Typically biodata is defined as "...factual kinds of questions about life and work experiences, as well as to items involving opinions, values, beliefs, and attitudes that reflect a historical perspective.” Biodata is biographical information used to predict the future performance of an individual based on their past performance. The type of biodata that you may need to make will depend on the information that an employer asks for. Sometimes biodata can refer to a document that is written by the applicant while in other circumstances it can be a multiple choice personality test. Employers may ask whether the applicant has ever won a prize or about how they organise documents on their desk. These questions are used so that the employer can seek desirable traits, such as a friendly personality or good motivation, with the assumption that these traits will make the application a good employee. It is difficult to prepare biodata in advance as it is unlikely an application will be able to predict what types of questions the employer will ask. The reason employers do not give away any hints about what types of questions will be asked is to avoid false biodata answers. When applicants are put on the spot and asked personal and sometimes unusual biodata questions, it is far easier to write honest answers. Trying to come up with false answers that the applicant believes the employer wants is time consuming and will most likely have a negative impact on the interview.
Biodata instruments are used more and more by employers as a cost effective tool in personnel selection. While not all future behaviours can be predicted, biodata is a useful way to capture an idea of an applications personality and avoids the errors of bias and the halo effect in interviews.
Biodata instruments are used more and more by employers as a cost effective tool in personnel selection. While not all future behaviours can be predicted, biodata is a useful way to capture an idea of an applications personality and avoids the errors of bias and the halo effect in interviews.