Recently, I've been stuck with the feelings of anxiety and worry regarding my future. I used to be a lot more confident, but maybe it was just plain old ignorance and the assurance that all I needed to do was to keep coasting along and follow my parents' lead. Now that I know that I really, really don't want to be anywhere near blood, I have had to reassess my job options. I want to genuinely enjoy and be successful in whatever career I end up choosing, and one of the courses of action that was recommended to me to help figure this out was to take a personality test. Truthfully, I don't put much stock into assessments of its kind on principle. It tries to sort people into neat little boxes, but human nature is messy, imperfect, and impossible to categorize. People lie, to themselves and to others, and for some, admitting their flaws and failings is a Herculean labor. In the end, what comes up as the result may not be true at all, and the test is rendered a dud.
Even with all of these criticisms, I can still see the benefits of taking the test. It can improve one's self-confidence and is still useful when it comes to topics like relationships or potential careers. For proof, one can simply point to the many companies which require potential employees to take personality tests, and use them to assess whether the applicant is a good fit for the job or not. I have complained plenty, but I still went and took the test, partly for practical reasons and partly out of curiosity. It was fairly quick and lasted around 15 minutes, so time isn't a worry. I tried to answer as fairly and honestly as possible, but I'm only human, and some questions did cause me to think twice.
I ended up with INTJ as my personality type. The website offered a section on careers for INTJs; I took a gander at it, and it didn't answer all my questions, but it answered enough. All in all, the personality test was what I expected going in, and I'm measurably satisfied. I'm still undecided on what specific career I'm going to choose, but I do know now that it will probably be in the Business field. I need to figure out my career before I start applying for colleges senior year, and taking the test got me one step closer to this goal. What do you guys and gals think about personality tests and their viability?
Well, I just took the personality test and went down a rabbit hole instead of continuing to read blog posts, thanks Alicia! LOL (ENFJ-T, was my result. I'm reading about it now, but it seems pretty accurate even at a quick glance)
ReplyDeleteI really like how you pointed out that human nature is too complex and difficult to force into certain categories or "types." Even still, I think it's interesting to know that qualities you have work together and make you a certain type of person. I've taken this test before and found out that I am an INFP-T. Taking the test was a lot harder than I thought it would be, and it's very true that it's hard to be able to identify your own flaws.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you addressed the criticism of these tests, but you still decided to give it a chance. It seems impossible to define a person with a 5 minute test but like you said, it can sometimes be useful in certain areas. I took the test and got INFJ. It frightened me at first how much the description of this personality matched me! It was certainly interesting to feel understood by a computer program.
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