Research on Bcs Exam

7/27/2019 Research on Bcs Exam

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Personality Traits have got a greater impact on Job Performance rather than CGPA

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1Author: Rehan Habib

Student, North South University

“Personality / Cgpa for the best performance in Job”




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Acknowledgement

This research paper is made possible through the help and support from everyone,

including: parents, teachers, family, friends, and in essence, all sentient beings.

Especially, please allow me to dedicate my acknowledgment of gratitude toward the

following significant advisors and contributors:

First and foremost, I would like to thank Michelle Draper for her most support and

encouragement. She kindly read my paper and offered invaluable detailed advices on

grammar, organization, and the theme of the paper.

Secondly, I would like to thank all my friends from ENG-105, Sec- 8, especially, Jewel

& Aqib. Both they helped me wherever I faced difficulties. We discussed the parts of the

research in deep and helped each other to find appropriate places to select thing from.

Finally, I sincerely thank to my parents, family, and friends, who provide the advice and

financial support. The product of this research paper would not be possible without all of

them.




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Abstract:

In this highly competitive job market now-a-days, everyone is opted towards building

necessary skills and knowledge to become capable of accomplishing tasks, thus to

increase job performance and finally to achieve success. Therefore, students, from the

beginning of their university hours, are keener to increase capabilities that can result in

success for them in the future. To achieve the success, it is the prerequisite to perform

the job well. Some believe that higher CGPA would result them perform better due to

some factors associated in it. On the other hands, some of them believe that personality

traits would lead them perform the right action in the right place. On this argument, a

research has been conducted to have the clear picture as to what plays the important role

in job performance. For this mission, a questionnaire was set and surveyed, people were

interviewed and after the entire research the conclusion that I have come up with is that it

is personality traits, which make an employee perform can action correctly. And higher

CGPAs, which may create a platform for an employee, but would not ensure higher job

performance in the future.




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Table of contents

1. Introduction…………………………………………………...02

1.1. Background…………………………………..……...02

1.2. Research Questions…………………………….........04

1.3. Hypothesis…………………………………………...04

1.4. Methodology………………………………………...05

2. Data Presentation, Analysis and Research Findings………….06

2.1. Data Presentation and Analysis………………..…….06

2.2. Research Findings………………………...…………13

3. Recommendations…………………………………………….15

4. Conclusion……………………………………………………16

5. References…………………………………………………….17

6. Appendix……………………………………………………...18

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1. Introduction

Life was much easier in the past century than it is today. It has been estimated, according

to the world economy, that, at least 10 people run after a single job today where it was

around 3 in the previous century, 1900s. It proves the fact that how fast paced the job

market has become, which asks the need to the employees to have some other

competencies, which can add value to the job. Similarly, employers seek more capable

employees who can perform the job well thus making the route to getting a job hard-

hitting. This is how we are guided by our parents, relatives and teachers that, if we can

get very good grades in our exams and have an excellent education background, only

then can a good job can be found. But in the real world, this is not the case. Managers

everywhere face the challenge of understanding and managing individual differences.

Every person is unique, which is due to a combination of factors like physical,

psychological and behavioral differences. So, managers mainly focus on the

psychological and behavioral differences in order to match the applicant‟s skills with the

company‟s required skills. When it comes to CGPA of an applicant, it may help to give

the respective employee a platform. Also, According to Robbins and Judge (2001),

“personality is defined as the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and

interacts with others” (p.139). The personality traits of individuals will help manager to

better understand and effectively manage the people who will work under them. Due to

its importance, personality traits are also being carried out by the managers to predict

that who will be a best fit for the job. This research paper puts forth as to what plays a

greater role in job performance. It studies extensively all the factors that can add

significance to job performance.




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Background:




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7 Author: Rehan Habib



Area of Research:

Involving in extra curriculum activities tend to increase job performance. The reasons

can be that students who involve with extra curriculum activities perform various kinds

of tasks; they organize programs, they volunteer events, they meet with new people and

work in team all of which increase their job performance. It has been proved also that by

dint of engaging with extra curriculum activities students acquire knowledge and become

competent.

It has been found that most of the people choose a job because they had studied the same

thing in the past. It may be in their high schools or in the university or they have

particular interests in the field. Also, there are significant numbers of students who have

accepted a job because they had no other options left without accepting it.

Each person is different and has some particular personality traits and thus can perform

task in different ways. It has been found that people who have rich personality traits have

the ability to perform task more quickly and in an efficient way. Also, those people who

are expert are more able to perform task efficiently. That is why employers seek for

employees who are capable of performing task in an efficient way.




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Hypothesis:

Getting in to a job successfully is a dream for every boy or girl. From my research, I

expect to find the relative importance between personality and CGPA in the workplace.

As CGPA only creates the platform for an employee, afterwards what it takes is the

personality traits, which play the vital role shape up the career. I also think that by dint of

the personality traits that an individual holds he/she can be well-known in his workplace,

liked by all, and at last believed by all when it comes to facing difficulties. I strongly

believe that people having strong personality traits are the people who get promoted fast.




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Methodology:

This research needed information identification, primary data collection and analysis

followed by secondary data collection and analysis and other requirements. A sample of

population had been studied with an inferential approach that supported assessment and

preparation of report.

Beside consulting literature and secondary data the author had met some government

officials who are BCS cadres. Primary data collection includes conducting a survey and

interviews of some representative sampling of those employees of the Government of

Bangladesh who are BCS cadres and those students who are either yet to graduate from

BBA and from any other discipline or preparing for the BCS exam. The questionnaire is

designed with different types of questions and also the survey is intentionally done on a

mixed group of people so a range of useful data from people with different perspective

would be available. This would be helpful in answering the research questions.

For my secondary research, the author has used the resources like: paper archive and

journals of the North South University library and also has consulted few books on BCS

exam. Internet has been used too as a source for secondary data.




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2. Data Presentation, Analysis and Research Findings

3. 4. 5. Survey Findings

6. I have designed a questionnaire with which a survey is done with a sample size of 45

people. The target area is the people who are doing job. That is why a survey is done

to the employees of Standard Bank and Social Islami Bank Ltd. The findings from

the survey are described below:

No. Questions a(%) b(%) c(%

1 How far were you involved with extracurricular activities during your education life? 40% 60%

2 Why did you choose this job? 54% 46%

3

During the selection procedure, which part of the interview exam was given more

importance? 0% 58% 42%

4

Why do you think you were selected for this job?

54% 46%

5

On the basis of what would the employer call you for an interview after you apply for

a job? 28% 56% 16%

6

Which of the following is the key to get a promotion in your workplace?

74% 4% 22%

7 Which of the following may bring about reputation in the workplace? 28% 72%

8 How far do the things you have learned in your education life, apply to your job? 40% 30% 30%

9

In accomplishing a particular task, which one of the following do you think is

important? 10% 12% 22%

10 In the workplace, which employees are given bonuses on a regular basis? 60% 25% 15%

11

After 5 years from now, which of the following do u think can make a difference in

your career? 15% 60% 20%

12

Which of the following would you be interested to work on to increase your job

performance? 55% 20% 25%

13

From your regular responsibility, what does your boss expect from you?

20% 10% 0%




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The chart below shows the weight among personality, cgpa and both of them, which

have a greater impact on job performance:

Fig: 3 Weights among Personality, CGPA and both

The above pie chart shows that 37.5% of all the answers were related with

personality that affects job performance. For cgpa, it was 33.3% and for both

personality and cgpa, it was 29.2%. These were calculated by totaling of a single

column with the sum total of all the three column of table 1. This shows that among

the entire three variables, only personality alone has got a greater impact on job

performance, which proves the hypothesis, as it has got the higher percentage amongall the others.

37.50%

33.30%

29.20%

0

Weight Among Personality,

CGPA & Both

PERSONALITY

CGPA

BOTH




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The Data here demonstrates the number of involvement in Extra Curriculum Activities. Here

it shows that

Quite interestingly 54% knew how to drive. So, you can see there are also some people who

don’t have a car but knows how to drive. This shows my survey also focused on people who

self-drive and are chauffeurs.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Busy for good grades

Maximum time with ECA

To some extent, With ECA

0

5

10

15

20

Matches Personalty

Related to my major

No other options




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Not everyone in Bangladesh knows all the traffic rules. This is because they’re are high chances

that people are either not trained in a driving school, got their driving license illegally or have

proper education to know all these. 58% of the 50 sample size knew only a few fractions of the

rules, and 42 % know all the traffic rules. And anyone of the respondents did not say that they

have no idea about traffic rules .To me, it is bluntly legitimate for people to attain such

characteristics.

Lucky enough only 54% of the populations have the knowledge of the traffic signs in the

road. Still not a vast majority to determine whether who is the main culprit of the road

accidents.46% people on the other hand have said that they know about some of the traffic

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Written Exam

Personality

Both

0

5

10

15

20

Matches Personalty

Related to my major

No other options




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signs. In order to prevent accidents just knowing some of the traffic signs in the road are

not enough.

28% responded with option A which is they use the zebra crossings, footpath and etc. 16%

never uses them at all. These people are very reckless by nature. They could endanger

others around them. Sarcastically 56% of the population responded with option C. That

means they sometimes use them. We are getting a clear picture of this situation.

74% of the population uses the indicator lights or symbol while crossing the road. That is a

very positive sign. 4% never uses them and 22% uses them but sometimes forget to use

them.

0

5

10

15

20

25

Your Personality

Academic Excellence

Descriptive

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Personality

CGPA

Descriptive




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It is getting crystal clear that our society has failed to tutor these basic pedestrian rules at

homes, schools, mosques and etc. 72% never learned them. Are we failing? To prevent

unwanted road accidents we need to be aware of basic pedestrian rules / traffic laws but

from the survey I have found that most of the respondents were never taught about basic

pedestrian rules.

This question is only dedicated to the drivers and those who own a vehicle. These people

are only 40% of the population. 40% claimed to have gone to a registered driving school.

30% never went to any. The rest claimed to have learned from another driver.

0

5

10

15

20

25

Personality

CGPA

Descriptive

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Personality

CGPA

Descriptive




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This is a question towards all the respondents whether he / she has a car or not. 32% of the

population disagrees that the BTRA is not effective enough to issue driving license. What spices

things up is that 24% of the population strongly disagrees as well and 22% shared neutral

thought in this matter. Only the rest compiled a positive note in this matter. I can clearly draw a

picture that our BTRA has failed drastically. This needs improvement.

This question is only dedicated to the drivers or those who own a vehicle. 60% claimed

there driving license is up to date. 25% claimed of using fake ones. The rest has no idea

when the expiry date was over or not.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Matches totally

Matches to some extent

Doesn't match

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Personality

CGPA

Descriptive




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This question is also only dedicated to the drivers or those who own a vehicle. 60% of the

respondents only take the vehicle to check when they face trouble with the engine. Only

20% of the sample size / respondents take their vehicles for regular check up to the

workshops and 15% sometimes take their vehicles to the workshop, on the other hand, 5%

respondents rely on their drivers regarding these issues.

This question is also only dedicated to the drivers or those who own a vehicle. 55% of the

40% of the sample size (as 40% respondents have vehicles of their own or 20 people of the

total 50 sample size) follows the speed limits. This is a moderately positive attitude, on the

other hand 20% people of the 40% (20 respondents who are vehicle owners) of the vehicle

owners love to drive their cars / vehicles at full speed. Driving at full speed can cause

serious road accidents as road accidents most of the time mainly occur due to reckless

driving.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Having rich personality

Having higher CGPA

Other

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Personality

Academic excellence

Others




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0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Personality

Academic excellence

Others

0

5

10

15

20

25

Do the assigned work properly

Expect something more variety

Just do it somehow




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As stated by Carbonell & Castro (2008), “at the core of the personnel selection process is

interview” (p 16). Whenever a selection procedure is going on in an organization for a

particular job, mainly the written exam and interview are considered as important. It is

also proved by the survey that both interview and written exam was considered

important, where 34 out of 45 respondents answered for both (See Table 1 in Survey

Finding). But, no matter how good one performs in the written exam, he or she has to go

through the interview. So, during the interview, the personality will be counted first. The

interviewers will not see whether one can answer all the questions he or she is asked.

They will mainly see how well one can communicate with the interviewer. The body

language will also be taken into account. For example, a top scorer in the written test sat

for an interview. He was asked a simple question, to which anyone can answer, such as,

what is your ambition in life, By Kaye & Sreb (2003). Obviously, everyone knows what

he or she wants to be in his or her life. The person being very introvert and nervous in

nature, he could not answer it properly. He was hesitating a lot as he was having

communication problem with the interviewer. This is a particular characteristic of his

personality. This specific personality of the person failed to create a very good

impression to the interviewer. Thus, it reduces the chance of that person for getting the

job.

Another example can be given about the performance of personality on job performance.

In this case also, the person is a top scorer and sat for the interview. While answering the

question, the person was very rude in nature. Though he could answer all the questions,

but his way of talking and his gestures were not sociable enough. By Fullerton & Ernie




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(2002), “ it totally reduces the chance in getting the job when a person‟s gesture or style

of communicating is not sociable enough, after all, he is being appointed to work with

people, so an organization would not appoint an ill-mannered person.” According to

Tougas and Beaton (1993), “personality is inferred on the basis of observable behavior.

…It is seen as being visible in those aspects of behavior that appear to be more stable

across different situations” (p.79). So, as the person could not behave properly in that

situation, it proved his personality was not very impressive. Thus it shows that, even if

the person is knowledgeable enough, it is not guaranteed that he or she will be selected

for the job. Along with the knowledge, personality is also required and creates a greater

impact on job performance.

CGPA Measures Ones Knowledge Whereas Personality Measures Its Application

In 2009, Avolio, Mhatre, Norman, Lester found that “A person having a good CGPA

means that he or she is very studious and has performed very well in the exams. So,

while applying for a job, they will be given preference, such as in reputed organization.”

Thus, students who have a very good CGPA can only apply for that job. However, this

does not assure that the person having a good CGPA can perform very well in the job

field.

Urquhart (2003) stated that “It is always seen that the person who are very good students

are introverts in nature. They do not like changes. They do not have that openness to

change. Whenever there is any change in working system or management style, they

resist for the changes. Thus, they lack the creativity in them.” They always prefer to

abide by the rules strictly, that means they always want to do a task in the traditional way




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as it has been done in the past. Thus, it shows that CGPA only measures that how

knowledgeable a person is, but it does not help in the application. CGPA does not help to

apply the knowledge in the real world.

As stated by Wattis & Curran (2011), “The application of how to use knowledge can

only be done by the possession of an excellent personality.” A person who is very

extrovert and sociable can help to create a very good impression among the colleagues as

well as his or her boss. Openness to experience is required by the person having a very

good personality. This is because, he or she can bring out new ideas of doing the work,

which can increase the efficiency at the work as well as it can save time of doing the

work. They are more creative and reliable. They always feel themselves as part of the

organization. They do not just do their routine work from 9.00am to 5pm and go back to

their home.

There are examples of everyday conversation about people at work, with the key word

being personality- the combination of overall profile of characteristics that makes one

person unique from each other. An example is given by Gober and Jerald (2010), which

is described below: „Of course, he is a bad fit for the job. With a personality like that, he

will never make in that firm. Put Laila on the project, her personality is perfect for the

intensity that we expect from the team‟ (p.328).

From the example above, it is seen that a work is given to a particular person who has

got the personality to do that task. The manager did not check their background profile

to find out that she has got higher CGPA. The manager has observed their present

situation of their ability and personality of doing the task. Thus, it is seen that CGPA




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measures the theoretical knowledge of a person but personality measures the practical

knowledge.

Use of the Measures of Personality Traits

According to Saklofske & Zeidner (1995), “managers face the challenges of

working with people who possess a multitude of individual character, so the more

managers understand these differences, the better they can work with others”(p.78). They

need to know about the measures of personality, because research has shown that

personality tests are useful in hiring decisions. Scores from the personality tests are used

as a basis for finding the best fit for the job. The most common means of measuring the

personality is through self-report surveys. Here, individuals evaluate by rating

themselves on some factors. For example, there is a question about how much do you

worry about your future. The option will be given like less, neutral, a lot. So, a person

will be choosing the answer by keeping himself or herself in that particular situation.

This is advantageous because, answers are well constructed, and it can help managers

understand the applicants‟ behavior in particular situation. So, they can judge their

personality and also predict how they will perform their job. This performance of job

cannot be measured by knowing whether the person has a very good CGPA or not. It can

only help to measure his or her educational background. But, by measuring the

personality traits in a person, the managers can predict to some extent that how he or she

will behave while performing the job.

However, there are drawbacks of this self-report survey. When the respondent is

answering the survey, he or she may „fake good‟ on the test to create a good impression




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on the employer. Another problem is involved with the accuracy of the test. It might

happen that a perfectly good personality could have done badly just because he was in a

bad mood while giving the test. Thus, it may lead to inaccuracy of the results.

In 2001, Kirkcaldy, Furnham & Levine concluded that “Another measure of personality

trait is the observer-rating survey. In this case, the survey and the rating are done by a co-

worker or another observer. Thus, it will help to reduce the problems of faking good or

inaccurate result, as the observers are themselves rating the respondents‟ actions by their

behavior.

Comparing these two measures, observer-rating surveys are a better predictor of success

on the job. All these tests are mainly done in the Western countries, where it is seen to

take out the tests while hiring any candidate. However research showed that only 5

percent of the firms over there used these tests to assess the personality test (Hill, n.d.,

p.613). They are not yet found in the Eastern countries especially Bangladesh, where

hiring decisions are mainly focused on written exams and viva. So, from viva, the

candidate is interviewed and judged by the interviewer about his or her personality traits.

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Research on Bcs Exam