5 Respected Online Personality and Career Tests

More and more companies today screen candidates for job compatibility using personality tests.  These tests are designed to help you understand yourselves and others better; how you think, what motivates you, what tendencies you possess, and how you interact best with others.  The idea is that you can use this information to make choices based on who you are, leading to the most successful outcomes at home, in your community, and especially at work.

Personality tests have drawbacks.  Every human being is unique, and no one fits perfectly into a category.  Also, there’s the power of suggestion – for example, a test result tells you you’re introverted, so you begin to notice and subconsciously emphasize those aspects of your personality, fulfilling the test’s prophecy (whether it was accurate or not).

Despite the drawbacks, personality tests are fun and can provide valuable insight that can help you throughout your career – especially if you take some of the more well-researched and respected tests, like these:

Myers Briggs

The Myers Briggs test is one of the more thorough personality tests.  Its results give you a very in-depth look at many aspects of your personality and preferences, and can help you make very specific career choices.  The test requires a certified administrator to score your answers, so it does charge a $60.00 fee.

Keirsey

One of the most widely-used personality tests, the Keirsey Temperament Sorter is a 70-question test that places you in one of four categories: Guardians, Idealists, Artisans, or Rationals.  The idea is that you’ll understand more about your actions and motivations, which may help you chose a career that aligns with what comes naturally to you.

Now, Discover Your Strengths

This book comes with an access code to an online strengths finder test.  The premise is that rather than concentrating on your weaknesses, you should pour all your energy into improving your strengths to be happier and become the very best at what we’re already good at.  Each person has 5 main strengths, and this test helps you determine yours.

DISC

DISC measures your levels of Dominance, Influence, Conscientiousness and Steadiness to help you understand your motivations, work habits and personality type.  It costs $30.00 for a basic report, but the results are interesting.  Sometimes, what we want to be we can actually grow into, even if we are experiencing barriers at the time. The test measures our full potential, not just our current habits.

CareerPath

A free career test provided by CareerBuilder.

What do you think of career and personality tests? Do they have value? Should companies use them to match job-seekers with jobs?