Modern jobs require cognitive skills and to hire knowledge workers employers are testing candidates in these skills because they refer to your ability to work together as part of the team and solve challenging tasks more effectively and creatively.

Personality Assessment Tests are used during hiring process to determine candidate's ability to solve conflict situation, determine fit into the team, provide flexibility during interactions, and provide creative path forward that is win-win for everyone. They can also be used to calculate individual's motivations, preferences, interests and style of interacting with people and situations to compare it with other team members as well as with other candidates competing for the same position.

How Personality Tests are Used During Hiring?

Finding candidates with the right personality helps companies to learn more about the candidate and to determine how easy it is to train the candidate and assess possibility for future growth and promotion. Organizations use personality tests for:

• Hiring Decisions - hiring manager or HR might choose to test job candidate before hiring  to ensure candidate is a good fit for the position.
• Growing Talent inside the organization - for example some companies use the test before making decision to promote the candidate for the position inside the organization
• Determine Levels of Motivation - for example, if your company is looking to implement a new system or technology it might be helpful to assess people on their interests and motivations related to new technology.
• Determine Promotions Potential - very frequently organizations need to be able to assess analytical skills and cognitive abilities to determine if person is the right for for the current position and future promotions. Very often tests can help you to uncover values and interests that are fundamental to overall career satisfaction.

Are Personality Tests Accurate?

Personality testing for employment are designed to protect company's culture by ensuring that the chosen candidate is aligned with the organization's values and needs. However, personality tests is not the only tool used to assess employment candidates and other assessment test as well as results of the in-person (or online meeting based) interview results are used to select the very best candidate

While some job candidates find personality tests to be incredibly accurate describing their personality, others do not see an exact match. Since individual's personality is difficult to measure and it changes over time, tested frameworks and personality assessments are typically considered a great tools for gaining a deeper perspective about employment candidates behaviors.

Personality assessments typically use questionnaires to measure personality traits and human behavior and help people better understand themselves and others. Using tests, such as the DISC assessment, MBTI, Enneagram, or Big Five for employment can help ensure that the candidates best suited for a role are chosen.

How Employers Use Results of Personality Tests

Personality Assessment Tests results can help HR, hiring manager or recruiters to determine if candidates who best fit a position. Analytical skills, personality, verbal reasoning and aptitude and knowledge tests are particularly useful here

How to Prepare for Personality Assessment Test

One of the most useful recommendations to prepare for employment assessment test is to practice beforehand. Ask the HR or hiring manager if they use their own test or whether test is administered by a third party vendor. Even though you would never know about what exact questions you will be asked throughout the testing process, when practicing the similar test you will become familiar with the types of questions you will be presented with the time constraints which will make your practice extremely realistic and will get your ready for the real test.

Most of personality tests focus on leadership traits are essential qualities that make effective team members in the workplace. The most desired qualities involve soft skills rather than technical knowledge or industry-specific experience, making leadership traits critical in nearly every occupation:

• Servant Leadership & Accountability: desired workers in the modern economy take full responsibility for their team’s performance, whether the outcome is good or bad. As a leader, you should aim to praise your team when they perform well and provide constructive criticism to help them improve. It’s also important for you to take responsibility when you have made a bad decision or done something unfavorable. We are all human and prone to mistakes, but effective leaders recognize their areas of improvement and are open with their team about them. Make a point of serving as a role model, and your team is likely to demonstrate accountability, too.
• Adaptability to Changing Environment: Experienced professionals understand that plans, schedules and even goals can change at any time. They aim for a flexible approach that allows you to pivot as necessary. As you develop adaptability, you may also find that you develop related leadership characteristics, such as resourcefulness and problem-solving abilities. To improve your sense of adaptability, practice accepting and overcoming unexpected challenges rather than resisting them.
• Confidence in the Better Tomorrow: As a key figure in a department or company, every member of the team should demonstrate confidence to instill motivation. Even when obstacles impact progress, you should strive to exhibit poise and conviction. Leaders who have this quality also tend to build trust quickly with their team and colleagues. Build confidence by practicing your presentations, anticipating the questions you might receive and preparing effective, helpful answers.
• Creativity and Valuing new Approaches: highest performers in workplace are rarely follow established pathways or copy the routes others have taken. Instead, they embrace new ways of thinking and strategies that others have yet to try. As a leader, you should aim to prioritize creativity so you can experiment with innovative solutions and alternative approaches to reach goals. To improve your creativity, try thinking of different resolutions for issues you encounter before moving forward with a plan.
• Empathy to others: leadership professionals like executives, managers and supervisors work at a higher level than other team members. In these positions, you should always try to empathize with the reality that your team experiences so you can work together more easily. To understand your team members better, try scheduling informal meetings to help you acknowledge the challenges they face and the goals they want to achieve.
• Staying Focused: Focus can help you handle possible distractions while achieving major objectives. When you give your attention to the most important aspects, you can complete your biggest goals while managing your time and resources. Try scheduling alternating periods of work without interruptions and less intensive work where you can pause to address other issues. This strategy can help you to concentrate your attention as necessary.
• Positivity & Vision of the Better Future: Quality leaders use positivity to motivate their team to achieve goals, do their best work and exceed expectations. To be an effective leader, you should exhibit positivity during difficult situations such as overcoming obstacles or delivering constructive criticism. For example, you can focus on the benefits of completing a major project instead of highlighting the hard work your team will have to complete in the process.
• Calculated Risk-taking: Leaders regularly encounter risks, but they must know when to embrace a challenge and when to take a safe approach. To become a master at navigating risk, start by learning how to assess situations and compare pros and cons. Strive to make decisive judgments so that your team can readily accept and act upon your decisions. Try creating a flowchart with steps so you can evaluate situations and make decisions confidently.
• Support and Stability Day to Day: Although leaders are charged with driving significant change, they also need a strong sense of stability. Taking a steady, reliable approach can allow you to keep your project, team or company on track. Establishing regular routines and telling your team what to expect allows you and your staff members to maintain energy and focus, even as you strive for constant progress. For example, set a weekly meeting to update your team on upcoming changes.
• Building Pipeline & Investing into other Team Members: Even the strongest leaders need dedicated teams to complete projects. To be an effective leader, you must know how to encourage teamwork and collaboration, inspire team members to contribute their best work and motivate colleagues to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks. You can incorporate team-building activities such as icebreakers and group outings to promote bonding and improve communication.

To increase your chances of passing the test you can learn about the assessment test format. You can ask in advance how many questions are on the test and what kind of questions are there (multiple choice questions, true false, simulator questions etc.). You can also learn about he time required to complete the test.

Most of personality test results present employer with negative personality traits detected for the candidate, based on the selected answers or incorrect order of the answers:

• Unwillingness to change
• Indecisiveness
• Lack of accountability
• Apathy
• Lack of integrity
• Poor communication
• Lack of Responsibility
• Search for excuses
• Anger and frustration mis-management
• and a lot of others

Tip: Did you know that you can ask the employer or testing company which test they use to get better prepared?

Below is the list of most common personality tests used by companies in the hiring process as well links to their correspondent practice tests:

• Personality Assessment Tests are used during hiring process to determine candidate's ability to solve conflict situation, determine fit into the team, provide flexibility during interactions, and provide creative path forward that is win-win for everyone.
• The Caliper Assessment by Talogy, or Caliper Profile Test, is a popular pre-employment test evaluating cognitive abilities and personality traits related to leadership, interpersonal communication, decision-making, and time management.
• Hogan Assessments are a series of extremely common pre-employment tests which includes online Hogan practice tests for the common HPI and HBRI tests, and detailed guides for the Hogan personality tests (HPI+HDS).
• The PI Behavioral Assessment is a personality test in which you must create two lists of personality characteristics that describe you - one for how you believe you really are, and one for the way you think you are expected to act by others at work.
• GSF Test also known as Gallup’s Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment helps to find your unique strengths, defined by GSF as a combo consisting of knowledge, skills, and talents.
• Leadership Assessment tests used as part of the employment process for various management positions, such as Directors, Executives, and CEOs.
• Korn Ferry's Leadership Assessments are designed to help your future employer pick only the best applicants with particular characteristics and personality traits. There are three Korn Ferry assessments you may take (Korn Ferry Assessment of Leadership Potential, Korn Ferry Four-Dimensional (KF4D) Executive Assessment, Korn Ferry viaEdge)
• The Occupational personality questionnaire (OPQ), aka the OPQ32 assessment is a complex trait-based personality test provided by SHL.
• Situational Judgment tests (SJT) include scenarios that depict situations that are likely to occur in different roles. If your hiring process includes an SJT test you came to the right place.

Personality Tests is only one category of tests used by companies during the hiring process. There are a lot of other assessment tests that might be used in the hiring process. Below is the list of tests typically used by employers to ensure candidate has the skills and potential to succeed on the job (you can use the link provided to review sample questions and download preparation material):

• Personality Test - measure how people differ in their ways of working in the teams with other and working as individual contributors.
• Leadership Test - measures individuals' abilities and skills as they refer to leading, managing and directing others
• Situational Judgement Test (SJT) - measures how candidate would behave in work-based situations similar to those real scenarios that could be encountered in the job
• Microsoft Excel Job Test - used  during the pre-emp0loyment process to check how proficient candidates are with core Microsoft Excel features and capabilities. The type of Excel test is geared to the job descriptions and capabilities tested are typically related to the knowledge required to succeed on the job
• Aptitude Test - measures candidates analytical skills, pattern recognition, verbal reasoning skills, decision making abilities and ways of solving challenges
• Numerical Reasoning Test - measures candidate's ability to interpret numerical data, charts and graphs to do analytical calculations on the job
• Psychometric Test - measure candidates' suitability for a role based on the required personality characteristics
• Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test (CCAT) - measures an individual's aptitude, or ability to solve problems, digest and apply information, learn new skills, and think critically
• IQ Tests - measures job candidate's intelligence, analytical skills and ability to recognize patterns
• Behavioral Test measure how people differ in their levels of motivation, values and opinions in relation to their interests.
• Customer Service Test - measures how well any given job candidate would fit with the company's needs and the overall position as a customer service representative
• Mechanical Knowledge Test -  measures job candidate's mechanical understanding and mechanical knowledge
• Microsoft Word Assessment Test - measures candidate's knowledge of latest Microsoft Word features to validate skills of professionally formatting and collaborating on office documents
• Microsoft PowerPoint Assessment Test - measure candidate's skills to create professional PowerPoint Presentations
• Typing Test - measures job seeker typing speed and accuracy

• Identify the type of test you will be required to complete and practice by finding and taking as many tests as you possibly can
• A lot of time companies work with the assessment test providers. Find the provider your future employer might be using and research the types of tests and questions provider might be using
• Some assessment test providers help you prepare for the test and might offer practice test: find their web site and use their materials to get ready.
• When practicing the test simulate real test conditions: set a time time constraint – when practicing sample questions, be sure to give yourself between 30 seconds to one minute to solve each question.
• Learn from your mistakes: don’t just skim through the answers and explanations but try to understand the patterns and rationale for the explained answers to make sure you will not make similar mistakes in the future.

• If possible, try to schedule test in the morning, when you have high levels of energy
• Get a good sleep before the test.
• Do not take a test if you are tired
• Read Question carefully (ideally more than once)
• Answer easy questions first (if you have a choice)
• This would allow you to leave harder questions for the end, but you will get easy answers in
• Validate your answer with more than one method (i.e. Common sense, Manual Calculations, Use Calculator etc.)