| Socrates once said, "The unexamined life is not | | | | Tests based on the HPI model measure your |
| worth living." Yet sometimes it seems that Americans | | | | personality, your traits in respect to on-the-job |
| are obsessed with self-examination and constant | | | | performance, and your attitude. HPI tests fall into |
| change. Individuals once spent an entire lifetime with | | | | one or more of the following assessment |
| a single employer, but most people today evaluate | | | | categories--the Hogan Development Survey, |
| their career and lifelong goals every few years. It's | | | | Motivation, Values, and Preferences Inventory, and |
| common to leapfrog from opportunity to opportunity | | | | Hogan Personality Inventory. |
| and to re-make a professional identity several times | | | | HPI questions produce personality trait identifiers and |
| over. | | | | motive qualities that can include colorful, dutiful, bold, |
| If you're entering college and are perplexed about | | | | imaginative, altruistic, power, security, cautious, and |
| your future goals, join the club. Even as graduates | | | | excitable. Occupational aptitude measurements rank |
| enter the workplace, they continue to assess their | | | | you in categories that include integrity, leadership |
| skills and dreams to find lasting success and | | | | ability, initiative, decision-making skills, communication |
| happiness. | | | | skills, self-esteem, curiosity, sense of responsibility, |
| Psychologists, educators, and employers have | | | | and creative potential. |
| developed a battery of tests that measure your likes | | | | - Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey (GZTS) |
| and dislikes, your aspirations and aptitudes. A dizzying | | | | The GZTS is strictly a personality evaluator, used to |
| range of online personality and career assessment | | | | measure learning potential, possible learning disabilities, |
| tests are free for the taking to help you discover | | | | personality, and temperament as it applies to the |
| your heart's desire or make mid-life course | | | | workplace, conflict, and personal relationship skills. |
| corrections. | | | | Scales measure quantifiable responses to qualities of |
| Some help you find out whether you'd rather pick | | | | restraint, emotional stability, objectivity, friendliness, |
| flowers in Holland in the summer or drive an 18-wheel | | | | and thoughtfulness. |
| truck in blizzard conditions along the Al-Can highway. | | | | - 16 Personality Factors (16PF) |
| Employers administer assessments to see how well | | | | The 16PF text was created by psychologist |
| you'll do in a team environment, if you can take | | | | Raymond Cattell to measure so-called primary factors |
| direction, supervise others, or prefer to sit alone in a | | | | that show your tendencies in major assessment |
| cubicle listing to your iPod. | | | | categories of warmth, reasoning, emotional stability, |
| You'll find dozens--if not hundreds--of online career | | | | dominance, liveliness, rule-consciousness, social |
| and personality tests. Many are free, while some | | | | boldness, sensitivity, vigilance, abstractedness, |
| companies charge money. Most offer a free topside | | | | privateness, apprehension, openness to change, |
| overview, with more complex analyses available for a | | | | self-reliance, perfectionism, and tension. |
| price. Beware, however, for aptitude assessment | | | | Beyond the Personality Testing Numbers |
| tests are not always as advertised. | | | | You'll no doubt discover a broad range of online |
| Measuring the Tests that Measure You | | | | career tests that are based on these highly regarded |
| No one likes being lumped into a career or personality | | | | methodologies. While the governing categories may |
| group. In America, especially, we're individuals to the | | | | not be immediately visible, they are there. Instead of |
| very end. It helps to think of online test results as an | | | | dry category breakdowns, you're more likely to see |
| effort to spot your tendencies, rather than making | | | | questions based on the SFPQ model. You'll be given a |
| your choices for you. Above all else, you'll want to | | | | direct statement and asked to rank your |
| focus your time on tests that rely on time-tested | | | | identification with it. Sample questions/declarations |
| psychological models to drive the assessment. | | | | might include: |
| Examine the Web sites you visit for information on | | | | - I love to work alone. |
| the methodology--and eschew tests that are glib, | | | | - I have difficulty reaching decisions. |
| bizarre, or downright flakey. | | | | - I prefer not to always show how I feel. |
| Let's look at four standardized aptitude and profile | | | | - I'd rather be a farmer than a stockbroker. |
| assessments used by professionals. | | | | Your responses to these statements translate into |
| - Myers Briggs Personality Test (MBPT) | | | | raw numbers that fit the 16PF or SFPQ qualities. |
| The granddaddy of most personality and job | | | | If you're taking a personality or career assessment |
| assessments, the MBPT is most likely the model | | | | test online, it's vital to consider the results as |
| behind the tests you'll discover at online evaluation | | | | sweeping generalizations about your career or |
| sites. You'll be categorized onto one of 16 personality | | | | life-goal tendencies that give you guidance but not |
| types, based on your responses to questions that | | | | clear-cut directions. Think of suggested career |
| evaluate how you deal with life (extroversion vs. | | | | choices as options, and then see how you respond |
| introversion), how you process information (sensing | | | | emotionally to detailed career descriptions you find |
| vs. intuition), how you make decisions (thinking vs. | | | | elsewhere in your search. |
| feeling), and how you organize your life (judging vs. | | | | As a bonus, a test may reveal broader career fields |
| perception). | | | | than you imagined for yourself as well as greater |
| - The Six Factor Personality Questionnaire (SFPQ) | | | | self-wisdom about your likes, dislikes, aptitudes, and |
| The SFPQ is a well-respected assessment tool that | | | | skills. Remain open to suggested fields. If a test |
| measures six personality factors, with each factor | | | | sends you into unexplored territory and you respond |
| broken into categories that are calculated by 108 | | | | with energy and delight, you may have hit the |
| Likert questions. Likert questions ask you to identify | | | | jackpot. |
| with a given statement using the following | | | | Caveat emptor--buyer beware. Online career testing |
| scale--Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor | | | | is at best uneven and, at worst, misleading marketing |
| disagree, Agree, or Strongly agree. | | | | junk to promote a paid survey. Don't take |
| SFPQ personality factors include Agreeableness, | | | | yourself--or the results--too seriously. Before entering |
| Extraversion, Independence, Openness to Experience, | | | | personal information other than your email address on |
| Methodicalness, and Industriousness. A SFPQ test can | | | | an exam site, look for privacy declarations or contact |
| help you understand your traits with respect to | | | | the Webmaster. Before you ante up for extras or |
| temperament, autonomy, endurance, achievement, | | | | detailed analyses, look at the quality and sensibility of |
| logic, and resistance to or acceptance of change. | | | | your free results. |
| - The Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) | | | | |