Maximizing Your Strengths with Work Personality Tests
Personality tests have become all the rage recently, especially for work purposes. Evaluating how you would respond in various situations can help employers and yourself be more aware of your abilities. In this article, I will share various types of personality tests used by professionals, explain their purpose, and how they help evaluate strengths and weaknesses.
One of the most popular personality tests used in the hiring process is the Myers-Briggs type indicator. This test asks 93 questions, and the results put you in one of the 16 personality types. These questions determine the four main groupings of personality: extrovert vs introvert, judging vs perceiving, intuition vs sensing, and thinking vs feeling. This test is useful but costly. The online career exam is $69.95, the team development exam is $99.95, and the personal growth exam is $49.95. Normally, you would be paid by your company to further evaluate your abilities.
Another personality test is the 16 personality test questionnaire. The first version of this quiz was created in 1949 by Raymond B. Cattle, Maurice Tasuoka, and Herbert Eber. Originally called 16PF, it has now been revised. In addition, this questionnaire measures individual behaviors through a plethora of applications, such as career development and employee growth. For example, “the types of personality traits it measures include dominance, rule-consciousness, sensitivity, emotional stability, perfectionism, self-reliance and openness to change” (Indeed).
The Kolbe index is another personality assessment that evaluates one's natural instincts or gut feelings with 36 questions to answer. Kolbe index gives information about three different parts of one’s psychology, such as cognitive, which is your natural intelligence; affective, which is the ability to utilize emotion; conative, which is one’s own instincts, and your own personal method of operation. These results will show the natural strengths and core values you can develop to become a better communicator and learn a stronger sense of productivity.
Clifton strengths is an hour-long assessment that provides 177 self-descriptive statements to choose from. This questionnaire is meant to measure your natural tendency of thought, feeling, and behavior. As a result, your strengths are organized into a combination of 34 strength themes and broken into four domains such as strategic thinking, relationship building, influencing, and executing. This test in particular highlights every person’s strengths and how to maximize one's natural talents. We used the Clifton strengths finder as a freshman at Virginia Tech, which helped us gain a deeper understanding of how we can contribute in a collaborative environment.
Furthermore, the DISC model is a popular test used in professional spaces. There are various DISC assessments to choose from based on the need for the test as a whole. For example, there is one for leaders, workers in sales, management, productive conflict, and agile EQ which will help boost your emotional intelligence. This test places employees on the scale of Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. Overall, these assessment results can help compare personalities in order to build the best teams to work the most effectively together.
Lastly, the Enneagram test is used for both personal and professional uses. This test reveals someone's innermost personality traits. This test has you choose which of two statements are true for you. Ther personality types are measured on a scale of 1-7 corresponding to various personality types. In addition, these numbers can be broken down even further. Understanding yourself and employees inside and outside of the workplace will be helpful to gain further insight.
In sum, personality tests allow yourself and employees to take a deeper look into your psyche and understand who you are and how you work. Although there are many more tests to take on the internet, these tests show numerous possibilities to find out more about yourself and your strengths.
By Sarah Viebrock
