Personality Testing

What's it all about?

There's no right or wrong answer with personality testing.

Personality tests are used primarily to determine whether individual's personalities are right for a particular organisation. For example, if you are a dominant, forward and highly expressive individual, this could be the perfect personality for a particular role in a particular company. However it may not be suited for other organisations whose organisation culture may not support that type of personality.

Hundreds of theorists have written book after book on organisational culture and behaviour. The culture that exists within an organisation is expressed in its employees, its processes, its website...and the list goes on. Throughout your career, you will notice that organisations differ substantially from each other - not just by means of industry, product ranges and size, but also by having largely different cultures and types of people.

Personality testing is a useful tool that organisations across the entire world use today as a means of determining an individuals personality - therefore allowing them to make a judgement as to whether they believe that particular personality is a right or wrong cultural fit for their organisation.

Many candidates see personality testing as tedious and can't see the point - but extensive research suggests that through the carefully selected questions, personality traits can be recognised.

Hits and tips

• Always choose the first answer - don't go back and change the answer to something else.
• Don't try and answer the questions as how you think the employer will want you to.
• Don't spend a long time on each question. It should be a relatively quick test.

Don't forget to check the other articles on testing in our Help & Advice section. There's information that can help you at all stages of looking and applying for jobs, from picking the right Food Degree to CV advice.