Personality test questions examples

There are several types of personality tests and personality test questions used by employers to measure the ‘personality fit’ of job seekers. Most personality test types fit into three groups:

Statement-based personality test questions

The most common type of personality test questions is statement-based ones. In this type of question, you receive a list of statements and are asked to state the extent to which you agree or disagree with each statement. For example, you might receive the following statement: ‘I am confident that work accidents won't happen to me’. You will then be asked to state the extent to which you agree with this statement on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is ‘strongly disagree’, and 5 is ‘strongly agree’.

Forced-choice personality test questions

This type of personality test question is somewhat less common than the statement-based one. However, it is used by some multinational test developers, such as SHL. In this type of question, you receive a list of 3 or 4 adjectives or statements. You are then asked to rank them from the one that is the most like you to the one that is the least like you. For example, you might receive the following 3 adjectives: ‘friendly’, ‘careful’ and ‘responsible’. The challenge of this type of question is that sometimes all adjectives are equally desirable for the job you are applying for.

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Open-ended personality test questions 

This type of personality test question is less common, but it still important to be aware of it in case your personality test has such questions. In this type, you will have a list of open personality-based questions trying to measure your tendencies and preferences based on your written response. For example, you could be asked : ‘If I were to ask some of your good friends, how would they describe your social skills?’

Covert style personality test questions

Most personality test questions are not straightforward. This means that reading the questions does not always help you identify what they measure. This is done on purpose to increase their accuracy. However, in some cases, the fact that personality test questions are not straightforward has led to a misunderstanding of them and, consequently, to an ‘undesirable’ personality profile. Therefore, it is very important to prepare for your personality test.

See below for some examples of personality test questions and explanations of their answers. Click on the image to enlarge.