My boss e-mailed us a personality test

[dad]

The test is called Predictive Index!
Please advise on how the hell I should answer these questions:


Read the words in the list below and check the ones that you feel describe the way you are expected to act by others:

helpful, relaxed, exciting, assertive, patient, esteemed, worrying, sentimental, adventurous, easy going, calm, popular, polite, dynamic, good-humored, conscientious, sophisticated, persistent, earnest, outstanding, sympathetic, loyal, self starter, conventional, eloquent, cynical, passive, unassuming, good mixer, agreeable, well liked, docile, demanding, charitable, persuasive, careful, satisfied, understanding, spirited, escapist, generous, unobtrusive, daring, tolerant, nice, compelling, resolute, tranquil, cultured, dominant, respectful, gentle, brave, appealing, thoughtful, self-assured, steady, competitive, fashionable, neat, audacious, polished, congenial, obedient, cheerful, obstinate, convincing, responsive, neighborly, selfish, reserved, serious, persevering, nonchalant, flexible, attractive, trusting, eager, shy, fussy, versatile, amiable, diplomatic, self centered

Read the words in the list below, now checking those that you yourself believe really describe you. (same words)

[Djinn]

1. stupidly as possible

personality tests are a total and complete wank an should be treated as such

[DELUSIONAL]

3. Wrong --

[Djinn]

9. OK then

why's that - I'm basing this admittedly on my experience of them - and how they were interpreted, which was as something no-one who knows me felt represented my personality.

Am also basing this on the opinions of a few friends who's occupations are 2 X psychologists, a social worker and a counsellor.

Why does highlighting a bunch of words reflect your personality instead of, what you think your boss wants or how one feels on a particular day? How do you determine a "personality" which is somewhat complex with a few arbitrary questions.

[Sporadicus]

2. Are You in Sales? If So, This May Be Helpful in Filling out the Test

If you were to check off that others expect you to be "convincing," "compelling" and "responsive," but you didn't apply those same characteristics when rating yourself, it could signal that you'd be happier in something other than sales. That's where a skilled interpretation of the results comes in. The unique feature of the test is reconciling the natural self with the self we show in a business environment - how closely do the two resemble each other? The closer they do, the more likely it is that the person is in the right job.

Dinah Daniels, president of Praendex, Inc., says that the words themselves don't matter -it's all in the clusters. "There are three graphs of profiles that we look at - the self, self-concept and synthesis," explains Daniels. "Self is your natural behavior. Self-concept is your adjustments and adaptations to an environment. Are you changing, and what is motivating you? The motivation can be different than what is natural. It can be what you are hearing from your senior management. Synthesis is the person I am meeting."

http://realtytimes.com/rtapages/20011204_predict.htm

[dad]

4. l

I work for a software company. My job is not in sales, more on the technical side, but it does involve a lot of travel and meeting with customers face-to-face.
I should mention that I have been with the company for four years, but this is a new group that has been thrown together, so our new boss probably does not know any of us.

[DELUSIONAL]

5. Yes -- this is the purpose of a list of word descriptions

as a personality test -- and not exactly personality but rather personality traits related to occupation.

The better tests will have a series of words -- they are trying to get at the face you present to the world and how you really see yourself. (Or how you think your boss wants you to see yourself . . . )

Yes it is the word clusters --

[derby378]

6. If you have a personality, you flunk the test

That's what it sounds like to me...

[Briarius]

7. Print it out, use crayon

have a couple beers and have a go at it!

[WildClarySage]

8. Are you *required* to complete this?

I would be very hesitant. The results of these tests should be interpreted by someone rated an expert to be of any value, and unless I knew the credentials of the scorer, I would hesitate to complete what could be a very subjective test which may have repurcussions on my career.