What Are Job Personality Tests?

Job personality tests are tests that seek to get information about your personality and see if your personality is the right fit for the job you are interviewing for. Job personality tests have become an essential aspect of the employment process, and a large number of job interview processes include one form of personality test or the other.

You might feel anxious when you hear that you have to take a personality test for a job you’ve got your eyes on. You don’t have anything to worry about. In this article, we’ll tell you all that you need to know about personality tests and how to prepare for them.

What Is the Relevance of Personality Tests?

Some personality types are more suited for some job roles and job descriptions. If you have a particular personality, you might not perform well at a job, and you might fit better at another position. Some jobs require more than having the right kind of degree, skills or talents. You need to have a certain kind of personality to fit in well and perform excellently. This is what personality tests seek to find.

Personality tests tell a potential employer more about your communication style, personality, how you perceive things, how you react to situations and scenarios, your empathy level, etc. It’s harder to train people without the right personality traits for a job description, so employers find it easier and faster to conduct personality tests instead.

Interviews alone can’t tell employers about your personality, so they rely on personality tests to help them with this information. On average, employees do not stay longer than five years at a position, so personality tests are needed to make better hiring decisions and spend less time rehiring people.

For example, some organizations have a relaxed organizational culture, and if you are not a laid-back person, you may fit in the organization. The same goes for easy-going people who may not fit in a very strict organization with strict bosses.

The job description might require handling difficult clients or a lot of bargaining, and you may not be the right person for those roles. Also, your communication style might not work for your organization.

Why You Should Not Be Afraid of a Personality Test

Personality tests are not the primary tool for determining if you will be hired or not. The interview is more important. Your skill sets and what you have to offer the company still bear more importance than a personality test.

Also, personality tests are not tests that you need to spend a lot of time reading and studying for. They are not tests that you can pass or fail in the strict sense of it. You won’t receive a pass or fail grade. The fact that your personality doesn’t fit a job role doesn’t mean that you aren’t a perfect fit for another job or another organization.

Also, personality tests are not that accurate. Some questions in one test are not sufficient enough to reveal all there is to know about your personality. Human beings are much more difficult to read than that. Human psychology is deeper and more advanced than that. Personality tests try to do a good job, but they are not perfect.  

Types of Questions You Will Face in A Job Personality Test

1. Ipsative questions: Ipsative questions are ‘forced choice’ questions where you will be asked to pick statements that you most agree with and statements that you least agree with. You will be given a list of statements to choose from.

2. Normative questions: Normative questions require you to rate statements from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree.’ You will be given about five options for one statement e.g. strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree and strongly disagree.

Types of Job Personality Tests

1. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI): The Myer-Briggs Type Indicator is named after the creators, Isabel Myers, and Katherine Briggs. The Myer-Briggs Type Indicator is one of the most popular personality tests you will come across. The test shows if you are an introvert or extrovert, and it tests your intuition, thinking, feeling and sensation.  

2. The Personality Assessment System: The Personality Assessment System was created by John W. Gittinger, a former CIA psychologist. This test uses the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale to gather character information and test a person character formation, skills and intelligence.

3. The Big Five Personality Traits:  The Big Five personality traits are also known as the OCEAN model or the five-factor model. It evaluates people based on five factors of Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism

4. The Process Communication Model (PCM): The Process Communication Model was created by NASA to help select astronauts for missions. The Process Communication Model groups people into six personality types of promoters, rebels, thinkers, persisters, harmonizers and Imagineers.

5. The Enneagram: The Enneagram is a pictorial model that classifies human personalities into nine classes. These classes are Loyalists, Individualists, Peacemakers, Reformers, Challengers, Enthusiasts, Investigators, Helpers and Achievers.    

6. The HEXACO Personality Inventory: The HEXACO Personality Inventory tests six human characters of H-Humanity, E-Emotionality, X-Extraversion, A-Agreeableness, C-Conscientiousness and O-Openness to Experience(O). Potential employees are assessed based on the personalities that are under these categories.

7. The Revised Neo Personality Inventory (Neo Pi-R): The Neo Pi-R is a modified edition of the Neo Personality Theory. This personality tests people on Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness. Conscientiousness.

8. DISC Assessment: The DISC assessment evaluates human behaviour based on the traits of D-dominance, I-inducement, S-submission and C-compliance. Employers use the DISC assessment to test how suitable candidates are for a job.

9. The Birkman Method: Created by Robert Birkman, the Birkman Method measures how a person reacts to stress. It also evaluates social behaviour and character strengths.

10. The Holtzman Inkblot Technique: Created by Walter H. Holtzman, the Holtzman Inkblot Technique was created from the Rorschach test. It assesses human personality with the aid of inkblots. It assesses reaction time, space, place, form and rejection of inkblots.

11. The Winslow Personality Profile: The Winslow Personality Profile assesses your career happiness and success. It examines 24 personality traits and it helps people to find their strength. It has helped several people to make career decisions.

How to Prepare for Job Personality Tests?

1. Don’t write a test when you are stressed: Studies have shown that people give varying answers to personality tests when they are under stress. Some people are usually calm and relaxed under normal working conditions, but may not give expected answers to these tests due to stress.
2. Display your professional personality and not your home personality: A lot of people have a sort of ‘Jekyll and Hyde personality’ or a sort of alter ego. They behave differently and react differently when at home and at the office. Some people might be unorganised at home and remain very organised in the office. Some may be rude or harsh at home while remaining extremely polite to their work colleagues. Reveal only your office persona at work.
3. Research on the job description for the role: Research on the supposed job description for the job you are interviewing for so you can have an idea of the personality traits the employer is looking out for.
4. Check out some sample job personality tests first: Checking out some job personality tests before going to write yours will give you an idea of what to expect from the test. The more tests you read up on, the more you get familiar with personality tests. This will also put you at ease and make you less stressed when taking the test. You do not need to memorize any specific answers as some answers that are favourable to one employer will be unfavourable to another employer.   
5. Read instructions carefully: The personality test will contain various segments with different ways of answering. In addition, it includes questions that demand almost opposite answers. Read the instruction for each segment carefully and take your time before answering.
6. Read each question carefully: The personality test will contain some trick questions. Read each question carefully to ensure that you fully understand them and how they relate to the job description.
7. Avoid picking extreme answers: Avoid picking those ‘strongly agree’ and ‘strongly disagree; answers where necessary as they may depict you as an inflexible person.
8. Avoid unprofessional and extreme answers: Avoid picking answers that may depict you as someone who is unprofessional or unmotivated to work.
9. Don’t game the test: Administrators of personality tests will almost always know if you game the test and pick perfect answers for virtually every question. Just be yourself and answer as honestly as possible. Some candidates pick ideal answers all the time without knowing how weird it feels to the assessor. For example, how can you be an extrovert who sees the bigger picture of things and still be an introvert who loves to pick the tiniest details in things at the same time?    

Big Five Personality Test

This is the most common type of personality test and goes over 5 facets of your personality including openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

Some of the most common personality tests utilize this set-up and big companies check over these results before final hiring processes.

OPQ32

This stands for Occupational Personality Questionnaire and is used the most often in the UK. More often than not, this is included along with ability testing to give a well-rounded picture to the company.

MMPI

This test is different and stands for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. The test screens your personality and psychopathology to see if you have any diagnosable mental health disorders. It’s seen as a very reliable personality test and is utilized by a lot of companies!

CPI Test

The core of this test is focused around how well you lead or can become a leader. The entire test is a leadership assessment that will help a hiring company place you in the appropriate position.

Predictive Index

The predictive index is a combination of several different tests that scan cognitive, personality, and behavioral traits of a candidate. These thresholds can be set to help place candidates in the appropriate positions.

NEO Personality Inventory

Just like any personality inventory, this one is designed to assess your personality traits but has a broader purpose of assessing career potential.

Leadership Assessment

Rather than simply looking into your personality and skill set, the Leadership Assessment gauges your ability to lead and manage others. You’ll likely find this type of assessment if you’re applying for a management or other leadership role.

Gallup’s Strengths Finder

Gallup has long been a leader in the world of jobs, careers, and career strengths. The Gallup Strengths Finder is a strengths-based analysis of your abilities. It can also be used on your team as a whole to give you a clear picture of how your business is running.

Assessment FAQ’s

No matter what type of personality assessment you’re scheduled to take, there are always a few nagging questions in the back of your mind. Let’s address a few so you can be prepared for your next personality assessment!

Can You Fail a Personality Assessment?

These tests, while labeled tests aren’t pass or fail. They’re simply there to give your potential new employer an idea of what you’ll be like as part of the team. You can’t pass or fail this test at all but your personality may not match up with the job so be prepared before you take it!

What Are Personality Tests Used For?

Personality tests help employers and recruiters get an idea of your strengths and weaknesses. Each position at their company requires a different type of personality so it will be used to determine if you’ll fit in and enjoy a certain position.

Is the 16 Personality Test Accurate?

More commonly known as the Myers-Briggs Indicator, the 16 Personality Tests boasts that it is up to 90% accurate. However, a lot of employers use a wide range of personality tests along with ability tests to determine if you’ll fit the job.

What is the Difference Between a Personality Test and an Aptitude Test?

Personality tests measure how you handle certain situations and how you act when confronted with a problem. Aptitude tests measure problem solving and reasoning abilities more along the lines of a traditional test with right and wrong answers.

What is the Most Used Personality Test?

Originally designed in the 1940’s, the Myers-Briggs personality test is still one of the most popular. It breaks people down into 16 different personalities that each have their own strengths and weaknesses.

How are Personality Tests Scored?

Each one has a different scoring system but the most common is taking your test scores and comparing them against other test takers in the system resulting in a percentile ranking.

Why Should You Prepare for a Personality Test?

Each company and position requires something different when it comes to your personality and abilities. If you don’t prepare you could miss out on a job you’re really qualified for because you had one bad day and answered like it! Preparing in advance helps keep nerves at bay and let’s you answer in a way that showcases your full ability.