It can be a dog-eat-dog world out there. Universities around the world are pumping out record numbers of graduates and top-tier firms around the world are receiving never-before seen levels of applications. In 2015 Deloitte received over 10,000 graduate applications while Westpac received over 7,000. Understandably, you need to have something that will make you stand out. While the numbers mentioned above are for graduate positions, it goes without saying that there is a high-level of competition currently in job markets around the world.
Completing a Strength-finder test will not land you a job but it will help you develop your understanding of yourself. It’s essential to have a good understanding of where you can excel and a thorough level of self-awareness. When top-tier companies still use ‘basic’ questions like ‘what are your weaknesses?’, the question is more focussed around your self-awareness than the weakness itself. For most Boss readers, we trust that you have honed in on your strengths while ironing out any weaknesses. For anyone looking to take their skill-set to the next level, we checked out three popular personality tests: Clifton/Gallup, DISC and Myer-Briggs. Here’s what we found:
1. Clifton/Gallup StrengthsFinder Assessment
Rank: 1
Using 177 pairs of potential self-descriptors, the Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment is founded on years of psychology and neuroscience research and testing. Each question needs to be answered within 20 seconds with the end result being your 5 biggest strengths. The strengths listed, ranging from areas such as empathy, organisation, intellection and competition, suggest what areas you should look to emphasise and promote. The supporting book, Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath, has spent a record-breaking 2000+ days on Amazon’s top-100 list, while the test has been often used by companies such as Facebook.
Cost – USD15
Found at – https://www.gallupstrengthscenter.com/Purchase/en-US/Product
2. DISC Personality Test
Rank: 2
The DISC personality test scores you in 4 different areas: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness. The test gives you 28 questions, each with 4 statements, requiring you to pick the statement that is most suitable and the one that is least suitable to you. Again, the test is based on years of psychology, comparing your results to thousands of subjects, allowing you to see what aspects of your personality stand out the most. The somewhat generic results of the test are its main downfall, perhaps measuring the energy to which you reply to various situations rather than your proficiency.
Cost – Free
Found at – https://www.123test.com/disc-personality-test/
3. Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
Rank: 3 (Don’t bother)
The massive success of the MBTI has been met with an equal amount of criticism, suggesting the MBTI has been marketed extremely well while offering misleading and poorly supported results. Neither Myer or Briggs were Social Scientists, but they had a strong interest in the popular psychologist, Carl Jung. The end-result of the test labels you under one of the 16 categories, a notion that Jung thought to be a ‘childish parlor game’.
Cost – USD49.95 + Tax
