Prepare for your job personality test with practice questions, study guides, and clear explanations of the traits employers often assess. Our Personality Practice Pack is designed to help you understand common personality test formats, become familiar with workplace-style statements, and approach your assessment with more confidence.

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.

It is normal to feel unsure before a personality assessment, especially if you do not know what to expect. The best way to reduce stress is to understand the format, review the role, and practise similar question styles before the real test.

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.

Common Personality Tests Used by Employers

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?    

FAQ: Job Personality Test

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!

What is a job personality test?

A job personality test is an assessment used by employers to understand how a candidate usually behaves at work. It may measure traits such as teamwork, leadership, communication style, reliability, motivation, emotional control, and fit for the role.

Can you fail a personality test for a job?

You usually cannot fail a personality test in the same way you can fail an aptitude test. However, your results can affect your application if your profile does not match the role or if your answers appear inconsistent.

How do you prepare for a job personality test?

You can prepare by reviewing the job description, understanding common personality test formats, practising sample questions, reflecting on your workplace behaviour, and answering honestly and consistently.

What do employers look for in personality tests?

Employers usually look for traits that match the role. For example, a sales job may value confidence and persuasion, while an operations role may value structure, accuracy, and reliability.

Should I answer honestly on a personality test?

Yes. You should answer honestly, but with workplace context in mind. Focus on how you usually behave professionally, not how you behave in every personal situation.

Are job personality tests timed?

Some personality tests are timed, while others are not. Many are designed to be completed within 15 to 45 minutes, depending on the test provider and number of questions.

What are the most common job personality tests?

Common job personality tests include SHL OPQ32, Hogan HPI, Predictive Index Behavioral Assessment, Caliper, PAPI 3, Saville Wave, McQuaig, Big Five, DISC, and leadership personality assessments.

What is the difference between a personality test and an aptitude test?

A personality test measures work style, behaviour, motivation, and job fit. An aptitude test measures abilities such as numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning, logical thinking, and problem-solving.

Can I practise for a personality test?

Yes. Practice can help you understand the format, reduce stress, recognise common question styles, and answer with greater consistency and self-awareness.

What should I avoid in a job personality test?

Avoid trying to fake a perfect personality, giving contradictory answers, ignoring the job context, rushing through the questions, or choosing extreme answers that do not reflect your real work behaviour.