Most workplace personality tests have no pass mark in the way a numerical test does. The employer compares your profile with what the role involves, so doing well means giving a clear, honest and consistent picture of how you work. Read each statement as it applies to you at work, use the full answer scale, and answer the way you would if the same question came up at interview.
It helps to know the format before the real thing, so try a free personality test first. If you are new to these tests, what a personality test is explains the main types.
What the employer is actually looking at
Your answers are combined across many statements to produce scores on a set of traits, such as how you handle pressure, detail, change and working with others. No single answer decides anything.
The employer then looks at the overall pattern and asks whether it fits the role. Many questionnaires also check how reliable the profile is, by looking at:
- Consistency. The same trait is often measured several times with different wording.
- Overly flattering answers. Some statements are there to spot people agreeing with everything that sounds good, such as “I have never been late for anything.”
A profile that is consistent and believable is the goal. Trying to second-guess the ideal answer to every statement works against both.
Before the test
- Read the job description. Note the behaviours the role calls for. A customer service role may need patience and empathy, while an analyst role may need care with detail. Use this to remind yourself which of your real experiences are relevant, not to invent a different personality.
- Find out the format if you can. Check whether you will rate statements, choose most and least like me, or both, and whether there is a time limit. Read the instructions on the day as well, because formats vary between publishers.
- Practise. A practice questionnaire takes away the surprise of a long run of similar statements, which makes it easier to stay focused.
- Think about yourself at work. Employers want to know how you operate in a working setting, so picture work or study rather than your weekends.
How to answer agree and disagree statements
Most questionnaires use a five-point scale:
- Strongly agree: this describes you almost all of the time.
- Agree: this is broadly true of you, with some exceptions.
- Neither agree nor disagree: your experience is genuinely mixed, or the statement does not apply.
- Disagree: this is mostly untrue of you.
- Strongly disagree: this rarely or never describes you.
Two habits blur a profile. The first is picking the neutral middle again and again, which gives the employer very little to go on. If you lean even slightly one way, choose agree or disagree. The second is answering strongly agree to everything that sounds positive, which looks exaggerated. Save your strongest answers, in either direction, for statements that really capture you.
Watch for negative wording. If you are reliable with deadlines, the honest answer to “I rarely miss deadlines” is agree, even though the statement contains a negative word. Read each statement to the end before you answer.
Worked example: a rating statement
Statement: “I prefer to finish one task before I start another.”
- Picture a recent working week. Say you often have three or four things on the go and switch between them without trouble, but you feel more settled when you can close one off first.
- Decide the direction. The statement is more true than untrue, so it is agree or strongly agree.
- Decide the strength. You happily juggle tasks when you need to, so it is not true almost all of the time. The honest answer is agree.
Later in the same questionnaire you see: “I am comfortable switching between several tasks at once.” Because you answered the first one honestly, the second is easy: you are comfortable switching, so you agree again. The two answers fit together, since you can prefer finishing tasks and still cope well with switching. That is the point of honest answers. They stay consistent on their own, so you never need to remember what you said 40 statements ago.
Worked example: most and least like me
Choose the statement most like you and the one least like you:
- A. I set myself demanding targets.
- B. I enjoy meeting new people.
- C. I check my work carefully before handing it in.
- D. I stay calm when plans change.
All four describe useful behaviour, so there is no safe answer to hide behind. Suppose you are thorough, you have never found new people especially easy, and you like setting goals but do not push yourself hard on them. You would pick C as most like you and B as least like you.
Choosing B as least like you does not count against you. It only means meeting new people is a smaller part of your profile than careful checking. Across dozens of these groups, the pattern of your choices builds a picture of your relative strengths.
Questions about honesty and integrity
Roles that involve money, stock or confidential information sometimes include integrity questions, either in the personality questionnaire or as a separate test. You may be asked how acceptable certain behaviour is, such as taking office supplies home or bending a rule to hit a target.
Answer honestly and in proportion. Be clear where something is wrong, but avoid claiming a perfect record. Agreeing strongly with “I have never told a white lie” is less believable than a realistic answer.
On the day
- Choose a quiet time and place. These questionnaires can be long, and concentration matters more than speed.
- Keep a steady pace. Your first honest reaction is usually the most accurate one. Spending a long time on each statement tends to produce a less natural profile.
- Stay alert to the end. Careless answers late in a long questionnaire are a common cause of inconsistency.
What to avoid
- Answering as an imaginary ideal candidate. It tends to produce a profile that looks inconsistent or too good to be true. And if it worked, it could land you in a role that does not suit you.
- Answering as you would like to be. Base each answer on what you actually do.
- Treating every statement as a trick. Most mean exactly what they say.
Many workplace questionnaires measure traits close to the Big Five model, so reading about those five traits shows you what is being looked at. When you are ready, take a practice personality test and read your report against the role you are applying for.
