CareerPlug's personality assessment can help you evaluate whether an applicant possesses the necessary skills and personality traits to perform a job effectively. Hiring managers can apply the information gathered from using assessments to make more effective personnel decisions.
In this article:
- Configuring the personality assessment
- Personality assessment categories
- The applicant experience
- Viewing an applicant's personality assessment score
Configuring the personality assessment
Add assessments from the Applicant Evaluation tab of your job posting by turning on the associated toggle.
You can configure the personality assessment to focus on up to 16 specific personality traits by clicking Select Categories.
Keep in mind that the more traits you select, the lengthier the assessment will be for applicants.
Choose any personality traits you would like to test your candidates on by selecting the associated checkbox and clicking Confirm when you're done.
Each category of the Personality Assessment is represented by 7-10 phrases in the assessment, and the phrases from each category are distributed throughout the assessment. Each question is multiple choice with 2-4 answer options. Each answer has varying point values based on the strength of the answer relative to the category preference/trait being measured. There are no incorrect answers, and all questions must be answered by the applicant in order to register the assessment as complete. This assessment has no time limit.
Personality assessment categories
The personality assessment is an untimed assessment with up to 118 phrases describing people's behaviors. The assessment uses questions from Lewis Goldberg's International Personality Item Pool (IPIP). The assessment measures up to 16 categories representing specific personality traits:
- Achievement Striving
- Assertiveness
- Conscientiousness
- Creativity
- Emotional Intelligence
- Emotional Stability
- Integrity
- Management Situational Judgment
- Open-Mindedness
- Optimism
- Persistence
- Sales Potential
- Sales Situational Judgment
- Service Orientation
- Service Situational Judgment
- Teamwork
Achievement Striving – The focus on individual tasks and accomplishments.
Sample questions:
- I go straight for the goal. (positive scoring)
- I turn plans into actions. (positive scoring)
- I work hard. (positive scoring)
Assertiveness – a form of behavior/communication in which needs or wishes are stated clearly with respect for oneself and the other person in the interaction. Assertive behavior/communication is distinguished from passive behavior/communication (in which needs or wishes go unstated) and aggressive behavior/communication (in which needs or wishes are stated in a hostile or demanding manner).
Sample questions:
- I automatically take charge. (positive scoring)
- I can easily push myself forward. (positive scoring)
- I try to lead others. (positive scoring)
Conscientiousness – encompasses characteristics such as being efficient, organized, neat, and systematic. Includes such elements as self-discipline, carefulness, thoroughness, self-organization, deliberation, and need for achievement. Conscientious individuals are generally hard-working and reliable.
Sample questions:
- I automatically take charge. (positive scoring)
- I can easily push myself forward. (positive scoring)
- I try to lead others. (positive scoring)
- I am always prepared. (positive scoring)
- I pay attention to details. (positive scoring)
- I get chores done right away. (positive scoring)
Creativity – The ability to generate new ideas and come up with unique ways to perform job duties.
Sample questions:
- I like to solve complex problems. (positive scoring)
- I love to read challenging material. (positive scoring)
- I love to think up new ways of doing things. (positive scoring)
Emotional Intelligence – the ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups; this includes an ability to recognize the meanings of emotions and their relationships, and to reason and problem-solve on the basis of them.
Sample questions:
- I get along well with people I have just met. (positive scoring)
- I have the ability to make others feel interesting. (positive scoring)
- I know what makes others tick. (positive scoring)
Emotional Stability – steadiness of mood and the ability to withstand minor setbacks, failures, difficulties, and other stresses without becoming upset emotionally.
Sample questions:
- I am relaxed most of the time. (positive scoring)
- I seldom feel blue. (positive scoring)
- I get stressed out easily. (negative scoring)
Integrity – The likelihood that workers will or will not engage in counterproductive work behaviors.
Sample questions:
- I am trusted to keep secrets. (positive scoring)
- I keep my promises. (positive scoring)
- I believe that honesty is the basis for trust. (positive scoring)
Management Situational Judgment – assesses how a candidate would approach leadership situations encountered in the workplace.
Sample questions:
- What has been your experience in providing negative feedback to employees? (various answers)
Open-Mindedness – The capacity to have an open attitude and openness to new experiences.
Sample questions:
- I try to identify the reasons for my actions. (positive scoring)
- I make decisions only after I have all of the facts. (positive scoring)
- I am valued by others for my objectivity. (positive scoring)
Optimism – hopefulness and confidence about the future and prospects for success.
Sample questions:
- I look on the bright side. (positive scoring)
- I can find the positive in what seems negative to others. (positive scoring)
- I remain hopeful despite challenges. (positive scoring)
Persistence – the quality or state of preserving a route of action or continuing at a job and completing it in spite of the opposing forces or effort involved.
Sample questions:
- I don't quit a task before it is finished. (positive scoring)
- I am a goal-oriented person. (positive scoring)
- I finish things despite obstacles in the way. (positive scoring)
Sales Potential – characterized by sociability, emotional expressiveness, and excitability; often described as being outgoing and talkative.
Sample questions:
- I don't mind being the center of attention. (positive scoring)
- I feel comfortable around people. (positive scoring)
- I am the life of the party. (positive scoring)
Sales Situational Judgment – assesses how a candidate would approach sales situations encountered in the workplace.
Sample questions:
- You just finished a difficult customer interaction that did not result in a sale. What are you most likely to do? (various answers)
Service Orientation – the ability to get along with nearly everyone and maintain composure during difficult situations without judging others or holding grudges.
Sample questions:
- I am easy to satisfy. (positive scoring)
- I accept people as they are. (positive scoring)
- I seldom take offense. (positive scoring)
Service Situational Judgment – assesses how a candidate would approach customer service situations encountered in the workplace.
Sample questions:
- What are you most likely to do if two customers need help at the same time? (various answers)
Teamwork – the willingness and ability to participate in a cooperative effort toward the accomplishment of a shared goal or project in a timely and satisfactory manner.
Sample questions:
- I don’t miss group meetings or team practices. (positive scoring)
- I enjoy being part of a group. (positive scoring)
- I support my teammates or fellow group members. (positive scoring)
The applicant experience
The following instructions are provided to applicants when they begin the personality assessment:
| "On the following pages, there are phrases describing people's behaviors. Please use the rating scale below to describe how accurately each statement describes you. Describe yourself as you generally are now, not as you wish to be in the future. Describe yourself as you honestly see yourself, in relation to other people you know of the same sex as you are, and roughly your same age. So that you can describe yourself in an honest manner, your responses will be kept in absolute confidence. Please read each statement carefully, and then fill in the bubble that corresponds to the number on the scale." |
These are the response options:
- Very Inaccurate
- Moderately Inaccurate
- Neither Inaccurate nor Accurate
- Moderately Accurate
- Very Accurate
Viewing an applicant's personality assessment score
You can view an applicant's personality assessment results by clicking the applicant’s name from the Applicants page, navigating to the Applicant Evaluation tab, and clicking the View button next to the assessment.
This will open their personality assessment report, which includes the applicant's overall assessment score, their score by category, any benchmarked employees' scores, and a chart of the applicant's strengths. You can find an overview of the assessment scoring and categories below the applicant's scores.
These scores should not be interpreted as if they were traditional school test scores. In many instances, a score of 50 or 60 may be acceptable for a position, even though those same scores would indicate a failing grade by traditional school standards. We recommend that you rely on the scores of employees who perform comparable job functions to the position for which the applicant has applied. We also recommend that the hiring manager take the assessments themselves so that they have a better understanding of how to evaluate applicants' assessment scores.