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cruzerey profile picture

cruzerey

Business Development Manager

Valued Contributor
Member
Fire Starter
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Personality Test before Interview Session

Is it common for companies to do personality test as part of the filtering process? I understand that there are several personality types that are more suitable to sales. Just want to get some advice on how to move forward on this.

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Pachacuti
Politicker
4
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
It happens but I wouldn’t say it’s common…. Yet.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
4
🦊
I've had to take one here and there. It's not a big deal.
Gasty
Notable Contributor
3
War Room Community Manager
Let's think about this. The Big 5 Personality traits:

[1] Extraversion: There was a time when extroverts were highly preferred for sales roles, due to the obvious "customer-facing" design of sales. I don't think that's the case anymore. Some of the best salespeople I know today are hard introverts.

[2] Conscientiousness: This one's easy. Sales / No Sales, all employers would want this trait in their employees in some shape or form.

[3] Openness: People who are more open, tend to be creative. As an employer, you wouldn't want a creative accountant. But you'd want creative people in your design/product team. Sales? Perhaps!. But keep in mind, creative people are all over the place, and sales also require a lot of discipline and following the process.

[4] Neuroticism: A trait to experience negative emotion. From a sales perspective, this might be thought of as "how well are they able to deal with rejection". A very low score in neuroticism can work in your favor.

[5] Agreeableness: Most interesting one from a sales pov. Fact: disagreeable people have better corp careers than agreeable people. But in Sales, the voice of the customer matters. So you'd ideally want to be right in the middle of the line which divides agreeability from its antithesis.

Coming to your question @cruzerey, no this is not common. But now that I think of it, it should be!
FoodForSales
Politicker
1
AE
Very interesting
cruzerey
Valued Contributor
0
Business Development Manager
Thanks for the great response. Actually I was thinking more on the line of the usual DISC personality test where they are looking for the D & I person to drive sales.
Wellss
Tycoon
3
Channel sales
This might just be my experience, but I've only had to take these personality tests when interviewing for medical sales positions. Will also throw in there that I've never gotten past a personality test when they are involved 😅
Maximas
Tycoon
2
Senior Sales Executive
They mostly test your Rejection Handling Skills Mainly.But Not Like a Full Personality Test!
Sunbunny31
Politicker
2
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
There are a few posts where applicants have come across this, if you search. I haven’t run across it personally ever, but it may be more prevalent in some industries.
Diablo
Politicker
2
Sr. AE
I have done it a couple tokens but not always.
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
2
Rolling 20's all day
I've seen it, as they often look for how you'll fit in on the team. Depends on their culture.
ChickenDinner
Politicker
2
Account Executive
I know a lot of sales orgs like the DISC. A lot of sales orgs also love that D over any other trait
cruzerey
Valued Contributor
0
Business Development Manager
Yeah. I know they are looking for the D 😉
AnchorPoint
Politicker
2
Business Coach
If they are using a reputable assessment and understand how to use the tool, there is no reason to be concerned.
buckeyenation
Acclaimed Answer
2
AE
yeah team but what if it saves YOU from having a shitty boss and joining the company when you both should've not entered into the relationship in the first place.. There are certain personality types that I don't get along with. I.e. ENTP's become very toxic to me very quickly - would prefer to not work with them etc...
Quite literally it might mean more discrimination - but in this case, it might be a good thing.
Gah - what if you are an aggro piece of shit and the team interviewing you are a bunch of pussies under the covers - will it ever work out?
Fenderbaum
Politicker
0
Retired Choirboy🪕
I wouldn't worry much about it. I took one many years ago, was asked some very weird questions that I believe were designed to test my emotional reactions. Just keep your cool and be yourself. You'll be fine.
LegacySales
Politicker
0
Account Executive
I had to take one of them for a SaaS company and I thought it was so overboard during the process.

I am so thankful to this day that I did not join the company as yesterday they just laid off half their workforce.
WheelofCheese
Opinionated
0
Sales Executive
Standard practice in my experience.

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