A personality test is a questionnaire that asks how you usually think, feel and behave, then turns your answers into a profile of your preferences and tendencies. To find out your own personality, you rate a series of statements about yourself, and the test shows where you sit on traits such as how outgoing, organised or calm under pressure you tend to be. There are no right or wrong answers, and no single result sums up everything about you.
The quickest way to see what a profile looks like is to take a free personality test, which uses the same kind of agree and disagree statements that many employers use.
Traits and types: the two ways tests describe you
Every personality test works in one of two ways.
- Trait tests give you a score on several scales. You are not put in a box. Instead, you might come out fairly high on organisation, about average on sociability and low on worry. The best known trait model is the Big Five, which most personality research is built on.
- Type tests sort you into one of a set number of categories. The best known is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which gives you one of 16 four-letter types such as ENFP or ISTJ.
Trait tests are better at showing degrees of difference, which is why employers tend to prefer them. Type tests are easier to remember and talk about, which is why they are popular in team workshops and career coaching.
The main kinds of personality test
| Model | What your result looks like | Where you usually meet it |
|---|---|---|
| Big Five | A score on each of five traits | Research, and many workplace questionnaires |
| Myers-Briggs | A four-letter type, one of 16 | Team development and career coaching |
| DISC | One or two main styles, out of four | Communication and team training |
| Enneagram | One of nine numbered types | Personal development |
| Type A and Type B | A broad description of pace and drive | Everyday conversation more than formal testing |
If your employer or coach has named a model, the DISC guide and the other guides linked on this page explain what each result means.
What a personality test at work looks like
When an employer sets a personality test, it is usually called a personality questionnaire or a behavioural assessment. It tends to follow the same pattern:
- Statements to rate. You see a statement such as “I stay calm when plans change” and choose how far you agree, usually on a five-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree.
- Most and least like me. Some questionnaires show a group of three or four statements and ask you to pick the one most like you and the one least like you. All the options sound reasonable, so there is no obvious answer to reach for.
- Plenty of questions, little time pressure. Workplace questionnaires can be long, but they are usually untimed or generously timed.
Employers use the results to see how your preferred way of working compares with what the role involves, such as working with customers, handling detail or leading a team. The profile is one piece of evidence alongside your application, interview and any aptitude tests, and interviewers sometimes use it to choose questions to ask you.
Behavioural assessments and culture fit assessments
You may see two related names on an invitation.
A behavioural assessment is a broad term for tests that look at how you tend to act at work. It can mean an online personality questionnaire, or it can mean interview questions about what you have done in the past, such as “Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult customer.” The idea is the same: your usual patterns of behaviour help an employer judge how you might approach the job.
A culture fit assessment focuses on your values and the kind of environment you work best in. Questions might ask what management style you respond to, whether you prefer working alone or in a team, or which of the company’s values matters most to you. Some are multiple choice, some ask for written answers, and some are a conversation.
For both, honest answers help you as much as the employer. They show whether you would actually be comfortable in the role, and you may be asked to talk about your answers later.
How to read your result
A few things are worth keeping in mind when you get a report.
- It describes preferences, not abilities. A low score for sociability does not mean you cannot present to a room. It means it may not be what energises you most.
- Scores are relative. Workplace tests usually compare your answers with a large group of other people who have taken the same test, so “high” means higher than most of that group.
- It can change. Your answers reflect how you see yourself now. A new job, more experience or a different stage of life can shift them.
- A practice report is a guide. Practice tests are written in the style of employer questionnaires, not by the publishers themselves, so your real report may use different scales and wording.
How to find out your personality type
- Choose a model. If you want detail, start with a trait test. If you want a simple label to explore, a type test is easier to read.
- Answer as you usually are. Think about ordinary days, not your best or worst moments.
- Go with your first honest reaction. Overthinking each statement tends to blur the result.
- Read the whole report. Look at the pattern across all the scales rather than one headline.
- Check it against real life. Ask whether it matches how you actually behave at work and with other people.
If you are preparing for a test set by an employer, read how to pass a personality test at work for advice on answering honestly and consistently. Then try a practice personality test so the format feels familiar before the real one.
