Just because they are free doesn’t mean they should be rubbish. This is why I am writing

The 6 Point Guide to Selecting Free Personality Tests

There are a few things you can check before wasting your time completing a personality questionnaire and that’s what I will cover in this guide. I have tried to remain as objective as possible.

Not every free personality test is respectable. There are so many dodgy personality tests out there that you have to be careful. This is particularly true if you are looking for a job test.

Step 1 – Has it been used by over 100,000 people and are there testimonials??

People throw together personality tests with little or not thought or care. However if the test has at least been used by over 100,000 people then at least you know it’s not just flung together.

To have that many users it will need to have been around for a while so that helps. It’s no guarantee but it helps. I don’t think you want to waste your time on low user tests when there are so many high user tests.

Step 2 – Was it designed to be used online?

Many of the personality tests were originally designed as paper based tests. Sitting in a room with a pencil is a very different environment from sitting online at home.

It’s not a simple case of moving the questionnaire online. you really want o have a questionnaire that was designed specifically for the online environment.

Step 3 – Are the questions blatantly obvious?

If the questions look daft or obvious then you are probably wasting your time. A well designed test will not have blatantly good or bad answers. Each of the statements should make you think. the choice between statements should be quite difficult. You should feel it difficult to choose one statement over the other. if all the answers are easy and you barely had a dilemma then you have probably found a very poor questionnaire and are about to waste your time.

Step 4 – it is a forced choice questionnaire?

The very best questionnaire are forced choice. At their simplest they have A / B options. However the more sophisticated questionnaire will offer you four statements and have your prioritise all four statements.

This is much more difficult to complete and reveals more depth about your personality.

Step 5 – Are the results delivered instantly?

I know it sounds obvious but if you are using an online system then you want instant access to the results.

So if you have to go on a course first then this is pretty lame.

If they offer to email you or post something to you then this is pretty lame.

From beginning to end you should be able to read and use reports within ten minutes.No hidden delays are acceptable.

Step 6 – Is it fast?

How long does the questionnaire take? You make think that longer questionnaire deliver more accuracy. This is not true. It is even less true when you move it online.

An online questionnaire should only be about five minutes long. Longer than that sees the user become bored and boredom affects the results.

A well designed and quick questionnaire will be more accurate than one that takes twenty minutes or more to complete. Twenty minutes is simply too long online for most people.

Further Reading

You may also enjoy reading about how we made a Personality Test  that is easy to use.

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