Personality tests can help guide your career but they shouldn’t limit your ambitions

Have you ever been asked to take a personality test when applying for a job, considering a career change or attending a workplace training session? Perhaps you’ve taken one online out of curiosity and been surprised by how accurately it seemed to describe you. Maybe it told you that you’re an introvert, a natural leader or ideally suited to a career you’ve never considered.

But here’s something worth thinking about. What happens when a personality test tells you that you wouldn’t be good at something you’d really like to do? Do you accept that assessment and move on, or do you question whether a questionnaire really knows what you’re capable of? I wouldn’t let a questionnaire make that decision for me, and neither should you.

You can take a personality test online in a matter of minutes, sometimes for free. If you’re curious, you can try a free Big Five personality assessment at OpenPsychometrics.org. It looks at traits such as how outgoing, organized or curious you tend to be. Researchers have been using the Big Five approach for years. But don’t expect the results to tell you everything about yourself, much less what you should do for a living.

You can even ask artificial intelligence to analyze your personality these days. AI can give you a remarkably convincing answer, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s accurate. And the more convincing the description sounds, the easier it is to forget that AI may know very little about you.

Now, I’m not suggesting personality tests are useless. Far from it. Sometimes they help us recognize patterns in our behaviour that we hadn’t really thought about.

Consider the person who discovers they’re an introvert and decides that a job involving the public is out of the question. Yet many introverts work very successfully in positions that require them to interact with people all day long. They simply put on their “extrovert” hat when necessary.

That doesn’t mean the interaction comes naturally or that it doesn’t leave them wanting to hide under their desk afterward. Being an introvert doesn’t mean you’re incapable of working with people.

The same applies to someone who isn’t particularly organized, dislikes confrontation or tends to see problems before opportunities. These characteristics may explain how we behave, but they don’t mean we can’t change.

And there’s a difference between understanding a weakness and using it as an excuse. It’s easy to say, “I’m just not a people person,” when what we really mean is that dealing with people sometimes makes us uncomfortable. Or to explain away our negativity by insisting that we’re simply being realistic.

Perhaps we are. But perhaps we’re also avoiding something we could learn to do better.

A personality test might help explain why certain situations stress you out or why some things seem easier for other people than they do for you. The trick is to use that information to make better choices rather than build a comfortable little box around ourselves.

A friend of mine decided to return to work after several years as a stay-at-home mom. She was in her mid-30s and attended an employment information session where she completed a lengthy questionnaire designed to identify her personality traits, strengths and suitable career choices.

At the top of the list? Surgeon.

Now, she was certainly capable of learning new things but the prospect of spending years in medical school and training, along with the considerable financial and personal commitment involved, wasn’t particularly appealing.

So she didn’t become a surgeon.

Instead, she looked more closely at the qualities the assessment had identified and considered where else those strengths might be useful. Eventually, she pursued a career in journalism.

She has, however, been known to sigh occasionally and say, “Ah, yes, but I could have been a surgeon!”

The next time you take a personality test, don’t simply ask whether the results sound like you. Ask whether they reflect how you actually behave. Consider which strengths you could put to better use and which weaknesses you might be able to improve.

If the results help you recognize something you can improve, put that knowledge to work. If they discourage you from trying something new, question them.

If a test suggests you’re not comfortable taking charge but you’ve always wanted to be a manager, why let that stop you? Maybe you haven’t had much practice leading others. After all, nobody is born knowing how to run a meeting or manage a team. Those are skills you can learn.

So the next time a personality test tells you what kind of person you are, remember that it doesn’t get the final say. What you do with that information is entirely up to you.

Faith Wood is a professional speaker, author, and certified professional behaviour analyst. Before her career in speaking and writing, she served in law enforcement, which gave her a unique perspective on human behaviour and motivations. Faith is also known for her work as a novelist, with a focus on thrillers and suspense. Her background in law enforcement and understanding of human behaviour often play a significant role in her writing.