Personality Interview Questions & Answers

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☛ Be Prepared
☛ Plan, Relax, and think Positively
☛ Be confident: Think of the interview as a conversation
☛ Arrive early: Allow time to gather your thoughts and center yourself.

I think change is natural, and good. I find it fascinating, with all the new ideas and technology. Really, it's an adventure, and I try to keep up with everything, as much as I can.

The question can reveal how introspective the candidate is about their own personal and professional development, which is a quality I have found to be highly correlated with success and ambition.
Plus it can show what attributes and behaviors the candidate aspires to.

It is revealing for employers to figure out where you may they think they need help.

A favorite movie can indicate a lot about a candidate's personality. The type of movie does not always matter; the question simply helps employers learn more about the person and not their skills. It can often lead to a fun, engaging conversation.

If you cannot think of a single book to recommend to others, it is a warning sign. Curiosity is a wonderful indicator of intellect and, oddly enough, modesty, because curious people are willing to admit they do not know everything and are then willing to work to learn what they do not know.

This is truly a question of a personal nature.
It may seem unrelated to the job, but the good news is you can make it relate to the job. When conducting your job search, it is important to keep up with your industry. What publications should you be reading as a career-driven person of your industry? Are there manuals, magazines, books, online sites, and blogs? If you're prepared, you have the perfect opportunity to show you've been keeping your skills and industry-knowledge up-to-date. This is also a great way to save yourself if you aren't a pleasure reader. If you do enjoy reading, you should discuss these books, as long as they seem appropriate. Discussing titles that show your appreciation of literature (even popular fiction) or your desire to learn (non-fiction) are fine.

You certainly don't want to be sitting there with your eyes to the ceiling and your mouth hanging open as you dig through your brain for an old experience to reference. You also don't want to say, "I can't think of any. The best thing you can do with these types of questions is to prepare for the interview by reviewing your work history. Go through your resume and letters of recommendations and any employment history and old communications you have.
Write down particularly interesting projects you worked on and think about positive experiences you can allude to.

I build great relationships with customers; they always ask for me.

I pride myself on my record of never missing deadlines.

I am a person who can bring order to chaos.

I'm a wiz at analyzing data and transforming it into useful information.

I can hit the ground running and come up to speed faster than anyone I know.

I do whatever it takes to get the job done, sometimes working 10-hour days.

I am energized by challenges and problems.

I run mostly. In addition I lift, do hit, yoga, hiking, swimming, anything that is a great workout.

Each personality style or type is rated in terms of four preferences.

E = EXTRAVERSION ------------------- I = INTROVERSION
S = SENSING ---------------------- N = INTUITION
T = THINKING ---------------------- F = FEELING
P = PERCEIVING -------------------- J = JUDGING

You will find that you fall along the line, somewhere in between each of these four scales, leaning more to one side than the other.
You will get a four-letter code, based on where you rate yourself along the lines between these four preferences, by answering a set of questions designed to find out where you are on each scale.

Your type will tell you how you make decisions, solve problems, deal with stress, learn new things, balance work and play time, and cope with change, as well as your unique communication style in relationships.
It shows you what your strengths and weaknesses are, so you can use them to best advantage in your personal life and in the workplace.
Learning about our Personality Style or Type helps us to understand why certain aspects of life are easy for us, and others are a real struggle.

It's a question that asks for a creative response. It's an invitation to the candidate to play the game and see where it goes without worrying about the right answer. By playing along, it tells me a lot about the character, imagination, and inventiveness of the person.
The question, as obtuse as it might sound to the interviewee, is the beginning of a story and in today's world of selling oneself, or one's company, it's the ability to tell a story and create a feeling that sells the brand--whether it's a product or a person.
The way they look at me when the question is asked also tells me something about their like-ability. If they act defensive, look uncomfortable, and pause longer than a few seconds, it tells me they probably take things too literally and are not broad thinkers. In our business we need broad thinkers.

Past performance is usually the best indicator of future success.
If the candidate can't point to a prior accomplishment, they are unlikely to be able to accomplish much at our organization--or yours.

It was a duck, because ducks are calm on the surface and hustling like crazy getting things done under the surface.

My pessimist personality.

I find that this question opens the door to further questions and enables someone to highlight themselves in a specific, non-generic way.
Plus additional questions can easily follow: What position did you hold when you achieved this accomplishment? How did it impact your growth at the company? Who else was involved and how did the accomplishment impact your team?
Discussing a single accomplishment is an easy way to open doors to additional information and insight about the person, their work habits, and how they work with others.

We tend to assume people who have held a role enjoy all aspects of that role, but I've found that is seldom the case.
Getting an honest answer to the question requires persistence, though. I usually have to ask it a few times in different ways, but the answers are always worth the effort. For instance, I interviewed a sales candidate who said she didn't enjoy meeting new people.
My favorite was the finance candidate who told me he hated dealing with mundane details and checking his work. Next!

Except with entry-level candidates, I presume reasonable job skill and intellect. Plus I believe smart people with relevant experience adapt quickly and excel in new environments where the culture fits and inspires them.
So, I concentrate on character and how well theirs matches that of my organization.
This question opens the door for a different kind of conversation where I push to see the match between life in my company and what this person needs to be their best and better in my company than he or she could be anywhere else.