Most of the time they don’t know; haven’t a clue; don’t know it till it stumbles in their door and stares them in the face. That’s called an interview.
Very sophisticated employers may have used personality profiling to help them get a picture of what kind of personality they are looking for. This is quite rare. Not every company that uses personality profiling has a clue what to do with it, or what they are looking for.
The companies that have gone to the trouble of finding out what it is they are looking for will be looking for something to match the criteria they have set; and it’s pretty much impossible to second guess what that might be, so don’t even try.
The best thing you can do is make the most of the personality you have. Be straight. Answer what you feel not what you think they want to hear. Remember you will be one of many that they are talking to and after a while all candidates blend into one amorphous mess. By being yourself, you offer something that is rarely found in an interview; authenticity. It’s a refreshing thing to an interviewer.
In preperation the only thing you can do as far as personality goes is to “know thyself” or better still know what a personality test actually says about you. It could be very different from what you think. Read your own personality report and see you from the employers paradigm. You may be surprised at the view from the other side of the table.
Honesty is an important thing. The more you try and act a role the more likely you will trip up and fall off the stage. So play the part you know best; yourself.
Further Reading
You may also enjoy reading about how we made a Personality Test that is easy to use.
