Ask HN: How to identify potential of a person? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How to identify potential of a person?

6 pointsknown10 comments

Is testing his/her IQ+EQ a reliable measure? TIA

Is testing his/her IQ+EQ a reliable measure?

No.

Potential for what?

It is only possible to measure fitness for a specific task. Often a trait that would help in one situation will hinder in another.

Talking with the person. For a couple of hours.

No.

There are two things you need to measure, ability and determination, the first you can test for the second can only really be shown by a track record.

Ability is very task specific, so what you test for will need to depend on what sort of potential you're looking for. For example for programming a number of studies have shown one of the strongest indicator of being able to program is the ability to form a consistent mental model of how something works (which you can test for without someone having programming experience).

No, after you get above 145 (top 98% or 3 SD) the accuracy decreases quickly, instead they give you a different test which takes quite awhile to administer. Just ask problem solving, thought, and logic questions; it's easier, cheaper, and you get you see how they think.

WARNING, in some jurisdictions IQ testing is of questionable legality within a job setting and can be considered discriminatory (I know, stupid. They now say you can't discriminate between candidates based on intelligence.)

Where is this?

Don't know exactly which areas I just know I've been warned by a few attorneys I know that due to the changes in case law (not newly passed laws). That in some areas it can be argued and argued successfully that not hiring an individual based on their intelligence can be a discriminatory practice. If the test doesn't result in a nominal result between racial groups, in extension the intelligence test can be found racial discriminatory.

There is a book called Incompetence, by Rob Grant of Red Dwarf fame, set slightly in the future where it is now illegal to discriminate on race, age, gender... or competence.

Highly recommended reading, both as entertainment and as preparation for the inevitable.

I don't think there is any particularly accurate way to assess "potential" objectively. Maybe some of these things can give you a (very) vague indication, but I wouldn't put much stock in any of them, personally.

I think a better question would be "How do I help people live up to the potential they do have?"

IQ + EQ + Credit Score + Past successes is about as close as you'll get.

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