Personality assessments can tell people much about themselves. Since we look at ourselves too close up most of the time, a personality assessment can help us take a step back and see ourselves from a bigger perspective and identify the implications of traits that we may be aware of having but have not really analyzed. The results of such assessments could be used for increasing self-awareness, to help identify traits we are unaware of or the implications of those traits.
My results revealed that I am a ôRational,ö a category that the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II says is ôvery scarceöùonly 5% to 10% of the population being categorized in that group (ôKeirsey Temperament Sorter IIö). I was characterized as having a problem-solving temperament and being the type of person who analyzes things to understand how they work so that I can figure out how to make them work better. The test stated that I ôhungerö to accomplish my goals and ôwill work tirelessly on any projectö I have set my mind to, that I am logical and ôfiercely independentö in my thinking and believe that I can overcome any obstacle with will power. I completely agree with this assessment of my personality, although I do not see these traits as the only ones I possess. The test said nothing about my negative traits, which unfortunately do exist, or my other positive traits not related to this particular characterization. However, I still found it extremely valuable in that it identified a complete facet of my personality that I had not totally put together in my mind previously. I have taken a lot of personality tests, both informally in magazines and as a requirement for employment, and most often the results do not characterize me the way I see myself. In this instance, however, I felt the results were remarkably accurate.
There are several drawbacks to using personality assessments in making decisions about employees. For one th
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