After reading this article you will learn about Personality Tests:- 1. Meaning of Personality Test 2. Examples of a Personality Test.
Meaning of Personality Test:
Personality tests are today an important aspect of all pre-interview screening. It provides the employer with valuable insights of an employee before they are hired. It is also a predictor of how they would react in different situations.
While each company has its own personality tests, many of them are variations of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). An example questionnaire from a personality test is listed. MBTI serves as an indicator of the personality of individuals, their likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. It also gives a peek into their decision-making process.
While there is no right or wrong answer in a personality test, employers looking for a specific personality to suit a role, often seek out people with certain traits. For example, when looking for a sales position, they would look for a person with a distinctive extraversion trait.
A sample Personality Test that is commonly used by companies today is given in the following section.
Examples of a Personality Test:
a. Jung Typology Test:
The MBTI assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. These preferences were extrapolated from the typological theories proposed by Carl Gustav Jung and first published in his 1921 book Psychological Types (English edition, 1923).
The questionnaire, consisting of 72 questions has two options for each question—YES or NO, as depicted in the excerpt shown below. One should pick the option that they feel applies to them the most. Even if one is unsure, one should go with one’s instinct. Responding to all the questions will fetch the most reliable result.
b. Personality Assessment:
Based on the MBTI assessment, the personalities of candidates are assessed. Each person is classified by a combination of four dichotomies, from 16 possible combinations. Each of these types is denoted by the first letter (except in case of iNtuition) of the personality trait.
Knowing these dichotomies helps the person to be more aware of his personality. These characteristics are also used by employers to assess, develop or group employees.
For example, two persons assessed as ESTJ and INFP have the following personality traits:
ESTJ—Extraversion, Sensing, Thinking, Judging
INFP—Introversion, Intuition, Feeling, Perceiving