How to Use an Employment Personality Test to Land the Right Job for You

In today's tight job market, employers are being a lot more careful as they search--they want to ensure they hire the right employees for any openings they might have. That means more and more, they're turning to employment personality tests to maximize the chances they find the right fit for available positions.

If you're on the job hunt, here's how to use an employment personality test to your advantage and make sure you wind up with the right position for your talents.

Instructions

1. Study up on the primary employment personality tests. Learn what it'll mean if you're an ESTJ on the Meyers Briggs or what it means if you have a "red" management style. You're not learning this information to game the system, but rather so that you know how each test determines your natural inclinations and how those natural inclinations come into play in the workplace. If you can find out specifically what type of employment personality test they'll be giving you on a particular interview, that's even better. Learning all this information beforehand will reduce your anxiety and help you be yourself on the test.

2. Take a sample employment personality test before the appointment. This will give you a sense of the questions you're likely to see and also a better understanding of who you are. By knowing (approximately) what your results are likely to be on an employment personality test, you'll be able to represent yourself more consistently in an interview. (It doesn't look good if you come across as very extroverted in the interview and the test then reveals you to be an introvert--that makes it look like you hide your true personality at work which isn't what employers are looking for.)

3. Consider all questions on the employment personality test as your "best self" on the job. You don't want to answer questions in a way that's not in keeping with who you are--that's how you wind up with a job that's a bad fit or really failing the employment personality test (because your answers are inconsistent and you look like you're hiding something). But sometimes a question has more than one answer. For instance, if the test asks, "Do you prefer to spend time reading or hosting dinner parties?" the question is looking to gauge whether or not you like to spend time with people in your downtime. So, answer it based on who you are at your best at work which might be different from the way you'd answer it if you were interviewing for a best friend.

4. Be yourself. Even though the job market is tight, you'll be miserable if you manage to score a job that's a bad fit for you, so be honest on the employment personality test and don't misrepresent yourself. In fact, I know a couple of people who took employment personality tests that revealed the job they'd applied for was a very bad fit BUT that the HR rep then held over for a job opening that hadn't been advertised yet and in one case, my friend got the job he was better suited to that he hadn't even had to apply to. So, being honest can even get you a *better* job than the one you're applying for.

5. Talk with the interviewer about any expected inconcistencies before you take the employment personality test. For instance, I'm very outgoing at work but in my personal life I tend to be quieter. My wife is the social one in our marriage. This is backed up both by my personality profile and also by my references (I always include one personal reference in with the professional references). By being upfront about this in the interview process, it's never a surprise to the interviewer when they're reviewing the results of my employment personality test. This approach has gotten me the job on at least one occasion when the interviewer actually said (after we'd worked together for about a month): "I really appreciated that you let me know about the work/private differences in your personality because otherwise, I never would have recommended hiring you--your employment personality test revealed a completely different you than you were in the interview and now that I know you better, I can see that both were accurate representations of who you are."

   Employers (usually) prefer nuanced employees whose personalities can't be entirely captured by those employment personality tests, so be upfront about any areas you test differently from how you interview.

Tips & Warnings

• You can do it! I know it can seem daunting to have to take an employment personality test, but they really aren't looking at your test-taking skills. Rather, these tests are just one more tool that makes the hiring process a bit easier for companies. By relaxing and being yourself, you'll be able to ensure your answers on the employment personality test represent who you really are.