The job market has become super competitive, making it difficult for graduates to find employment. As a result of the competitiveness, it helps if job seekers prepare themselves well for the hiring process. Companies have implemented numerous pre-employment screening assessments to separate the wolves from the sheep. If you are interested in nailing a management position, you most likely will need to take a personality test.
What Are The Traits of a Manager?
There are several traits which are believed to be directly related to the success of a manager. Management personality tests usually focus on assessing these characteristics with the aim of deciphering whether a candidate is well suited for the job at hand, and the likelihood of their success in the role. Below are a number of traits associated with managerial success:
Ambitious – The candidate’s drive to achieve success.
Decisive – These candidates are resolute, with little to no hesitation in their decision-making process.
Flexible – The candidate’s ability to adapt to changes in an environment.
Bold/Confident – These candidates have strong self-belief.
Independent – The candidate’s ability to think and work without the input/assistance of others.
Reliable – These persons are dependable; other members of the team can turn to them for assistance.
Empathetic – The candidate’s ability to place themselves in another person’s position.
Creative – These candidates are both imaginative and expressive individuals.
The Format of a Management Personality Test
Management Personality tests are very similar to any other personality test. The questions, while fairly personal in nature, take on recurring forms so that the answers may be:
True/False
Scaled/ Likert scale response
Multiple-Choice
Ipsative Interpreting/ Forced choice response
Scores of a Management Personality Test
The traits examined on manager personality tests are measured using colour-coded scales. The scales have ranges assigned to determine how well suited a candidate is for a job. These scales are illustrated using charts with green being ideal, yellow neutral and red being the non-ideal range.
How to Pass a Management Personality Test?
These psychometric assessments have the reputation of being hard to prepare for because the answers to the question are not based on the candidate’s aptitude for academia, but their behaviour patterns. Study guides won’t necessarily be your greatest asset for these types of exams, but preparation is still recommended.
Candidates are encouraged to approach the questions as if they are already in a management role. The questions are usually situational in nature and it is recommended that you respond to the question with the management role at the forefront of your mind to ensure your answers fall in line with what is expected of a manager.
Identify the traits associated with managerial roles, which generally are like that of leadership qualities. Once you zero in on those traits, you can tailor your preparation to work on the traits you believe are your weakest. Focusing on these traits allow you to better answer questions.
Practising for exams can’t be deemed complete without adding practice tests to the mix. Seeking out practice tests online such as the DDI Manager Ready Assessment Practice test, among others, will help you to familiarise yourself with the type of questions that may appear on these assessments. Finding past assessments with both questions and answers may assist by providing a benchmark against which you can compare your progress. You can take it a step further by doing the practice tests under examination conditions by mimicking the conditions expected in the assessment centre. This gives you the confidence to answer the questions more accurately and in a timely manner.
Conclusion
Managers serve as leaders in a company’s structural hierarchy and as a result, are held in high regard. The recruiting, training and retention of these individuals cost companies a lot of money, especially because the company’s success is hinged on these persons. The long and short of the story is that leaders are important, which makes it even more imperative for candidates to do their utmost on pre-employment aptitude tests presented to them. In order to perform at your optimum level, you need to prepare and prepare well.
“Opportunity does not waste time with those who are unprepared.” – Idowu Koyenikan.
