Employers Put Executive Job Candidates to the Test

David Elkins jumped through a lot of hoops before Becton, Dickinson & Co. hired him as its chief financial officer in December 2008. After eight interviews with company officials, he underwent an executive "assessment.”

The day-long process included a business-simulation exercise involving role playing, a two-hour session with an educational psychologist and online personality tests that gauged key traits such as strategic thinking. Becton says it assessed 95 internal and external prospects for executive posts last year, up from six in 2008. (The increase was not related to additional executive hiring.)

By JOANN S. LUBLIN

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