MBTI

There are a few reasons why I think that the MBTI is, as far as a job interview setting is concerned, one of the least-applicable of the assessments I have taken.

First, I think that the MBTI is limited in what information it provides; it shows where an individual falls on a predetermined spectrum. By nature it doesn't have anywhere to capture anything unique. It reduces a person to a number on four "this or that" scales.

Second, still continuing on the fundamentals of the test itself, under what circumstances is supposed to accurately reflect an individual's type? The most general circumstances? I would propose that a more valuable piece of information is what type a person is under pressure. That's when performance matters most. Just because some test tells me I'm usually an introvert is not reflective of how I will perform when required to do so.

And third, the MBTI is not going to be of very great concern to someone interviewing me. Here is why:  The jobs I will be interviewing for are focused on a work product (be that a system design or an approach for cutting costs or a development plan); the focus is not going to be my personality type. They will be interested in my social interaction skills, as much engineering work is team-based, but they'll likely get everything they need to know from interviewing me.

Also, offering up my MBTI in the interview will only be relevant for evaluating me as an individual; it doesn't say anything about how I will fit in with the team. What are my coworkers' MBTI scores? Do my highs and lows clash with any of theirs? Does the team have a variety of approaches to decision-making? The interviewer would have to have a frame of reference of the team.

For the reasons above, the MBTI seems impractical for my applications.