One area that worries many candidates is the idea that personality tests are designed to spot any attempt to influence the results. It is
true that nearly all tests of this type have impression control
questions built into them. These are questions that are designed
to indicate whether you are trying to create an overly favorable
impression – hence the name. Unfortunately for the test designers,
they have yet to develop any impression control questions which
are not blindingly obvious.
Typical impression control questions look like this:
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I always finish what I start.
-
I always keep other people's
secrets.
-
I always tell people exactly
what I think.
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I am always full of energy.
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I am always happy.
-
I can't remember ever being
late for an appointment.
-
I have always had the perfect
job.
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I have never acted on impulse.
-
I have never arrived at work
late.
-
I have never been annoyed with
a co-worker.
-
I have never been bored.
-
I have never been late in
anything.
-
I have never been moved to
anyone.
-
I have never been tired at
work.
-
I have never disappointed
anyone.
-
I have never failed to complete
a work assignment on time.
-
I have never failed to reach a
personal goal that I set for myself .
-
I have never felt alone.
-
I have never felt angry at a
supervisor or manager.
-
I have never felt sad.
-
I have never hurt anyone's a
feelings.
-
I have never lost a night's
sleep worrying about something.
-
I have never made a mistake at
work.
-
I have never made a statement
that was not completely true.
-
I have never met someone I
didn't like.
-
I have never used bad language
to anyone.
-
I have planned ahead in
everything I've done.
-
I never regret my decisions
after I make them.
-
I never tell white lies.
-
I never worry if I make a
mistake.
-
I'm happy to see people
whatever the circumstances.
-
I've never been deliberately
rude to anyone.
-
None of my close friends has
ever upset me.
-
All of my work has been
appreciated and valued by others.
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These questions almost invariably use the words; ‘always’ or
‘never’ in relation to something where ‘occasionally’, ‘very
occasionally’ or ‘usually’ would be an honest response.
Occasionally, you will see ‘ever’, as in ‘None of my close friends
has ever upset me’ or ‘whatever’ as in ‘I'm happy to see people
whatever the circumstances’. In all cases, you are being asked to
agree to some unconditional statement – which is what gives these
questions away.
You should answer these impression control questions honestly as
disagreeing with a statement like ‘I never tell white lies’ will
obviously not count against you.
The only area where there is really any room for confusion with
regard to impression control questions is the honesty/anger/stress
questions. These are the only other types of question where you
may see ‘always’, ‘never’ and other unconditional statements and
be expected to strongly agree or strongly disagree with them.
So whilst you should strongly agree with a statement like: 'I have never become angry
at work', it is OK to disagree with the statement 'I have never felt angry at a
supervisor or manager'. This is because the first statement is asking you if you have ever displayed an unacceptable behaviour at work, and you should obviously answer in the negative. The second statement is asking if you have EVER FELT angry at a supervisor or manager. If your answer claims that you have never felt anger, then this suggests that either you are lying or you don't care sufficiently about your job to ever feel angry, neither of which makes you look like a desirable employee.
It is worth making a list of the honesty/anger/stress questions and the impression control questions and working through these systematically until you can appreciate the (sometimes) subtle differences between the two. As a general rule it is OK to admit to negative thoughts and feelings but do not under any circumstances admit to negative behaviour in the workplace.
Engineering Your Answers to the Personality Test
Qualities like, honesty, integrity, motivation, extraversion and
leadership are only some of the personal attributes that the
personality tests used for selection attempt to measure. They do
however represent areas where you can easily ‘blow’ your chances
if you don’t understand what the employer is looking for. Some of
the other personality traits or facets may be equally as important
– this will depend largely on the job you are applying for as well
as the employer.
How much you choose to try and influence the resulting personality
profile is something only you can decide. Common sense would
suggest that you should not attempt to influence the results too
much as they will probably be seen to conflict with your past
achievements and with how you are perceived at the interview.
Everything you need to pass psychometric tests
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