What is the difference between an ability test and a personality assessment?
Aptitude and ability tests are typically time, multiple choice, paper-and-pencil (on-line) tests which assess abilities to interpret or reason with various types of information.
The type of test will depend on the nature of the job but might include tests of verbal or numerical reasoning or test the ability to follow logical instructions or sequences of diagrams.
Personality, motivation and interest questionnaires explore the way in which an individual does things and how they might behave in certain circumstances. They can assess, for example:- preferences, motivations, interests, values, attitudes and ways of working with other people. Importantly personality assessments are questionnaires not tests as no personality is necessarily better or worse than another – what is important is to assess whether an individual is the 'right' fit for the 'right' post at the 'right' time.
Typically they are paper-and-pencil (on-line) self-report questionnaires that focus on a variety of personality factors and contexts from which a profile can be built up of an individual's potential strengths and areas of potential weakness. As they are usually self-report many questionnaires have internal mechanisms for identifying whether an individual has responded consistently.
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