Personality Tests: Save time and boost productivity

July 22, 2020

Personality Tests: Save time and boost productivity

If you’ve found that working from home during the COVID-19 lockdown has adversely affected your motivation, you’re not alone; Google searches relating to productivity have jumped 300% since May. With the extra time that many of us have gained, you may have been reflecting on what you value the most and considering your next chapter, such as a new job.

It seems to become harder and harder to find new roles and for employers to decide on the right candidate with each passing year due to the sheer volume of applicants; especially now since more than a quarter of the UK’s workforce is currently furloughed

In response to this, many employers are building an extra step into the recruitment process: personality testing. According to a survey from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Mercer, 67% of HR professionals are using personality tests in the hiring process, versus less than 50% in 2010.

A personality test is an assessment designed to gain a better sense of your perceptions, communication style, strengths, motivations and limitations, amongst other things. Recruiters can use personality tests to find the candidate whose character traits are most compatible with the position and team. Managers can also use personality tests to capitalise on the unique strengths and talents of their current team members, ultimately boosting day-to-day efficiency and morale.

“Look for people whose skills are the opposite of yours. Dare to emphasise your weaknesses” – Diane Janknegt

Since personality tests are not ‘tests’ in the sense that they don’t measure knowledge, there is no need to study for them. However, it is advised to research the particular type of assessment you will be given to become familiar with the format in advance. Here are some of the most common types of personality tests used by employers: 

These tests can take anywhere between 15 minutes for the DiSC test to 3 hours for the Caliper Profile test, and your task with most of them is to find or rate statements that best reflect your beliefs. There are lots of different personality tests online which you can take yourself for free. Here are just a few which we have found and give accurate descriptions of who you are and why you do things the way you do:

  • 16 Personality Types Test – Based on the Myers-Briggs personality type theory, and prescribes 1 of 16 personality types based on your answers in relation to: introversion vs extroversion, observant vs intuitive, thinking vs feeling and judging vs prospecting.
  • DiSC Personality Test – Helps you to discover your personality type at work and improve communication, productivity and conflict management in the workplace.
  • Enneagram Test – A helpful tool for personal development and building your most important relationships, as it describes your tendencies, motivations, fears and desires more specifically than other personality frameworks. Uncovering more about what makes you tick can help you become more compassionate towards yourself and others, manage your stress levels and reach new levels of fulfilment.
  • The Big Five Test – A scientific trait assessment which measures what the creators consider to be the ‘Big Five’ personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.

 

Our 3 top tips for effectively completing personality tests: 
  1. The tests are designed in such a way that results can’t be manipulated, so be your authentic self.
  2. Approach the questions from the perspective of your at-work persona, as this might differ from your at-home persona.
  3. Familiarise yourself with the format of the particular test type in advance.





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