I find taking tests such as this one to be extremely interesting, so I chose to take the full 300 question survey. I did another version of the Big 5 Personality Test my freshmen year of college and I found the results to be pretty accurate, so I was excited to compare those results to the ones I received from this questionnaire.
For the most part, my results were what I expected them to be. I scored very highly on the extraversion facet, meaning that I am outgoing and enjoy being in social settings most of the time, which is a part of my personality that I can actively recognize in my everyday life. I scored a little bit before average on the agreeableness scale, which is the result that surprised me the most. According to the information at the end, this means that although I do care somewhat for the needs of others, in the end I do what I can to personally get ahead. In this case, I think the truthfulness of this analysis depends largely on what area of my life is being discussed. I scored very highly on the conscientiousness facets, which means that I set clear goals and am a hard worker, which I think is descriptive of my personality. I also scored on the higher end of the neuroticism scale, meaning that I am very emotional and sensitive. Again, I think the accuracy of this rating really depends on what area of my life is being looked at. Lastly, I scored toward the middle of the scale on openness to experience. This I think is an accurate representation of my personality because I do value routine and tradition but I also love adventure and new experiences.
As an employer looking at these results, I would say there could be some positives and some negatives. On the plus side, it shows that I am very outgoing and get along with others. I also think that scoring towards the middle on the agreeableness scale would be a positive aspect, because I think in many jobs it is beneficial to be able to work with others but also strive for your own personal success. Being a conscientious employee would also be viewed as a positive; employers love employees who work hard and set high standards and goals for themselves. A rather high score on the neuroticism scale could be viewed as a negative. Generally, I feel that employees who are overly emotional and sensitive and not always the most-desired candidates. The last facet I feel could be viewed as a positive or a negative aspect of my personality, depending on the job and the company I am applying for.
Overall, as it says in the summary at the end of the test, I do not think in many cases there is necessarily a “good” and a “bad” way to score for each of the different facets. Depending on the job context, I think that a variety of scores on the different scales could be viewed as strengths and weaknesses. For example, as a salesman, it would be a good thing in most cases to score highly on the extraversion scale because this is a job that requires a lot of social interaction and confidence in unfamiliar situations. On the other hand, in a position like a librarian or a lab technician, having an extroverted personality would not be nearly as important or valued.
