With pre-employment personality testing on the rise, recruitment agencies and organisations have likely asked you to complete a personality test or other pre-employment assessment. Immediately you start thinking of questions. Will the test be difficult? Will I pass or fail? Will it prevent me from getting the job. While your first response might be stress or fear, personality testing is not a typical pass or fail test and may even help you land the job. Here are some tips to help you pass a personality test for job applications.
What are the most common personality tests for job applications?
The most common personality tests for job applications are DISC personality tests.
DISC personality tests are one of the most common personality tests for job applications. DISC personality tests help recruiters uncover candidates' behavioural preferences, which can be hard to pick up on in only one or two interviews. Using DISC personality tests, recruiters can understand candidates' preferred learning styles, recognise stress triggers, motivators, and understand their natural behavioural fit to the position - all before they hire them! Understanding a candidate's natural decision-making style, communication style, and approach to teamwork, are essential to ensure the candidate's job satisfaction. These factors ensure the candidate becomes a valuable long-term member of the team. When it comes to evaluating a candidate's fit to a role, this information is hugely beneficial.
How to pass a personality test for job applications
Employers use personality tests or DISC assessments during their hiring process to prioritise their list of candidates. The tests determine if there are some vital job skills that the candidates lack or need to improve. Many large companies use pre-employment testing to assess whether candidates' personalities, work styles, knowledge, or abilities fit the job role or company culture.
Employers ask candidates to complete a DISC personality test for job applications to evaluate whether they are a good fit for the role. Ultimately, they are trying to predict whether your behavioural or personality style is a good fit for the position and the broader workplace culture.
One of the biggest misconceptions about DISC personality tests is that you can pass or fail. A DISC personality test is not like a traditional achievement test. The DISC personality test questionnaire does not have right or wrong answers. One of the most significant benefits of a DISC personality profile is that it is non-bias; it does not differentiate between the DISC personality types as better or worse. The DISC styles are just different. The best DISC personality tests aim to provide employers with objective data to make more educated recruitment decisions and better understand who they are hiring.
The Extended DISC personality test's strength is that it will not produce a valid report if a person has not established a clear answering pattern. When the system cannot reliably recognise a person's DISC personality, it will return an invalid result. Organisations need valid and accurate results to make critical people-related decisions. Assessments that do not have built-in validation rules cannot identify whether someone is 'faking' or trying to 'cheat the system.' Recruiters then do not obtain correct data about who they are, instead who they are presenting themselves to be.
If you're asked to take the DISC personality test as part of the recruitment process, your best approach is to relax and answer the questions honestly. An attempt to "cheat" the process won't get you anywhere. To pass a personality test for job applications, answer honestly. Pick a time when you will not be interrupted and do not ask someone to answer on your behalf.
How to pass a personality test for job applications:
- Complete the questionnaire with your current role in mind.
- Complete the questionnaire without interruptions. Do not do anything else or talk with anyone during the process.
- Answer the question as you see yourself – not as you wish others to see you.
- Select the answer that first feels right. There are no "right/wrong/good/bad" answers.
- Always answer both components ('What describes you the best?' and 'What describes you the least?') before moving to the next question.
- Remember, the questions ask what is most and least like you, not what is exactly like and exactly not like.
- Complete the questionnaire quickly, but not hastily. Don't ponder the questions too much. Answering the whole questionnaire should take only 7 to 10 minutes.
- Do not attempt to influence the results. You will only confuse yourself and invalidate the results.
FAQ1: Is there a difference between personality tests for job applications and job interviews?
Typically there is no difference between personality tests for job applications and job interviews. The only difference is when a recruiter administers the personality test. An organisation might administer a DISC personality test at the time of the job application or as part of the job interview. When recruiters ask you to complete the personality test is entirely dependent on the organisation and their unique hiring process. Larger organisations prefer to conduct personality testing at the time of the job application to help them screen the candidate pool. In comparison, smaller businesses conduct personality tests during the job interview stage to help them make a final hiring decision.
FAQ2: Do employee personality tests differ from job application tests?
An employee personality test does differ from job application tests. Typically job application tests encompass several tests, including skills tests or employee personality testing. Employee personality tests are one of the job application test methods a recruiter might use. There are other similar tests such as an aptitude test for employment which provides guidance of whether a candidate would be the right fit for a role with the correct skillset.
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