Personality is generally ‘what characterizes a person’. Predisposition, character, and identity are every day life terms that are close to describing what personality of an individual really is. David Buss, an American psychologist defines personality as a stable and organized collection of mechanisms and psychological traits in an individual that has an influence on interactions with the psychological, physical and social environment that surrounds them. 

Personality tests have therefore been designed to evaluate an individual’s way of behavior and reaction to different environments and surroundings, which from the employer’s point of view, helps in maintaining the status quo in the work environments. 

Employment personality tests have become more popular than ever. The job aptitude test has been considered as one of the important job assessment tests that most candidates undergo before finally being employed. Even for the job candidates, it has become indispensable to get them through the personality test for jobs before finally deciding if to hire them and what job positions fit them the most. 

Importance of Personality Tests for Jobs

Personality tests for jobs are able to identify potential strengths and weaknesses in each and every one of your employees. This helps in shaping an employee’s role within teams and projects to fit their strengths and weaknesses.

The tests are able to reveal individuals who would do the best working alone and those that might be able to work together as a group. This improves the quality and quantity of work because employees are able to work in ways that they like and suit them. 

On the contrary, if an employee is given a role that doesn’t match their personality, it leads to low engagement in most cases. Low engagement, in turn, leads to 20% lower productivity and close to half percentage turnover.

Types of Personality Tests for Jobs

1. Emotional Intelligence Test

Emotional Intelligence EI or EQ is the ability of an individual to understand and manage their own emotions as well as the emotions of the people around them. Emotional intelligence tests have therefore grown so popular and many companies use them as pre employment personality tests for jobs.

The emotional intelligence tests, in fact, are able to identify job candidates who not only have better relationship management skills but also who understand their emotions and are able t control them.

Emotional intelligence tests have also been used to guide when employers want to choose candidates for leadership roles. Some of the related traits to emotional intelligence are: Teamwork, communication, and adaptability.

Individuals who are emotionally intelligent have the following characteristics.

• They are self-aware
• They are able to perceive the emotions of the people around them
• They are not quick to react
• They are more likely to help others.
• They have a huge sense of empathy
• They are curious
• They are easily adaptable

Impact of Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace. 

Emotional intelligent individuals or job candidates are aware of how their behavior affects other people.  Additionally, these individuals can learn from constructive and positive criticism. Even in the face of adversity, they show resilient character and are motivated by their ambition.

Individuals who are emotionally intelligent tend to avoid dramas at the workplace, they also avoid power struggles and they are quite empathetic toward their workmates and people around them.

Before hiring a job candidate for a certain role in your company, it is necessary to beware of what traits and skills the person possesses. Here at Hirelogic, you will be able to measure an individual’s emotional intelligence which determines how fit they are for the job.

Job Roles that Rely on Emotional Intelligence

The emotional intelligence of an individual is a character that is beneficial in every company. However, it is more crucial for some jobs than others. if you are looking to fill job vacancies 0f the following careers then as an employer you might require a job candidate with higher levels of emotional intelligence.

• Salespeople
• Teachers
• Counselors
• Customer Service Associates
• Real Estate Agents

2. MBTI

Myers & Briggs also known as Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was developed by Isabel Briggs and her mother Katharine Briggs back in 1942. There has been a significant growth of the test solution and up until now, millions of people are now taking the test indicator every year since it was officially published first in 1962. 

Myers- Briggs is a type of personality test prevalently used to expose the inner personalities of an individual as a job assessment test before finally employing them. MBTI as a product has recorded success no doubt, testing job candidates, employers, current and aspiring managers every year.           

The test has 93 questions, well-formulated and divided into 16 different combination types of thinkers, feelers, extroverts, introverts, and judging or perception. In general, the test measures whether an individual is introverted or extraverted, whether they have an intuitive preference or a sensing preference, whether they like to make decisions by feeling or thinking, and whether they have a perceiving or judging preference about how they do things. 

The results of the tests will place an individual into one of the 16 personality combinations each of the combinations having their own strengths and weaknesses.

Aside from being used to test a job candidate’s personality, MBTI can be used for employee development and for team productivity and development as well. In the long run, an effective team or system/organization for the good of any company. 

Purpose Of Myers – Briggs

The purpose of the test is solely to determine the behavior and personality of a person. Therefore an employer has to understand that it is not a measure of mental stability, maturity, intelligence, competence or even emotional state and should not be used with all means in assessing aptitude for jobs. This means that this test gives no indication of passion, experience, ambition or commitment. 

Below is a brief discussion of each personality type generated by the Myers Briggs test. 

i) INFP – Individuals with INFP personality type, tend to demonstrate long term loyalty and commitment, are sensitive to other people’s feelings around them, can express themselves effectively and normally are very encouraging, nurturing and supportive. 

However, they also tend to shy, are very protective of their personal space, avoid punishing others and are a perfectionist which results in a lack of self credit. Additionally, they may react emotionally when under so much pressure. 

In terms of career, the INFPs are not driven by money or status. They usually opt to work towards their personal values and that makes them easy to help others. Physical therapists, Librarians, Graphic designers, Painters, Writers among other professions are careers that have been inked to suit people with INFP type of personality. 

ii) INTJ – INTJ individuals tend to demonstrate proper problem-solving skills. In fact, they enjoy complex problem solving and logical reasoning. 

However, they tend to be insensitive, lack emotional involvement when responding to conflict, they believe in their personal opinions, are usually not in tune with other people’s feelings and do not accept blame. 

Since they excel in the implementation of creative solutions, the INTJs would prefer working independently or at least within small groups. For that reason, the INTJs would enjoy careers of being dentists, judges, teachers/lecturers research scientists among others. 

iii) ESFJ – ESFJ is a Myers Briggs personality type that describes individuals or job employees who tend to be sensitive to other people’s needs and are always in a position to lend a helping hand. 

However, the ESFJ find change very tough, often use guilt to control and manipulate others in order to their own way. In most cases, they avoid conflict and criticism and they require support to feel better about themselves. 

ESFJ will thrive well in action-focused teams and for that reason, they are more likely to be Receptionists, Special Education Teachers, Operations Manager, Guidance Counselor among other careers. 

iv) ESTJ – ESTJ individuals tend to take charge of teamwork. They are good at adopting a methodical approach that is orderly, hardworking and conscientious. In most cases, they prefer resolving conflict rather than ignoring it. They are very approachable, do not feel threatened by conflict or criticism and are very dependable. 

However,  they are impatient, which makes them inefficient in their tasks, have it tough to express what they feel, and always want to be in charge. Most times they struggle with change and usually are not in synchrony with the feelings of others. 

Careerwise, because of their tendency to organize projects, people and operations they fit well in careers like being judges, Financial analysts, Engineering Managers, accountants among others. 

v) ESFP – An individual with ESFP type tends to be naturally an entertainer. They are talkative, warm and fun-loving. They possess a sense of humor and often like the center of attention.

However, these individuals tend to be sensitive to criticism and struggle with long term commitments. Additionally, they take the easiest way out of a conflict rather than facing it one on one. 

In terms of career, their tendency to want to be the center of attraction makes them prefer a social environment. Their pragmatic, realistic and artistic streak makes them thrive in roles that allow seeing real results when they serve other people.

Bureaucracy and strict rules are difficult for these individuals and because of the above reasons they are likely to fit being actors, singers., musicians, painters, Childcare workers, and sports coaches among others. 

vi) ISFJ – They are traditional practical and organized. They also portray a sense of responsibility. They are very much conventional and grounded and they enjoy contributing to already established structures.

They tend to portray a sense of responsibility to others and above all, they are very committed. However, they find it hard to change and they tend to avoid conflicts and criticism. 

For the reasons above, ISFJs are likely ft to be operation managers, accountants, nurses, teachers, paralegals, childcare workers, and auditors among others.

vii) ISFP – ISFP individuals tend to be both unassuming and quiet. In most cases, they are difficult to get to know. If you have met these individuals, you will agree that they are friendly, eager to share life experiences. They are also warm and welcoming. 

They tend to possess natural talents in arts, have strong aesthetic sense and they will tend to excel in displaying natural creative flair and use of creative tools.

However, they tend to be negative at times, slow to progress and lazy. Additionally, they may struggle with long terms plans and they tend to avoid criticism and conflicts that come their way.

For the above reasons, careers that are more likely to fit the IFSP individuals are: Vets, Teachers, Painters, Chef or Head Cook, musicians or singers, nurses, conservation workers among others.

viii) ESTP – Individuals with this trait are vibrant and very lively. If you need people who can bring a sense of enthusiasm and energy in a project, then you will have to call upon individuals with ESTP personality. In fact, they can address immediate issues with practical solutions after a quick assessment of situations. 

Sometimes not aware of what others are feeling, they might unknowingly hurt others’ feelings through their words and are poor at long term planning. Also, they might find it difficult to express emotions and feelings. 

For the above reasons, these individuals are good at solving logical problems and are suitable for jobs that present unpredictable adventures and challenges on a daily basis. The personality types suit them for being paramedics, marketing managers, sales managers criminal investigators among others. 

ix) ISTJ – ISTJ individuals are dutiful, take pride in creating order and above all are naturally organized. They like to create a sense of order both in systems and institutions. 

They honor commitments and have good listening skills. On top of that,  they tend to be productive steady and they do understand how they can contribute to organizations and systems. When standards are met, they find pride in themselves. 

However, they are overconfident and tend to be very rigid. Even sometimes, they strongly believe in their own opinions that it is not easy to convince them to change. Somehow, they are out of tune with other people’s feelings and they are drawn to conversations that tend to be of competitive nature.   

For that, they are likely to fit in career field areas like accounting, programming, law, and dentistry among others. This is because of their ability to use their logical thinking skills to solve issues in a proper and orderly manner. 

x) ISTP – They tend to be self-confident and have a strong interest in troubleshooting. ISTP individuals tend to approach their work with the belief to find practical solutions to issues. 

At most times, they seek out practical solutions and apply logic. Their strength is that they are likable and optimistic and they respond to everyday concerns in a not only practical but realistic manner.

Sometimes tend to be insensitive, struggle to make long term plans and tend to thrive well only in environments that are active and exciting.

Careerwise, ISTP individuals are fit for technical roles. They would like careers and occupations that provide measurable results. For that reason, they fit in careers like forensic science technicians, research scientists, airline pilots, among others. 

xi) INFJ – They tend to have the greatest of integrity. Always dedicated to their work and very supportive and have a natural aptitude in terms of helping others overcome challenges that may seem even personal. 

They possess a skill that interprets the emotions and motivations of other people. They tend to find it tough to explore new ideas, however. Sometimes they might neglect their own requirements and they tend to avoid criticism and conflict. 

Careers fit for this personality include: writer, musician, actor, painter, photographer and counselor among others. 

xii) ENTJ – Individuals with ENTJ personality type like to bring about change and like it when they give new solutions. 

An individual with an ENTJ personality is articulate and quick-witted aside from being analytical and objective. These individuals thrive so well in leadership roles and they enjoy instances where they are problems to be solved.

However, they would appear argumentative and confrontational because of their interest in debate and even so they can turn out to be critical of others who might differ in thoughts. 

They are likely to fit for careers like: Lawyers, Political Scientists, software developers and financial analysts among others. 

xiii) ENTP – They tend to be naturally innovative. The ENTPs are usually motivated to find new solutions and with their curiosity, they enjoy an intellectual challenge. 

For their strengths, ENTP individuals are enthusiastic and very excellent communicators. They are also easy going and flexible and they are very much focused on improving themselves. 

However, they tend to be argumentative, they get excited about anything new and more often than not tend to fail through plans or ideas. Most individuals with ENTP fit to be aerospace Engineers, reporters, nuclear engineers, and psychiatrists among others. 

xiv) ENFJ – Most employees, job candidates or individuals with ENFJ personality tend to be natural organizers. They at most times facilitate development because they believe in the people around them.  T 

However, ENFJ can turn out to be controlling and manipulative. Sometimes sensitive to conflict and they tend to put blame on themselves when things go wrong. Even so,  they are very critical of attitudes and opinions if they differ from what they think.

 In terms of careers, ENFJs are leaders due to the fact that they possess creativity and vision which are the key to innovative solutions. You will find most of these individuals in positions like teachers, HR managers, operational managers, Sales Managers among others. 

xv) INTP – Job candidates, individuals or employees who have the INTP kind of personality, tend to be fascinated by design and always want to get complexities of everything. 

However, the INTP individuals tend to have a tough time with practical skills, tend to display suspicion on others and in most cases get themselves out of tune with other people’s/employee’s feelings. 

For their career, INTP individuals lack interest in traditions and follow theoretical ideas rather than practical ideologies. For that reason, they are likely to enjoy careers like being Pharmacists, physicists, programmers, chemists, forensic scientists, mathematicians among others.  

xvi) ENFP – Individuals with ENFP kind of Myers Briggs personality type tend to have a genuine enthusiasm for ideas and activities. 

However, the ENFP individuals may tend to avoid criticism and conflicts, which can sometimes be smothering and they may turn out to be too enthusiastic about something to the extent that they have unrealistic expectations. 

In terms of careers, ENFP’s tendency to be creative makes them enjoy solving problems to deliver imaginative and unique solutions. Nurse, a reporter, actor, news analyst, and nutritionist, among others, are the kinds of careers that an ENFP can thrive in well. 

2. Situational Judgement Test

Situational judgement tests are types of psychometric aptitude tests that are used to asses the way an individual, employee or job candidate approaches different situations that they encounter in the job place.

Situational judgement tests usually present candidates with challenging and hypothetical situations that employees would encounter at the workplace and involves having to team up with others or interact with them plus dealing with what may be termed as tricky situations at work.

The key factor of this test should reflect exact situations or things that an individual or a job candidate will encounter at the workplace otherwise you might not get the best out of it.

Candidates are represented with various possible actions that come in a multiple-choice format in response to each and every situation explaining how they would deal with the problem. This means that these tests are ideal for the specific company rather than a generic personality tests for jobs. Actually employers feel more confident with the results because the test makes you feel relevant to the role.

Why STJs?

Having been in use for over 70 years, these tests have grown increasingly popular due to the reason that they are able to be used as an employment personality test or a job assessment test better than most job aptitude tests as they can measure interpersonal skills, decision making, and problem-solving skills.

As an employment personality test, STJ will sift candidates from a large pool of job candidates and for that reason, they are frequently used in big companies that shortlist quite a huge number of candidates for jobs.

Some of the prominent companies that use the STJ  test to test their candidates include: PwC,  Delloite, KPMG, and EY. Among other firms are Habert Smrih Freehills, Waitrose. John Lewis, The Civil Service Fast Stream, and Sony.

Exact Competencies SJT Tests

i) Communication Skills – The ability of an individual or job candidate to persuade others and articulate themselves to others. For this, a job candidate will be able to select the best means that they can use to communicate with others.

ii) TeamWork – The ability of a job candidate in terms of how willing are they to prioritize working as a team compared to working alone or as an individual. For this, a job candidate will be tested if they can encourage others well enough for what it takes to be an effective team.

iii) Decision making – The ability of an individual to make decisions. SJT is able to test if an individual can exercise solid and discretion judgement in critical situations.

iv) People Skills – For people’s skills, the test will only gauge the way an individual or a job candidate approaches customer feedback and the way they are able to demonstrate leadership.

The STJ Questions

Situational jusgement test as an employee personality assessment test consists of work-based scenarios that an individual or a job candidate is more likely to face in the positions that they have applied for.

Ranging from difficulties with clients of workmates to ethical dramas and to common daily problems and challenges, the scenarios in the STJ questions are well designed for a proper job aptitude test.

The test consists of 25 – 50 short description questions of problem situations. From each description, a job candidate or an individual will be asked to select the least effective and the most effective responses available from one, or two or three questions that follow. Sometimes they are asked to rank the responses in the merit of how effective the individual thinks they are.

These tests, however, do not have any limits, as an employee/job candidate/individual is supposed to answer the questions relatively on prompt, which means the test is all about assessing an individual’s instincts on certain scenarios to bring a natural picture of how judgy they are.

The timing is relatively enough to promptly think about the response and an individual taking the test will to be given close to a minute per question as to the guideline.

4. Big5 Personality Testing

Back in the mid-20th century, a group of researchers developed a system that measures Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism (OCEAN) what is now referred to as Big Five Personality Trait. 

Unlike Myers- Briggs or other personality testing types which assigns an individual to a certain general or fixed personality type, the big5 personality test scales an individual among the 5 OCEAN traits names above. This explains why the big5 testing creates a given sense of belonging and helps individuals understand themselves better as compared to personality test types. 

The Big5 personality model of testing has become very crucial in pre-employment personality testing and has ever since been used by most employers to determine the index of the 5 personality traits. In general, it defines what motivates individuals as they take on their responsibilities and above all how they respond to different work situations and experiences.

We will briefly describe each personality trait of the Big5 below. 

i) Openness to Experience

Most people in the world balance on this scale of personality. Some are open to new experiences while some are neither traditional and seriously reluctant to change or unconventional and excessively eccentric.

The few individuals who score high on this personality index tend to drift towards creative, investigative and artistic jobs to venture into broad-mindedness, vivid imagination, and understanding of culture in general. 

Additionally, openness to experience is a character that describes most prominent entrepreneurs because of the ability to make decisions regardless of whether the decisions are risky. Their imagination and initiative and imagination allow them to adapt to different situations and circumstances that setting up a business throws in their way. 

Nevertheless, people who are open to experience prefer jobs that need continuous progress. With that, they strive as entrepreneurs knowing the nature of a startups business – takes time and it is a long process. 

Some of the careers suitable for people who are open to experience careers include: fitness instructor, Graphic designer, beauty therapist, philosopher, pilot,  and photographer among others. 

On the contrary, individuals who are low in openness tend to fear or dislike change. Most of these people prefer a tradition and routine and in most cases think concretely and logically. Banker, professors, real estate agents, auditors, and contractors are among careers suitable for people low in openness. 

ii) Conscientiousness

People with a conscientious kind of personality, tend to be analytical, organized, hardworking, and achievement-oriented. Job candidates who are highly conscientious have shown to very beneficial across different professions. 

If you are looking forward to having great directors and managers on your board, then you have to consider how conscientious they are. The ability to organize and cooperate with other members of the team make conscientious people suitable for these positions. 

Aside from that, they tend to become very good entrepreneurs because they are careful and detailed when planning often to mean, their business ideas can go through.

In general, conscientious people tend to perform better in public sectors like the police or military due to their ability to be organized, planned and time-bound. Out of the big 5 personality traits, people with conscientious traits do their best in school/learning institutions and jobs because of the desire to acquire more knowledge and learn more. 

Some of the careers compatible with conscientious personality are: Business analyst, ICT consultant, Accountant, and small business owners among others. 

On the other hand, individuals who are low in conscientiousness understand their need for spontaneity and it accountable to their roles and responsibilities. Firefighters, drivers, and mechanics among other careers are suitable for these individuals. 

iii) Extraversion

Everyone’s heard, seen or been around extroverted people. These are the people who are the souls and the life of every party. They are sociable, energetic, enthusiastic and above all optimistic. Research shows that extraverts tend to work well or rather prefer workplaces that are team-oriented as opposed to solo or individualized workplaces. 

Extroverts are persuasive, optimistic, assertive, friendly and talkative and these two traits give them desire to interact and work with others no wonder they excel in jobs that involve interacting with others like roles in law, managers and sales personnel to give a few examples. 

Additionally, they excel in team leading roles as well as management due to their ability to arguing and negotiation with others. Similarly, they tend to excel in non-profit and social roles like aid, community, voluntary or youth work because of the extra drive and enthusiasm to work with others. 

Some of the careers that suit extraverts include primary/high school teachers, tradespeople, youth and welfare Support workers, and child carer among others. 

The opposite of extraversion and probably you have heard, seen or engaged with introvert people. Usually, they are mostly reserved and far more withdrawn from social settings. It is easy to confuse these people for being rude and abrupt but in real sense and setting, they neither desire nor are interested in social contact with others. 

For their reserved and withdrawn nature, they tend to do better in solo or individualized work no wonder most scientists are introverts. Similarly, their ability to work on their own or small groups suits them for other solo jobs including, authors, graphic designers, among others. You will observe that the few mentioned jobs above do not necessarily emphasize socializing. 

However, studies and researches show that extroverts tend to be more successful in the long run generally than introverts, which is such bad news to introverts. Maybe, the tendency of extroverts having the desire to interact with others and succeed makes them more popular which in turn means it becomes easy for them to work their way all the way up with ease explains that. 

Introverts tend to succeed in careers like writers, engineers, librarians among others. 

iv) Agreeableness

Agreeable people tend to be warm, friendly and exceptionally responsible and cooperative. Agreeableness is a trait that many organizations seek due to their ability to cooperate with others and the regards they have for them. In fact, they long for a sense of purpose and in most cases driven by their ability to make a difference in everything they do. 

As mentioned, there must be high levels of cooperation and collaboration with many opportunities in Agreable’s work environment. The opportunities should be challenging yet very personally rewarding because that is what drives them. 

Additionally, agreeable people are more likely to follow rules. Mostly, they are satisfied with the job they have and less likely to be involved in accidents at the workplace. Some of the compatible agreeable careers include Counsellor, Administrator, and even nurses among others.  

On the other hand, people who score low on agreeableness, tend to behave in counterproductive ways and tend to have less career success in the long term. Scientists, programmers, accountants among other careers suit these people. 

v) Neuroticism

You have probably heard or met neurotic people. Neurotic individuals tend to experience stress anxiety, stress, nervousness, and even depression. Neuroticism as referred to in the big-5 personality framework,  however, is usually discussed in the name of emotional stability’ an opposite term, but favorable for discussion. Emotionally stable people are not only calm but collected in different situations. 

Amongst the big 5 personality traits, emotionally stable people are capable of achieving the best results in difficult situations and circumstances. Like, people who are open to experience, people with mental stability become great entrepreneurs because of the ability to effectively with unstable situations and stress that startup/small business have. 

Even so, individuals who are averagely emotionally stable, have a tendency to do incredibly well in voluntary and non-profitable jobs and in areas where there’s destruction and unrest because they are able to deal with the experience of witnessing chilling, horrible, and or worrying things. 

Aside from that, their calmness and tranquility mean that they can adapt and transition with ease and this makes them suitable for jobs in the public sectors.

General manager, Advertising, Financial planner, Medical technician among others are among some of the carers that are compatible with emotionally stable people. 

On the other hand, people who are less emotionally stable – high in neuroticism, tend to be less self-confident and they worry easily. For that reason, they need to feel safe by supporting and encouraging them. Florists, writers and, accountants are among careers that can fit people with high neuroticism

Wrapping It Up

Every individual, job employee or job candidate will have different personality types. While there is no ‘wrong personality’ type, it is very important to know an employee’s or a job candidate’s personality type because it determines if they are going to fit in your company set up or the role given for the good. Ther personality tests for jobs listed in this guide should be of help in that regard.