Personality tests

Personality tests have been around for many centuries (in fact, the first recorded personality test was conducted by Hippocrates) and evolved dramatically over the recent 200 years in which many different types and techniques of personality assessment have been developed. Some are offered for free, some are proprietary and carry a handsome price tag – and this way or the other, despite their limited scientific validation, are considered a valuable tool in the pre-selection process of your future employees.

Different theories were built around similar basic concepts using the BIG-5 emotional traits, many of which are evolving around the 16 personality traits described by C. G. Jung, and today mostly known as the 16FP or Myers-Briggs MBTI. Other tests include the Lüscher color test and the DISC which are more popular in specific areas around the globe.

Another thing that is in common to all these tests is the fact that they are all based on self-report, contain no psycho-physiological indicator, and can be easily manipulated to reflect a needed outcome. Even without willful manipulation, the test results are heavily affected by the candidate’s own personal views of what is desired and the way he would like to see himself, and not so much by the way he comes across and appreciated by others.

Critics of the personality assessment tools view that the personal history and experience are also playing an important role in the understanding of the personality and behavior, and the uniqueness of the personal experience makes it impossible to “box” people into few simple categories.

Moreover, when we look at the personality tests results, what are we really looking for? What is the criteria we use to move forward with our hiring decision? It is not so much the personality per-se that we look at, it is the predictability value it carries and the chances of good performance in different domains.

Nemesysco’s new personality tests are based on a completely different approach.

Using the layered voice analysis (LVA) parameters established through research to correlate with key human emotions, Nemesysco’s tests measure several emotional reactions (generally categorized as positive and negative) in response to a set of key stimuli.

The entire process calls for the candidate’s inner reactions in carefully selected guided imagination situation, picking up the key emotional reactions and the positive, negative or indifferent “taste” left by the raising memories and experiences. 

This way, we can learn not only about the personal desires & drive, but also what type of experiences our candidate collected through life and how it strengthen or weaken his stand.