The procedure for personality questionnaires is quite straightforward. You will be presented with a series of questions, often in batches of four or eight. The objective is to answer them as truthfully and realistically as possible.

Try not to answer them according to how you want to be seen, but rather how you really are. Many tests have built-in mechanisms to spot inconsistencies in your answers and any confusion and misrepresentation is likely to be to your disadvantage.

As the examples show below, you will be presented with a straightforward statement about personality and behaviour and asked to respond to it in one of several ways:

a) simple yes, no or don't know answers

b) respond on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being very true, and 5 being very untrue

c) rank several statements in one group according to which is the most true of your character, which is totally untrue and which of the remaining two are partly true and partly untrue.

Example one:
Answer the question below by indicating which statement best suits each of the options. Do not mark the same option twice.

Example two:
How important are the following statements to you when you are in the workplace?

1. I prefer to work unsupervised.
2. I want to earn the highest salary I can regardless of what work I do.

(and so on?)

• Very important
• Important
• Neutral
• Unimportant
• Very unimportant