Saturday, August 18, 2012

Management Consulting Personality Tests

For management consulting recruiters to predict a candidate's possible performance at work, they assess their competencies, experience and education during resume screening, background check and interviews. Apart from these, they also consider their personality as this is the factor that explains how a person manages stress, deals with people and takes pressure in the workplace.
The explanation above is the reason why some firms administer personality questionnaires to applicants. Unlike verbal or numerical reasoning assessment, this type doesn't have right or wrong answers for there is no right or wrong personality. Everyone is unique; each one possesses a unique set of patterns and characteristics that recruiters respect. However, it is undeniable that there are certain preferences, and these are usually based on the main responsibilities of the position. A shy MBA graduate who has mastered all the consulting frameworks may not be offered the job due to lack of sociability, a non-technical requirement of the position. Because of her introversion, it may be difficult for her to gather data from people and get along well with clients.
Management consultants can be described based on how they think, how they feel and how they behave. They are usually the analytical, meticulous type of people. They evaluate all angles of a situation logically to come up with effective resolutions. Commitment and motivation to finish tasks on time despite any hurdles are other traits they must possess. They must also acquite good organizational skills so they can manage their time efficiently. Their hands will be quite full, so they must have the ability to balance things out. All the time, consultants must manifest professionalism in the way they express their ideas and deal with other people.
The personality tests will try to measure if you have the aforementioned traits, and this is the reason why answering each question seriously is crucial. With your answers, you are helping yourself and the firm decide if you are truly capable of carrying out the job. When you try to answer the tests, just be who you are. It basically loses its purpose if you project another person. Anyway, if this job really suits you, your answers will speak for yourself. So like how you deal with other tests, just give it your best shot.
However, there are a few ways of improving your test scores. One of which is answering personality surveys beforehand and evaluating the results. This guides you in bringing out your strengths in a variety of situations. You have to be consistent in doing this despite the conditions presented in the question. In some items, the same situation is just stated in different ways for a reliable basis of interpretation.
A personality test will ask you to answer a long list of true or false, multiple choice or sentence completion questions. The length might tire you, and as a consequence, you might just answer them mindlessly, hastily or with a pattern. Worse, you might not finish it at all. This is obviously a worthless idea because the results might be inconsistent with the information you indicated in your job application. The conflicting data will not necessarily put you down, but it might confuse the recruiters, resulting to longer fit interviews.
As you go through the questionnaire, answer the items based on how you usually behave in the workplace. You may like to slack off at home, but you handle things industriously in the office. When you're with friends, you may wear your heart on your sleeve but when with colleagues, you always ensure you are professional in dealing or communicating with clients. This doesn't necessarily imply putting your best foot forward to impress the recruiter. It only means you are letting them evaluate as a potential employee, and not as a buddy.
Also, make sure you are in a good mood when you are taking the test. When you are grumpy, irritated, in a hurry or impatient in getting to the last item, the results might reflect your pessimism and disappointment. Relieve yourself from any worries, put aside any previous disagreements and concentrate on who you are. After all, a personality test is all about the real you. If your management consulting application is rejected because of a personality test, it will certainly make you frustrated. But on the other side of the coin, it might not be your best option. Perhaps there's something else better in store for you.

No comments:

Post a Comment