subject: Check and analyse your personality [print this page] Check and analyse your personality Check and analyse your personality
It is totally wrong when referring to personality assessments as tests. There is no such thing as a right or wrong personality therefore this cannot be a pass/fail scenario. The person described as someone who has a great personality could in fact have the wrong personality for a particular job role. career test If an organisation was seeking a person who would be able to work for long periods of time on their own with little or no input from others then this 'great personality', previously described, would definitely not be the right personality for this role.
Does that mean that this person has failed the personality test, off course not because there was no test for this particular aspect of personality? Even employers or Human Resources specialists refer to personality tests as such, so what chance anyone else? Organisations tend to use psychometric tests for a variety of reasons. It could be that they want to test someone's numeracy, literacy or problem solving abilities. Since each of these are tests that there is a right and wrong answered to then they are of course correct in referring to them as tests. Because personality can also be assessed using a psychometric questionnaire some people has gotten into the lazy habit of referring to them as tests. They are psychometrics assessing personality but they are not a personality test in the true meaning of the word test.
Does this distinction matter? Yes it does and the use of the word test referring to personality test should be stamped out at every opportunity. People can be put at a disadvantage when they think that they are about to sit some sort of test to identify if they have a good or bad personality. Good or bad at what, they should ask. They tend to tense up prior to completing a questionnaire because the very word test had given the wrong impression. Their personality is not something they can influence greatly and certainly not when they have no idea what an organisation is looking for. Some people do try to answer questionnaires about them in the way they think the organisation or job advert demands. This is the worst thing to do as there are checks built into psychometrics to help identify if the answers are consistent
To set the scene and administer correctly, it should be explained that a personality questionnaire is not a test. They should be encouraged to answer as honestly as possible without undue deliberation. If the assessment shows that they are not a natural fit for the job that is not the end of the story as the results can provide the basis for further discussion.
