personality profiles

Many companies use personality profiles such as DiSC, Garuda, Insights, and Neo-pir when they recruit new employees. It helps them find the best possible match to the position.

Your professional skills are not the only thing that’s important when you’re searching for a job in Denmark. You personality is also important to Danish employers. How do you prefer to work, how do you react in certain situations? And does this fit in well in the team and the position?

That’s why a personality profile is a great tool to find out if you’re right for this position – both for your and the employer’s sake.

➡ Here, we will explain to you what the advantages of personality profiles are, and what to do if a company invites you to make one.

Personality profiles are not tests

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Why are personality profiles not tests?
Some call the profiles "personality tests" or other things that indicate some form of "testing" of personality or a person. It's not a test, though, and you can't fail it. Quite contrarily, you might actually learn something about your own behavioural patterns if you get the opportunity to have a personality profile made.

Your profile can give you an indication of e.g.:
- How you prefer to work
- How you react in different work situations
- Which challenges you should be aware of
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How accurate are personality profiles?

Our experience is that the vast majority of students recognise themselves in the profiles we present to them during our DiSC workshops. Chances are that you will recognise yourself in your profile as well. Therefore, many of the statements presented in the profile will not come as a shock either – which is a good thing. An important feature of the personality profiles is that they help remind you of how you act in given contexts – and they give you a language to talk about your behaviour in.

The terminology that a personality profile provides is a great tool to utilise in a dialogue about behaviour. A topic that is otherwise difficult to address, as it often becomes either very personal or very hard to define.

All the concepts in the personality profiles are appreciative and approving; there are no rights or wrongs - nor are there any good or bad results. It’s all a matter of perspectives and own preferences.

The goal of the appreciative language is to show that people act differently, and all ways of acting are more or less appropriate in different situations or in collaboration with different people. It’s all a matter of preferences and understanding oneself in the given situations.
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What is the advantage of personality profiles?

Personality profiles help find the right match.

Of course, it is a good idea to be the best version of oneself, but if you, for instance, do not enjoy working with others very much, it will be difficult for you to work primarily in that way. In the same way, if you do not enjoy giving presentations, it would require a great effort and energy for you to give presentations on a daily basis. In most jobs, you will occasionally find yourself outside your comfort zone, and that is totally fine (and necessary). But if you primarily find yourself outside your comfort zone, you will be having a tough time.

Your personality profile will help you become more aware of your work preferences and can help you and the company figure out if you are right match.

Therefore, it is important to be honest in the personality test so that you do not end up in a job that makes you unhappy.
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How do I get the best possible result?

Stay true to yourself when answering.

Usually, the process is as follows: You’ll receive a link to a questionnaire to fill out. It consists of questions that relate to your way of acting and thinking, and it may ask some questions about your attitudes and values to certain matters. Some of the questions might be very similar – and may be asked more than once – to make the profile as accurate as possible. Sometimes you’ll be asked to choose between two opposite poles in which you might agree with both or none of the answers.

This is all part of the way the typical personality profile is build.

The best advice we can give you is to make sure that you respond as honestly as possible and not as you think the recruiters would want you to respond.

It can be very tempting to try to respond in a way that will make you appear as someone who fits into what you have read and know about the company, but it will usually show in the completed profile if you have “cheated”.

Keep in mind; the test cannot tell us anything about the cause for specific kinds of behaviour. It identifies certain superficial behaviour with the purpose of enhancing better collaboration, self-reflection and communication.
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What happens if I can’t match all the requirements?
You can’t cover all requirements in the job advert.

In job adverts, companies list the competences they seek in a future employee. Though it may at first seem like a good idea to try to live up to all the wishes a workplace may have, it is often neither particularly easy - nor particularly desirable.

Here is an example from a job advert, where a company request some specific personal skills:
- You are result oriented and work independently, but you are also happy to work in a well-functioning team. You have good communication skills both verbally and in writing, you are good at handle issues and have drive and impact. Applicants with experience in the HR field is preferred. Knowledge of GDPR will also be an advantage.
If you had to adjust your answers in your personality profile, so that you lived up to all of the above, you would end up answering in all directions.

Besides, you cannot possibly know their thought behind each of the different point.
- How would you be able to answer something that shows that you both work well independently and in collaboration?
- What does "impact" mean in this context? Being able to make decisions or being able to write powerful texts?
All the above needs elaboration and dialogue for it to make sense. It is not possible for you to guess how to answer in order to mimic what (you believe) the company wants to hear.

That is why you need to hold on to yourself and your preferences.

The point is that companies have many requests for a future employee – but remember:
- The chemistry between people is a big deal – and that it is not something a personality profile can show.
- The most important thing is that you are well aware of your way of working and acting in different situations.
- Both you and your future workplace should be honest; otherwise, it is not likely to be a lasting and fruitful working relationship for either party.
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What if the personality profile doesn’t fit me?

Sometimes, we experience students who can’t recognise themselves in the description of the personality profile. If this happens to you; don’t panic. It is a good thing because it means that the descriptions actually say something.

In those cases, we urge you to find out what parts of the profile that does not fit your self-image – and what you think would fit better. In other words, we encourage you to break down the profile and get cracking on the self-reflection process – and learn something from the profile.