Has anyone done a personality test for a job

[PersonalityTest]

Specifically a Thomas International PPA test?

I'm applying for a dream job - I've got through 2 rounds of interviews and I'm going to be sent this next week before the next round.

I hate personality tests cos I'm naturally an Introvert and I think that will scupper me for this role . I found 2 sample questions in a Telegraph article but it sounds really twatty .

Apparently it's one that can't be cheated but I want to try . Just wondering if anyone has done it and could give any tips?

Can't help with what to expect but I did read an article recently which said that introverts tend to make better employees and in some roles are far more desirable than extroverts.

My employer went through a phase of doing a psychological profile as part of the recruitment process for all senior appointments, even internal promotions. I think they might have stopped it now though as I haven't heard anyone mention it recently. I did one a few years ago, but I don't recall what the name of the specific test was I am sorry. It seemed a bit daft to me as I had worked in the department for about 15 years at the time and it seemed unlikely that this test was likely to reveal anything that the people interviewing me didn't know!
Anyway, we were also told that you couldn't cheat, and not to try to over analyse the questions. A lot of them seemed rather random to be frank and I don't think that unless you have a background in psychology or similar you would be able to work out what the purpose of each question was. My test was also timed, so you couldn't afford to spend too much time thinking about the questions.
But basically, you are who you are. There is nothing wrong with being an introvert, and as singletomingle says, it can be a very positive thing in some roles. You have obviously done well in the recruitment process so far so try not to worry too much about this stage. Just aim to show the real you to the best of your ability in the next phase. If it is anything like the one I did it will be designed to look at a variety of things like how you deal with conflict and stress etc not just to give your personality a label.
Hopefully you are exactly who they are looking for. But if not, remember that even though it is dreadfully disappointing not to get a job that you really want, if you are not right for the job then the job is probably not really right for you either. Suppose you actually did manage to "cheat" on the personality test and got the job effectively by pretending to be someone you're not....surely you would then have to try to keep up that pretence day in, day out? I think that would be exhausting and could make you very unhappy in the longer term.
Just answer the questions as honestly as you can and remember it is only one part of the selection process. You've shone so far, so believe in yourself and be proud to show who you are.
I hope everything goes well.

Yeah I've had these.

I wasn't honest : instead I answered how I thought they'd want me to be I. E extrovert, not introvert

I did a Thomas test for a job a few years ago. The report they produced was scarily accurate...

Yes but not Thomas. I did one for a bank and wasn't hired, then another with a public sector job and 'failed' (I was too Frank Sinatra 'I do it my way' apparently) but was still hired.

You can't always tell as it's weighing up of overall package so to speak. Good luck with it though, these things aren't a huge amount of joy

We all had to do the Insights test as a team.

I did a Thomas test for a job a few years ago. The report they produced was scarily accurate...

They same is often claimed about horoscopes and psychic 'predictions', doesn't mean they have any validity though.

Personality tests are pseudo-scientific bollocks.

They have questions dotted in them to catch fakers, so I wouldn't bother. If you're trying to tweak your score then ignore worrying about introversion, it's conscientiousness they want to recruit as that is the best predictor of job performance (out of the common personality traits) so just make sure you say you are organised and like deadlines etc.

@SaskiaRembrandt they do have validity though. I can't speak for the exact test but generally the big 5 traits have been found to predict job performance in a range of roles, found by repeated meta-analyses

Personality tests are the astrology of the office - www.nytimes.com/2019/09/17/style/personality-tests-office.html

No, they don't work. They are a one-off test, not replicated, so only offer a snapshot (if that) of how as person is feeling at the time they took the test.

Personally, I wouldn't even consider working for an organization that used such a shonky method of hiring employees.

I did one. I failed it, still got hired and still working for the same employer 20 years later.

I should have gone for a different job though as it fundamentally doesn't suit my personality. At the time though I wanted the job and now financially it is very difficult to make a switch.

Hi @PersonalityTest I work for a company that publishes these. The good tests do predict performance, at a higher rate than interviews, references etc. I could post links to prove it but I have to get DC ready for school.

Thomas International is not welll thought of in the market, it's a forced choice test which theoretically makes it harder to fake. And yes, they probably think they want extroverts, as most employers wrongly over value extroversion. Will you be getting a feedback interview?

@SaskiaRembrandt I'll agree the mbti is not a good test but that doesn't mean that all tests are unreliable and invalid. Trait measures have been found to consistently predict job performance although the extent may depend on the situation leeds-faculty.colorado.edu/dahe7472/Judge%20and%20zapata%201149.full.pdf

Hi everyone, sorry for the delay in replying and thanks so much. All of this is really helpful. I don't want to be 100% specific but it's sort of like an IT project management role - so involves a lot of teamwork, communication etc. but also technical skills and problem solving ability. The thing is, those things have never been an issue for me but I still come up as an Introvert on tests - I think I'm an extroverted introvert or the other way around I'm never sure .

I got more information from the recruiter and he said the test won't be used to make a decision but it will be used to form interview questions - argh.

I must admit, it has put me off a tiny bit, but at the end of the day it's a HR requirement and I've never had to deal with HR much once I've got a job so hopefully if I survive it won't have a long term impact.

I'll post back once I've done it and what happens next....

Ok so I've done the test. God it was frustrating! I've recorded it, so if anyone gets asked to do it in the future and wants to cheat, PM me .

It said it takes 8 minutes, but it actually wasn't timed which freaked me out a bit. At the end it let me go back and review any of my answers. I was still afraid it would somehow fail submission if I took too long but I think I took about 15 minutes in total.

But I found the questions really hard. You are given 4 personality traits and have to pick the one most like you and least like you. For a lot of the questions I didn't want to pick anything cos they were not like me at all, or they were all like me and I couldn't choose.

So one example is:
gentle (mild)
persuasive (can get others to agree)
humble (modest)
original (creative).

Another example is:
open-minded (value all ideas)
obliging (try to please others)
will power (resolve)
cheerful (smiling)

I think I would have found it a bit easier if they hadn't given the extra explanation. Anyway I hope I'm not flagged as some sort of psychopath but I'll post again once I (hopefully) get feedback.

I've just done it too, and found it similarly frustrating! Looking forward to receiving my horoscope...