Today’s corporate world is hyper-dynamic and intensely competitive, leading to an increased desire for a workforce that excels at challenging and diverse job roles while also possessing a distinctive personality. As a result, an individual’s personality characteristics, such as ideas, morals, principles, temperament, and motivation, substantially impact their job performance.

Human behavior and personality traits have always intrigued people, but human psychology’s study and interpretations are not restricted to that particular field. Today, recruiters and hiring managers employ personality tests to find the best talents with personalities that best suit their work culture. 

The principles of these evaluations and theories of human personality have exploded throughout the years, giving rise to many different forms of personality assessment solutions. Among the best and most popular ones used by recruiters worldwide is the BIG 5 personality assessment

BIG 5 Personality Test: The Meaning

A BIG 5 personality assessment is traditionally administered using a questionnaire and a multiple-choice response. These questions, for example, inquire how much a person agrees or disagrees that they are someone who exemplifies certain specific assertions, such as:

  • Is willing to try new things (for openness)
  • Is constantly thinking about others (for conscientiousness)
  • Is the centre of attention at a gathering (for extroversion)
  • Is it possible to have faith in others? (for agreeableness)
  • Is constantly concerned about the future (for neuroticism or negative emotionality)

Types of Personality Traits

1. Openness

It entails both imagination and intelligence. This personality attribute has a strong interest in the world and other people and a desire to learn and experience new things, leading to diverse interests and a fearless approach to decision-making. Creativity plays a significant role in the openness attribute, resulting in a greater comfort zone in abstract and lateral thinking. Anyone with less openness is likely to take a more traditional approach to life and may struggle with problem-solving outside of their area of expertise.

2. Conscientiousness

It is characterized by high levels of thinking, good impulse control, and goal-directed behaviors. This organized and disciplined approach is common among persons who work in research and even high-end finance, where detail orientation and organization are necessary skill sets. A highly conscientious person will regularly plan and study their actions to see how it affects others. Project management teams and human resources departments frequently include extremely conscientious individuals working in their teams to assist balance out the structural roles within the overall team development. Conversely, unconscientious people despise organization and procrastinate on vital activities, failing to complete duties.

3. Extraversion

It is commonly recognized as “someone who gets invigorated in the company of others.” This, along with other characteristics such as talkativeness, aggressiveness, and a high level of emotional expressiveness, has made extraverted persons easily identifiable over many years of social interaction. The opposite is someone who is an introvert. They prefer seclusion and spend less energy in social gatherings as it is exhausting for them to make small talk or be the center of attention.

4. Agreeableness

People with high agreeableness demonstrate trust, selflessness, friendliness, and affection. Highly pleasant people have strong prosocial tendencies, which indicates they are more likely to aid others. Sharing, consoling, and cooperating contribute to highly pleasant personality types. Even though the term doesn’t completely hold, empathy for others is usually viewed as agreeableness. 

5. Neuroticism 

Sadness, moodiness, and emotional instability characterize it. Neuroticism is a response to stress and threats in one’s daily life. It is sometimes misdiagnosed as anti-social conduct or a larger psychological disorder. Individuals with high degrees of neuroticism are prone to mood swings, anxiety, and irritability. Anxiety, a major component of neuroticism, is concerned with an individual’s ability to cope with stress and perceived or actual risk. Of course, those who score lower on the neurotic scale will have a more stable and emotionally resilient attitude toward stress and events. Low neurotic patients rarely feel sad or melancholy because they take the time to focus on the present now and avoid stress-inducing circumstances.

Personality assessment tests are commonly used to predict how well an employee will work in your organization based on their interpersonal skills, motivation, and inspiration. It also allows you and your recruiters to assess which job roles a certain prospect may succeed in. A corporation is typically organized into teams, and personnel greatly impact one another. HR directors can use behavior assessment tests to identify whether a candidate is a suitable match for their firm and its work environment.


Discover Assessments provides the world’s only gamified Disc based psychometric assessment that is easy to use, administer, and can be used by anybody. You can take your employment process to new heights with our gamified tests. We offer psychometric profiling solutions to remodel and reinvent your workforce as one of the leading talent assessment platforms. Contact us today to learn how our practical disc based personality tests will assist you in finding the best talent.