Completing a personality test is a useful tool for you and also prospective employers.
Those sceptics amongst you may feel that personality tests belong in the playground, but the right tests could give you unprecedented insights into your career, strengths and weaknesses. After all, a little change can lead to big success!
How a personality test can help job hunters
Often, you can feel like you’ve hit a dead end with your job search. Maybe you’re just not hearing back from employers at all, or perhaps you have no idea what jobs to apply for. That’s where personality tests can become an invaluable resource for job hunters.
You can use these tests to:
- Identify areas for improvement
- Find out which type of work would be best suited to you
- Improve your self-awareness
Free personality tests
Here are some great (and free) personality tests you can take. Who knows what doors your results could open!
Career Personality Test – https://www.careerexperts.co.uk/graduate-careers/career-personality-test
16 Personalities – https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
Big Five Personality Test – https://www.truity.com/test/big-five-personality-test
DISC Personality Test – https://www.123test.com/disc-personality-test/
“I Have to Complete a Personality Test… Help!”
Employers are changing the way they recruit; the traditional, stuffy manner of assessing candidates is being replaced with a more holistic approach to hiring. Gone are the days where your credentials were all that mattered, now who you are as an individual is taken on board, too. A great tool a potential employer or recruiter may use to gain a better understanding of you is a personality test.
Personality testing, along with psychometric and aptitude tests, has become commonplace within recruitment. So, should you be worried?
Is a personality test a bad thing?
While this ‘whole person’ screening process is a step in the right direction, meaning candidates end up in the right jobs for them, it can be a little daunting. Growing up, it’s likely you were taught the following: “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.” Well, when an interviewer places a test full of seemingly straightforward questions about yourself with “no right or wrong answer”, one thing will spring to mind:
It’s not a trap!
You can’t fit a square peg into a round hole. If a job or company isn’t the right fit for your personality or vice versa, you’ll soon find yourself being unhappy at work. So, try to consider a personality test to be for your benefit as much as it is for the employer. No, your results may not win you the job, but that only means that you dodged a bullet. Trust that employers and recruiters have reasons for using personality and psychometric assessments.
There’s no pass or fail with these kinds of tests. You’re either the right fit or not. As long as you approach them in the right way, they tend to be highly accurate in identifying personality traits.
The personality test: A history
Personality assessment dates all the way back to the 18th century, although methods were much more rudimental. However, definitive measures to define personality type weren’t introduced until the 1920s. Since then, a number of different personality tests came into being.
However, one of the most popular personality assessment tools used by employers today is the Myers Briggs type indicator. Developed by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers, and inspired by revered psychoanalyst Carl Jung’s theories, has 16 possible results. It is believed that the results of this test, and the personality type you are assigned, can dictate what type of work suits you best.
How to prepare for a personality test
It’s a test, so you need to prepare, right? Well, there’s not really much you can do to get ready to take a personality test. In fact, because of this, they may just get sprung on you during an interview; don’t worry, they’re not trying to blindside you! Knowledge is power, if you’re applying for jobs, it’s wise to brush up on the different types of personality test so that you know what to expect.
With these assessments, your first response to a question is usually the right one; go with your gut. Again, there’s no right or wrong, so don’t overthink it. While it’s worth bearing the role you’re applying for in mind whilst completing a personality test, trying to fudge or sway your results could provide false or inconclusive results. Therefore, affecting your chances of getting the job.
The results
Depending on which type of test you complete, your result will vary. Some tests can identify psychological types, whereas others focus more on personality traits or behaviours. Whichever result you get, it will be carefully considered by a potential employer or recruiter. Your results will then be compared to the job description, a set specification for the role or against a group of people who have applied for the job. The rest is up to them…
Whatever the outcome, all test takers should use the opportunity to learn about themselves. If you aren’t given the details of your results, don’t be afraid to request them. This may help you to identify areas for you to work on for the future, which could benefit your career in the long run.
Key points to take away
- Personality tests are a useful tool for employers to find the right person for the job
- They can benefit you by making sure that you don’t end up in the wrong job
- Don’t be afraid, they’re usually easy!
- You don’t need to prepare
- It’s helpful to understand the different types of personality tests before any interviews
- Be honest and trust your instincts when answering questions
- You may not get the job – don’t be disheartened, just learn from the experience