Photo by Ben Rayner

3 Personality Tests That Will Give You A Fresh Perspective On Your Career

evaluate yourself + your job

November 18, 2015

Finding your passion—and turning it into money—is tricky for anyone, but especially for women. The persistent gender wage gap, the lack of top female executives, and the dearth of mentorship present unique challenges. Luckily, our friends at Levo League give young women the tools and resources they need to navigate the workplace and to feel empowered and challenged in their careers. Check out their site for tips, tricks, and generally pretty wonderful advice about how to get the job you deserve.

If you haven’t heard the term “emotional intelligence” before, you’re about to get a full download on why it’s so important. It’s a relatively new concept (the term was first coined in 1990) and today, hiring managers are paying more attention to it than ever. Major companies like Google already incorporate it in employee training and recruitment programs, and earlier this year, a study by KRW International even found that empathetic leaders and their companies perform better financially.

So, how can you improve your own emotional intelligence? It might seem silly, but taking a personality test is the perfect place to start. That’s because your emotional intelligence includes your level of self-awareness, self-regulation, internal motivation, empathy, and social skills—all things a personality test takes into consideration.

Light strong suggestion: Once you get your results, post them on your Levo profile, personal website, or other social platform. It’ll give your network a snapshot of how you work—and what it would be like to work with you.

Here are three (mostly free) personality tests you should consider taking:

1. Truity

If you’re looking for an in-depth assessment of your personality, head on over to Truity.com—there’s a 300-question quiz that covers everything from how you relate to others to how you respond to stress. But if you want something that’s a little more like your typical personality test, check out Truity’s TypeFinder® Personality Test ($29). It identifies your four-letter profile based on the personality inventory developed by Isabel Briggs Myers, and covers topics like temperament, personal strengths, and what personality types are most compatible with yours. And if you’re looking to get your coworkers involved, Truity also has testing packages for groups and teams.

2. Levo Thinking Talents

We love it, and so will you. Levo’s free iPhone app makes it easy for you to identify your unique talents and learn how to put them to use. It will give you analysis that will help you nail the classic job interview question: “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” With the Thinking Talents app, you’ll discover your collaboration style and how you can be your best you. Your personality profile and guide are together in one handy little app.

3. 16Personalities

The free 16Personalities test explores where you get your energy as well as how you think. And like Truity, parts of it are based on the Myers-Briggs four-letter model. This test also incorporates “personality aspects” that help further define your four-letter type: Mind, Energy, Nature, Tactics, and Identity. Your results will highlight your goals and interests, and provide you with strategies for pursuing them. And if you’re curious how you stack up to others? The 16Personalities website also has a “Members Area” where you can discuss your results with other people who have taken the test.