One argument that you may hear is that if you try to influence the test results then you will have to operate outside of your personality type for 40 hours a week.

This is overstating the case to the point of absurdity; very few people would even consider applying for a job which was totally unsuitable for them.

Anecdotal evidence and personal experience suggest that a significant number of people can behave very differently between home and the workplace.

If you recognize in yourself this dichotomy between workplace and non-workplace behaviors then you should answer all personality test questions from a workplace perspective.

For example, consider the following statement:

1) It's easy for people to see my moods

A) strongly disagree

B) disagree

C) neutral

D) agree

E) strongly agree

You may wear your heart on your sleeve at home, but if you are much more guarded at work then make this clear in your answer by selecting C) or B) rather than D).

Despite all of the platitudes to the contrary, either you have the ‘right’ personality or you get rejected in favor of someone who has.

If you want the job then you had better find out what it is that the employer is looking for and make sure that your personality questionnaire answers reflect it.

At the very least, you need to make sure that you don’t blow your chances because one trait comes over as too extreme or inappropriate.

Remember, almost all of the interviewees have to be rejected.

The amount of effort you need to spend on engineering your personality questionnaire answers depends on two factors:

The organization – Some organizations have a distinct personality type that they actively try to recruit. This will usually be obvious from both their marketing material and their reputation. Any organization that promotes its people as being of a certain ‘type’ will probably be using personality questionnaires to reject anyone who doesn’t fit with the corporate image that they want to promote. This is common in management consultancies and in jobs above a certain level in big corporations.

The job – Some interviewers suffer from a very blinkered approach to what type of personality is required for particular jobs. For example, if the profile for successful salesmen indicates that extroversion is a desirable characteristic, you had better be sure that you score highly on this trait if you want the job.

Whilst you don’t want to pursue jobs that you are obviously unsuited for, you need to make sure that your personality questionnaire answers won’t cause any red-flags to appear in selection for jobs that you feel comfortable with, or where you already have a track record.

FAQs

Do Personality Questionnaires Take Diversity Into Account?

The modern workforce is made up of people from a diverse array of ethnic and cultural groups, including many persons for whom English is not the primary language.

Some of these individuals may experience difficulty on standardized tests due to cultural differences or lack of mastery of the English language.

Depending on the nature of the job for which they are applying, this could mean that their test scores will not accurately predict their true job potential.

Do Personality Questionnaires Take Disabilities into Account?

These situations must be handled with professionalism and sensitivity.

Properly handled, this can be accomplished without compromising the integrity of the assessment process.

Accommodation may involve ensuring physical accessibility to the test site, modifying test equipment or tests, or providing other forms of assistance.

Giving extra time for certain kinds of tests to test takers with dyslexia or other learning disabilities and administering a braille version of a test for the blind may be examples of reasonable accommodation.

Can I Influence My Results?

Despite the claims of test producers, it is very easy to cheat.

This is supported by a study conducted by the American Psychological Association which found that over 80% of job applicants who were hired after taking a personality test had intentionally manipulated their answers to make themselves look better.

Certainly, most tests contain some so-called impression control questions, designed to catch out candidates who are trying to give an overly good impression.

Unfortunately for the test designers, they have yet to develop any impression control questions which are not blindingly obvious.

These questions almost invariably use the words; ‘always’ or ‘never’ in relation to something where ‘occasionally’, ‘very occasionally’ or ‘usually’ would be an honest response.

Typical impression control questions look like this:

I always finish what I start I always tell people exactly what I think I am always happy I can't remember ever being late for an appointment I have never acted on impulse I have never been annoyed with a coworker I have never disappointed anyone I have never failed to complete a work assignment on time I have never felt alone I have never felt angry at a supervisor or manager I have never felt sad I have never hurt anyone's anyone's feelings I have never lost a night's sleep worrying about something I have never made a mistake at work I never regret my decisions after I make them I never tell white lies I never worry if I make a mistake I've never been deliberately rude to anyone None of my close friends has ever upset me All of my work has been appreciated and valued by others

In all cases, you are being asked to agree to some unconditional statement – which is what gives these questions away.

You should answer these impression control questions honestly as disagreeing with a statement like ‘I never tell white lies’ will obviously not count against you.

The only area where there is any room for confusion about impression control questions is the honesty/anger/stress questions.

These are the only other types of questions where you may see ‘always’, ‘never’ and other unconditional statements and be expected to strongly agree or strongly disagree with them.

So, whilst you should strongly agree with a statement like: 'I have never become angry at work', it is OK to disagree with the statement 'I have never felt angry at a supervisor or manager'.

This is because the first statement is asking you if you have ever displayed unacceptable behavior at work, and you should obviously answer in the negative. The second statement is asking if you have EVER FELT angry at a supervisor or manager.

If your answer claims that you have never felt anger, then this suggests that either you are lying or you don't care sufficiently about your job to ever feel angry, neither of which makes you look like a desirable employee.

It is worth making a list of the honesty/anger/stress questions and the impression control questions and working through these systematically until you can appreciate the (sometimes) subtle differences between the two.

As a general rule, it is OK to admit to negative thoughts and feelings but do not under any circumstances admit to negative behavior in the workplace.

How much you choose to try and influence the resulting personality profile is something only you can decide.

Common sense would suggest that you should not attempt to influence the results too much as they will probably be seen to conflict with your past achievements and with how you are perceived at the interview.

The best approach is probably to take the time to understand how these tests try to measure your personality and then to make sure that you don't allow any aspects of your personality to be perceived as inappropriate for the job.

Summary

If you are going to take a psychometric test, aptitude test or ability test as part of the recruitment process then you should download free psychometric tests from this website and work through them before you do the real thing.