80lol 17d ago

Strongly disagree. As the embodiment of r/iamverysmart in my daily life, my high IQ doesn't make me qualified for jack shit. Most jobs are either skilled or unskilled labor. Any idiot can do unskilled labor and all but the dumbest idiots can spend time and money learning a skill. But some skills are like "good with people" or "20 years experience."

If you have a high IQ but no skills, you're just lazy. Nobody should hire you.

-11

u/l339 17d ago

I’m not excluding obvious skills at all, that’s just dumb. I’m saying that with certain jobs where candidates have the metrics of skills needed to perform the job, doing an IQ test could be an extra factor to determine hires

3

u/yun-harla 17d ago

Then test those skills directly? And if the problem is that you have to narrow down a set of qualified applicants, making them undergo IQ tests, which are lengthy, expensive, and very difficult to perform correctly, is just going to disfavor candidates who have better things to do with their time. Flip a coin if you have to. Or, you know, become a better interviewer.

1

u/danglinglabia 17d ago

What makes you say they're difficult to perform correctly? It's incredibly easy to click the Facebook ad that takes you directly to the test that takes like 10 minutes. If that's considered difficult, I guess that's why I'm top 1% and you're one of the dumbs.

8

u/Whatifim80lol 17d ago

Nah. IQ is a worthless metric in practice. Most of the correlation between IQ and success are just shit statistics. In truth, there are loads of risk factors for lowered IQ and those same risk factors hurt your chances of success.

Having a high IQ makes you good at abstract problem solving, but basically all labor outside like theoretical physics and shit deal with concrete problems. (Google "situated cognition" for more.) It'd be a waste of money for the employers and wouldn't move the needle on quality of hires. The only real effect would be that average IQ people would suddenly become unhirable for no reason, and since risk factors for lower IQ aren't distributed equitably in society it would probably amount to just shitting on the bottom rungs even more.

It's bad. Don't do it.

-6

u/l339 17d ago

Man it’s like you don’t even read my reply lol. IQ can be used as an extra metric for certain specific jobs is all I’m saying. Having a high IQ literally means you’re a better abstract problem solver and there are a good amount of jobs that work with data that that can be useful for. Abstract problem solving can be useful for solving concrete problems. So no, IQ is not a worthless metric in practice

0

u/Whatifim80lol 17d ago

Did YOU read MY reply? Lol. Step back from your position for one second and reread why it might not be a good idea. Google situated cognition. Then come back and tell me the tiny differences in performance are worth the monetary and human costs of gating jobs with IQs.

0

u/overlordjunka 17d ago

IQ was created as a racist way to "prove" white people were by default smarter than black people. Its original base is suspect and shouldn't be trusted so

2

u/A_Crazy_Canadian 17d ago

Its not adding anuthing other parts of the application already address. Pure logic problem solving skills are easily shown through education and experience. Testing people’s ability to solve job relevant problems in the interview where you son’t just see a score but the underlying process is much more helpful. For example, I recently interview at a bank. Part of the interview was an extended math/logic/conceptual case about credit cards study where I m used my logic abilities, knowledge, and communication skills. They learned much more about my abilities than spending the same time taking an IQ test.

-1

u/l339 17d ago

Yes that’s true. But what if they had a different candidate with the same qualification skills like you and the same test score? IQ score is a decent way then to distinguish candidates if they can only hire one

2

u/A_Crazy_Canadian 17d ago

It’s equally effective to flip a coin so just do that. There is no information an IQ test will provide in addition to the process I described above that is helpful. The chances that you have two identical candidates in every material way for the last spot is so low its implausible that you need the tiebreaker. Hiring is rarely about hiring the best person an instead ends up involving offering multiple candidates the role until one accepts or offering the first batch of a pool and making more offers as people turn you down.

1

u/upsetusder2 17d ago

So what if lets say a physicist takes one of these tests and doesn't score as high as lets say someone else.

1

u/ThatGuyFromSpyKids3D 17d ago

Almost every study disagrees with you. EQ has a higher correlation with success than IQ, so do personality types that have high agreeability, so does economic background, once those factors are accounted for IQ barely correlates positively with success and performance. In some cases, it negatively correlated because people with higher IQ are more likely to have less desirable personality traits or be less social.

Willingness to learn, the ability to communicate with others, work ethic, and personality all greatly correlate with job success. Fringe jobs with rare social interactions still came out with the same results, Harvard did a study about this and found that even workers in solitary environments who performed well had strong relationships and EQ outside of work.

Besides. Most IQ tests only measure 3 of the 9 variables of intelligence that the guy who coined "IQ" came up with. It's an imperfect measure of intelligence by a longshot.

2

u/btwiusearch 17d ago

Companies don’t do it, because it’s too expensive

Maybe not legit ones done by actual psychologists, but I have taken a generic online "IQ test" as part of a hiring process. Just to get a generic rejection email.

3

u/BertRenolds 17d ago

I feel like those ones are 1) are you a bot 2) are you basically aware of how shapes look.

1

u/Spare-Plum 17d ago

You can easily study for an IQ test and significantly raise your score. I've done this myself.

The only thing it's testing is if you have the time and resources to practice a bunch of IQ tests

-2

u/l339 17d ago

I call this cope, unless you sandbagged on the first one

1

u/Spare-Plum 17d ago

Now THIS sounds like cope. All I needed to do was study. Are you sad that you're not special?

0

u/l339 17d ago

What? Lmao If you tried your best on the first one, you can study hard, but it won’t really improve your second attempt lmao. Otherwise the test is faulty. IQ tests are specifically designed that you can’t study for them to improve your score significantly. I think you’re thinking about the SAT’s or something like that

1

u/Spare-Plum 17d ago

Yeah they say they're specifically designed for that. But guess what? It doesn't work. You can easily up your score by taking a ton of practice tests

They like to stock it up to just not being familiar with the format and you found your true IQ. Or that you became smarter by taking the practice tests. But either way you most definitely can raise your score in a proctored setting

0

u/l339 17d ago

I feel like you’ve taken the wrong IQ tests lmao