Unit 97
　　Personality Test for Job Hunting
　　Consider, if you are going for a job, one key question: why do you want it? Consider, if you work in personnel, the reverse key question: what qualities do you want for the job?
　　Unlike IQ tests, personality tests try to answer the subtle questions of what you are like. It is all about giving the right impression and that is something you can manipulate. You cannot fake brains but you can fake attitude.
　　You can do some jobs only if you have the ability. If you are a brilliant physicist, you may annoy people if you are rude but your personality will not affect your ability to work out new equations. Most jobs are not so cerebral. To do them well you need to have the ability and also the right personality.
　　Again if you know that success in a job depends often as much on personality as on intelligence -- especially when you have to deal with the public, you need to know clearly your own strengths and weaknesses when looking for jobs. Now read the following list:
　　Potential strengths: 1. Like dealing with people; 2. Not shy; 3. Enthusiastic; 4. Persistent in sorting out problems; 5. Clear long-term goals; 6. Stable; 7. Enjoy sorting out people's problems; 8. Taking criticism well.
　　Potential weaknesses: 1. Easily make anxious; 2. Become silent easily; 3. Not very active; 4. Don't care which job you do; 5. hate being criticized; 6. Hate dealing with difficult people.
　　Any kind of personality test is not about right or wrong answers but about finding out more about yourself, and about conveying the impression you want to convey.
　　Not everyone will be to describe their personality well but the list above is a start to help you think about what you are like. This should help you work out what kind of job you should go for. For example, if you et bored doing routine work, being a clerk is likely to make you feel unhappy and to give you little job satisfaction. Personality tests can help avoid a mismatch between the demands of the job and your own needs.
　　Most psychologists accept that our personalities stay pretty consistent unless we are going through a difficult or dramatic period in our lives. Not all aspects of personality can be measured -- every individual has unique quirks -- but those that psychologists can quantify are known as traits and the theories behind them are known as trait theories.
　　Psychologists have had some success in developing trait theories. They have devised questionnaires which ask people to report on their behaviors, feelings and attitudes. From their answers, the psychologists decide patterns of responses. Analyze the patterns and you get a score for an individual on different personality traits.