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What are Personality Tests?
Personality tests are a very popular method for assessing potential employees during job interviews. The results of these tests have a significant influence on your chances of getting the job as they are seen as a measurement of your compatibility with the job you’re applying for.
You can practise for Personality tests here. |
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Personality Questionnaires
Personality tests are often referred to as personality questionnaires. The reason for this is partly because they are often not timed, but mainly in order to make you feel more comfortable with the test and thus answer as honestly as possible. It is also for this reason that most of these tests will say that there is no right answer. This is obviously far from accurate. Depending on the specific position, virtually every question has answers that will help you or hinder your employment chances. It is very important for this reason to prepare for these Personality Tests, despite what the assessment companies might tell you. |
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Personality Profiles
The main aim of these tests is to construct a “Personality Profile” around the attributes and personality traits of the candidate that can then be compared to the desired Personality Profile for the particular job being applied to. Personality Profiles take into consideration a large number of attributes such as how ambitious, orderly, creative, dominant, intellectual and goal oriented a candidate is, to name just a few.
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Personality test types
There are many different variations of personality tests but they all deal with the same personality qualities used in Personality Profiles. One common type of Personality test is the “16 Personality Factor” questionnaire (or 16PF). 16PF is based on True/False type answers; you will be given a phrase and need to choose whether that phrase is true or false about you. There are 200 questions in a 16PF test.
Here are some examples of 16PF questions:
- I trust others. True/False
- Disorder unsettles me. True/False
- I like to solve complex problems. True/False
Another type of test is the Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ32). For each question in an OPQ32 you will be presented with 4 statements and be asked which question describes you best and which questions describes you the least well. There are 100 questions in an OPQ32.
Here are some examples of OPQ32 questions:
I am the sort of person who....
- Easily establishes rapport with reports.
- Influences the course of meetings.
- Speaks coherently.
- Encourages colleagues to meet objectives.
Which of the following statements best describes you:
- I tend to make my decisions quickly.
- Even after making a decision, I usually keep wondering whether my choices were right or wrong.
- Words like "maybe" and "probably" inhibit our thinking.
- Quite often it is hard for me to make decisions.
For more information about personality tests including practice tests with detailed explanation go here.
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