From the author: The article was published in the regional collection of VolSU, 2001; magazines "Educational Institution Management", "HR Service and Personnel". In the old days, when people lived measuredly and calmly, were not in a particular hurry, they had enough time to get to know each other better. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the pace of not only production, but also life accelerated many times over. We don’t have enough time for meaningful communication not only with work colleagues, but also with family and friends. And sometimes it is difficult for an HR manager to decide whether a particular candidate is suitable for the position for which he is being planned, how successfully he will work, and achieve real results. This is where science such as psychology comes to the rescue. In this case, we mean various psychological techniques, tests and tests. It is argued that such things help a person to know himself and others better. Now they are used when hiring people, and when enrolling in school, and in general, wherever possible. The question of whether to use psychological testing in the security business has been discussed for a long time and still remains a personal choice of the manager. Moreover, the decision is often based on prejudices and prejudices to a greater extent than on real knowledge of the question: why is this needed and what does it give? Many psychologists have rightly noted that tests speed up and facilitate the hiring of exactly the right specialists, help form a personnel reserve of truly intelligent employees . That is, tests are needed in order to understand what and from whom to expect. But let us also note that our society over the last 100 years has been very inclined towards formalism - i.e. For us, form is more important than content. The same formalism is hidden in most tests, despite the fact that the psychologists-compilers declare the opposite - attention to hidden deep processes that reflect true personality traits. Formalism begins with the fact that any test is focused on a certain human analogue of the arithmetic mean. Moreover, this is manifested not only in the fact that there is a limited number of possible answers, but also in the standard and again limited set of possible interpretations of the answers received. In other words, if the test does not take into account personal characteristics, then it is already formal, because it pays attention to the external (form) to the detriment of the internal (content). And even if the testing involves the services of a professional psychologist, the reliability of the data obtained is from 20 to 70%, depending on the methodology used and the qualifications of the interpreter. The most reliable and reliable source of information is personal observation and only then a well-chosen battery of tests covering the most important for the desired profession, personal, intellectual, motivational and volitional qualities and processed by a professional psychologist. The last one is especially important! We emphasize this not out of simple professional arrogance or fear of being left without a job, but comes from the practice of life. Nowadays there is a fashionable trend to administer a computer version of a test, and then, guided by a standard printout, give the test subject a “diagnosis”, sometimes also obtained in as a result of remote examination. This practice is flawed for several reasons. Firstly, these standard printouts contain terminology that is understandable to a layperson only on an intuitive (everyday) level. Secondly, standard characteristics are often contradictory and only a professional is competent in the theoretical basis of the methodology used. Thirdly, every professional psychologist, in addition to tests, is based on the method of personal observation, which protects him from accidents. Often, even with unreliable testing data, such indirect information provides a lot of valuable information: how quickly a person gets used to a new situation; how inclined he is to accept the rules of the game imposed on him; at what speedworks, etc. Such dynamic characteristics of activity often help diagnose addiction to alcohol and drugs, and weed out mentally ill candidates. It is quite difficult to recognize such a person, and even more difficult to fire him, and in the security business related to weapons, it is also an extremely dangerous circumstance. Therefore, the use of testing not only characterizes a company well, whose management pays close attention to the selection of employees and targeted work with personnel, but also directly protects its interests and viability. Unfortunately, not all personnel services use reliable professional methods in testing. Sometimes they are borrowed from anywhere, almost from newspapers and magazines. There are also separate book publications that include a huge number of tests such as: “Are you too aggressive?”, “Passenger or helmsman?”, “Test your intelligence.” Such masterpieces of psychological thought cannot reveal anything in a person other than what he tells you about himself. A striking example of this type of survey is the test from the joke: “The newspaper published the test “Are you a jealous person?” It consists of one question: do you resent it if your wife is harassed? The following answer options are given: 1) yes; 2) no. Key: if you answered “yes”, then you are a jealous person, if you answered “no”, then you are a fool.” This type of questionnaire concentrates all the worst features of tests as a phenomenon. They are deeply formal and average. It is unclear why they are created at all - they give nothing to anyone. Even they were invented extremely ineptly, but they are presented with a claim to some kind of truth and validity. They can be read only for entertainment. Recently, intelligence tests and tests for attention and memory have become popular, which can either be included in an intelligence test or given separately. They are mainly used for positions such as accountant, marketer, commercial director, designer, etc. Usually the concept of “intelligence” is explained as a person’s ability to think, as the ability to understand and adapt to a new situation and solve various problems. To process intelligence tests, the well-known indicator “intelligence quotient” (IQ) is used. Among the most popular intelligence tests are methods such as the “Eysenck Verbal Test,” which allows you to study one of the types of formal logical thinking. For example, find a common beginning of 4 letters for the following three words: -voz, -nos, -section. Answer: “Water”; “Number series” – to assess abstract logical thinking and mathematical abilities. For example, in a given number sequence it is necessary to enter the missing numbers: 24 21 19 18 15 13………7. Answer: 12 and 9, because the sequence is built according to the 3-2-1 principle and then repeated. There are many techniques for assessing logical thinking, many of which are logic games. For example, it is necessary to determine the ratio of A and B using mathematical signs “”, if A is 9 times greater than B, and B is 4 times greater than C. Answer: B < A. When assessing the results of this type of test, attention is most often paid to the quantitative rather than the qualitative side of the test results. They do not analyze which tasks turned out to be more difficult and which ones were easier; the sphere of interests of a person in which he is able to realize himself to the fullest is not taken into account. That is, the basis of assessment is the standard, and not the person with his individual potential. And again we come to the conclusion that in order to get an idea of ​​this potential, personal communication is necessary, which allows us to more accurately determine the area where a person’s abilities will be revealed to the maximum. The realities of life have more than once proven the inconsistency of high intelligence in the face of reality. Therefore, this type of test alone is good for individual games with oneself. It is not recommended to draw general conclusions based only on their results. Also, note that many psychologists focus on the specifics)