What are Personality Tests? 

Personality tests are widely used tools for the selection process of people. These tests can reveal the candidate’s personality traits that are not obvious or that cannot be reported in an interview.

Through a personality test, it is possible to identify if a candidate is capable of operating machinery or driving vehicles, for example. In addition, a personality test is a great tool for self-awareness or for diagnosing a disorder. These tests look for personality traits and things like emotional balance, frustrations, motivation, and interests.

The first personality test was conducted in 1919 when the US Army tried to select recruits who were susceptible to concussion. In the field of personality tests, the adopted model brings the main personality attributes that remain reasonably stable in the long term:

• Extroversion and liking: Extroversion and liking have to do with how much you enjoy working with other people.
• Diligence: Diligence, on the other hand, is associated with your ability to maintain focus and discipline.
• Emotional stability: The degree of emotional stability says a lot about how you handle pressure and changing moments.
• Intellectual curiosity: Intellectual curiosity is the taste for learning new knowledge, more abstract discussions, and taking on challenges. Knowing more about your internal characteristics starts a process of deeper self-knowledge, which helps to improve both your professional performance and your well-being. And also when it comes to finding a job that brings happiness.

Importance

Personality tests are a very useful measure when it comes to understanding the alignment with specific functions and tasks for each position.

The personality test is a widely used tool for the selection process of people. This test can reveal the candidate’s personality traits that are not obvious or that cannot be reported in an interview.

Through the personality test, it is possible to identify if a candidate is capable of operating machinery or driving vehicles, for example. In addition, a personality test is a great tool for self-awareness or for diagnosing a disorder.

In the field of Psychology, tests are very common, be it IQ, attitude, or personality. They are instruments that aim to investigate and assess individual differences between people, and that have been used for research purposes at least since the acronym XIX. Personality tests identify personality traits, motivational aspects, and interests. Psychological tests can only be administered by psychologists and must be validated by themselves.

Types of personality tests

With competitiveness at high levels, it is not enough for the company to identify those candidates with the best technical capabilities. It is necessary to ensure that they adapt to the business culture, being able to develop their full potential and deliver differentiated results.

There are different types of personality tests. The best known are the following:

Birkman

It is a multidimensional evaluation that integrates behavioral, motivational, and occupational data. Well, in plain English, this means that you assess how you would behave in normal situations and under pressure and identify what your areas of interest would be. Typically used in recruiting, recruiting, developing, and retaining people.

Facet5

It is a personality inventory that maps five main factors: affectivity, determination, energy, control, and emotionality. From there, it points out the strengths and risks of each profile and provides inputs related to skills, leadership, and job preferences. It is commonly used in selection, training, development, and team building.

Hogan

It offers reports to help professionals understand the basics of their behavior and create a development plan. It is usually applied to the development, selection, and recruitment of individuals and teams.

Motivation Questionnaire (MQ)

As the name suggests, this questionnaire is used to identify the big drivers and drivers of a person’s behavior to understand what can motivate them. It is used in various situations such as evaluation, coaching, mentoring, change management, team building, restructuring, and also selection.

Myers-Briggs type indicator (MBTi)

It is one of the most widely used instruments to identify “psychological types” based on the studies of one of the popes of psychoanalysis – Carl Jung. The evaluation indicates aspects of personality and personal preferences and highlights strengths and areas of potential personal and professional development. It is not normally used for recruitment, but rather for self-awareness, individual development, team training and development, and improved communication.

Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ32)

It evaluates 32 personality dimensions and points out the typical or preferred behavior of people in the world of work and how this impacts their professional performance. It is used in selection, assessment, assessment of training needs, level of alignment with the organizational culture, development of specific skills, change management, etc.

Personal Profile Analysis (PPA)

It provides information on how people prefer to behave at work and the characteristics they display in that environment. It is also used for selection, individual and team development, and self-awareness.