Research shows that personality traits can be used to predict job performance in two types of jobs - customer service and sales. The most successful salespeople in a variety of industries are competitive, motivated, assertive, and outgoing. However, salespeople who are successful scored lower on traits like cooperation and patience.
Personality tests are designed to answer the following questions: Is the candidate comfortable in this position? Are there any behavioral characteristics that could be linked to success in this job? Personality tests are not like aptitude tests. There is no right or wrong answer. These tests instead measure how many people have relatively stable behavioral traits. Employers can use these traits to predict job fit. It helps determine if the candidate's behavior tendencies will be a good match for the job and the company culture.
Because customer service representatives have higher turnover rates than average, tests that measure customer service skills are becoming more popular. This makes it difficult for HR managers to find tools to address this issue. Because personality tests can be used to reduce voluntary turnover, they are useful because they not only determine whether candidates are competent for the job but also whether candidates will be happy and content performing the job according to their set personality traits.
Figure 2: Growing evidence suggests that the traits model is becoming more popular in personality research. This is because it doesn't adequately describe the unique characteristics of human personality.
Although personality tests can measure many traits, the most popular framework for personality testing is the "Big Five" (or "Five Factor Model") which measures the five main characteristics of personality. These five dimensions of personality are consistent in empirical research. They include Agreeableness and Conscientiousness as well as Extroversion, Openness to Experience, Stress Tolerance, and Extroversion. The idea of personality traits is becoming more common. It replaces the old paradigm of personality types that was developed with Carl Jung. This view of personality categorized people into two distinct types: introverts or extroverts, thinkers or feelers, Type A and Type B. Because of increasing evidence that the traits model does not adequately describe human personality, personality research is increasingly accepting of it.
Although personality tests can measure many traits, the most popular framework for personality testing is the "Big Five" (or "Five Factor Model") which measures the five main characteristics of personality. These five dimensions of personality are consistent in empirical research. They include Agreeableness and Conscientiousness as well as Extroversion, Openness to Experience, Stress Tolerance, and Extroversion. The idea of personality traits is becoming more common. It replaces the old paradigm of personality types that was developed with Carl Jung. This view focused on personality type that divided people into two types: introverts or extroverts, thinkers or feelers, Type A and Type B. Because of increasing evidence that the traits model does not adequately describe human personality, personality research is increasingly accepting of it.
These traits are particularly relevant to hiring because there is substantial evidence linking them to job performance in a range of jobs. Conscientiousness is a measure of how reliable, organized and persistent an individual is. It has been found to moderately predict success in many types of jobs, especially for entry-level positions, where reliability and punctuality are more important than creativity.