Importance of Personality in Job Interview & Career Growth | Jobs-Dubai.info

Importance of Personality in Job Interview: Loud, quiet, pushy, reserved, self-confident, or rather shy – the personality is as unique as the fingerprint of every person. It defines how we react to difficult situations, what we can get excited about and what is difficult on the other hand. Last but not least, your personality also has a major impact on your career. So there are enough reasons to take a closer look at the topic. What constitutes personality, how you describe your own personality and how personality and career are related.

Personality definition: what defines us?

Everyone brings their own personality. At the same time, does this mean that there is no general definition of the term personality? Not directly, because of course, science has always been concerned with understanding the personality of the human being. But where a lot of research is done, there are also many different opinions.

Scientifically, personality is described as an individual’s dynamic system of order, which enables adaptation to constant changes in the environment. Less scientifically, but more understandable, that means: The personality is the combination of all defining characteristics of a person – that is, what defines us.

But what properties are meant by this? After all, there is an almost unmanageable number of features and characteristics. The Big Five model, which represents the five major dimensions of the human personality, can be used to answer this question, and each person can be classified on a scale from weak to pronounced.

• Extraversion – This dimension stands for assertiveness, conviviality and a high level of energy.
• Tolerance – Compassion, friendliness and a warm nature characterize people with this attribution.
• Conscientiousness – order, a structured approach and a high sense of duty define this dimension of personality.
• Neuroticism – Neurotic people are emotional, seem insecure and moody.
• Openness to experiences – openness, curiosity and the willingness to engage in new things shape people who can be assigned to this dimension of personality.

Describe personality: who are you?

Everyone knows the classic situation: you are sitting in an interview and the HR manager kindly asks you to describe yourself in a few sentences. I see a strong expression in the dimension of extraversion, but I am less aware of neuroticism. So your answer is unlikely to be.

But how can you describe your own personality? This question is often not given any thought until a situation actually arises – as in the interview – in which it becomes necessary. If you then stand on the tube, you can help yourself with a few questions :

• What would your friends say about you? A successful self-assessment, which also corresponds to the facts, is not very easy. Instead, ask yourself – honestly, of course – what your friends or family would say about you. What qualities do others see in you?
• What is important to you? A good way to describe your personality is to understand what is important to you. Do you need regular exchanges with friends and colleagues, for example, or do you prefer to have time for yourself?
• What are you particularly upset about? The opposite also works to better understand the personality. What can really piss you off? Is it difficult for you to deal with disputes or are you upset about disorder?

When are you a firm personality?

A strong, solid personality is like a rock in the surf. They can withstand even the greatest storms, stress and high stress. This person rests within himself, so to speak. She knows what she can do and is very confident.

Confidence in yourself also encourages this personality to look to the future with confidence and optimism. Those who have a solid personality firmly believe that everything will ultimately turn out well, even in the worst crisis. The control over your own feelings and the willingness to leave the beaten track let established personalities quickly find a solution and continue on their way.

Basically, it means that you have an inner resilience.

Personality: How it affects your career

You have probably already suspected that your personality also affects your career: personality is a decisive factor, especially when choosing a profession. For example, there are people who are extroverted from an early age. As a rule, they later choose occupations in which they can live out their natural disposition and use them profitably. Quite a few become salespeople, creative people, artists, trainers, speakers, managers. However, a long-term study of two scientists at Ghent University in Belgium showed another exciting connection between personality and career.

In 1994, the researchers initially surveyed 266 graduates. Above all, the researchers wanted to know what personality traits their subjects had – such as how open they were to new experiences, how conscientious, how extroverted they were.

A few years later, they interviewed the participants again, especially about their current jobs. These included positions in industry, fashion, research, teachers, merchants, salespeople and so on.

Not surprisingly: The personality had influenced the choice job at most. Many extroverts found themselves in sales or marketing, the conscientious were often in research and controlling and those with a pronounced openness worked remarkably often in the artistic field.

Develop personality: the job shapes the character.

The result, however, was clearly more interesting that another survey a good 15 years later showed: Now the scientists wanted to investigate whether the personality of the test subjects had changed in any way.

And indeed: Those who were particularly extroverted did not become even more extrovert over the years. But he or she meanwhile developed personality traits that they did not have, or at least did not have as pronounced, before, but which made for an even better adaptation to the job.

An example of the researchers: an extrovert becomes a manager. Does that mean he has to become more extroverted to continue his career? Hardly likely. Even less of this property does not help him – after all, it brought him there. However, a healthy dose of conscientiousness would do him good to strengthen his role as a caring listener and a more effective leader. And that is exactly what happened with the participants, according to the study results: whoever made a career, his personality was also changed by his profession.

Or, in a nutshell: you will be your job.

Personality determines job satisfaction

Our personality not only decides which job we choose. It also plays a big role in how satisfied we are with this position in later life. This is shown by a study based on the personality model of the Meyers-Briggs type indicator. We have summarized the six most important results for you.

• Extroverts are often happier with their job.
• A stronger expression of the level of your emotions leads to more satisfaction.
• Those who stick to their decisions are more satisfied with their jobs.
• Rational decisions bring personal values ​​to increase satisfaction and more money.
• Leadership position and more responsibilities are not automatically indications of greater job satisfaction.
• It is an empty phrase, but the study shows that money alone does not make people happy.

Personality in the application: how it works

Again and again, critical voices are heard, which see applications with personality as a risk for the application chances and vehemently advise against them. The argument often used: personality distracts in the application from the professional and objective skills and competences. As a result, factors are included in the evaluation and selection that should not play a role.

However, personal characteristics – and the taste of the personnel manager – always play a role in applications and in the selection process. Even with anonymous applications, human factors such as sympathy and personality come into play in the interview at the latest. That is why your personality is welcome to appear in the application . With these tips , this also works successfully.

• The design of your resume.

This trend has not yet caught on in every industry, but a resume does not always have to be classic. If it fits the company and the job, your personality can also be included in the design .

• Your application photo.

Of course, it should be a professional application photo, but your personality doesn’t have to be left out. You can influence the effect by clothing, posture and look. A good result is achieved if you look at the photo and recognize yourself in it.

• Your application letter.

Your cover letter also offers plenty of scope to let your personality run free. The most important thing, however: stay authentic. Playing false facts is just as taboo as giving a wrong impression, just to please the HR manager.

Personality test: do you have a solid personality?

Finally, we have prepared a test for you, in which you can determine whether you have a solid personality. We have put together seven questions for you and would ask you to remember which letter you have chosen most often. At the end of the page, it leads to the resolution.

1 – You organize an exhibition stand for your customer and are in the final stages of planning. Now you get a call of your customer and she informs you that she wants to do everything differently and now expects you to implement her special requests until the fair date. How do you react?

• I panic. How on earth am I supposed to do that? I plunge into work. 
• I don’t let the stress approach me. I calmly explain to the customer how much work has already gone into the current planning and confirm that we are on the right track. 
• I will put the problem aside for now. I’m terrified that everything will go wrong. 
• I am so angry about the special requests of the customer and provide him with an ultimatum: either he is willing to pay significantly more for the order or our cooperation is ended. 

2 – An intern has screwed up and confesses the mistake to you. Now you have to iron out the error again and that means additional work and time expenditure for you. How do you react?

• I am annoyed and first violin the intern’s opinion. 
• I don’t say anything and am silently angry. 
• I look at the work of him then i think about what can i do. Then I show her mistakes. Together we share the remaining work to quickly reach a result. 
• I think to myself: “All crap what he did there. Completely useless. ”In my brain I can clearly see all the negative effects of  the mistake i has on my work. 

3 – Your company has launched a new time tracking program. You can’t handle it. What do you do?

• I ask my colleagues for help. After all, you can’t know everything.
• I can’t possibly admit that I’m not getting along. What should the others think of me? 
• I’ll put it off first. There’s still time, right? 
• I recognize that I have not yet understood how it works and I read in. 

4 – Your boss asks you for a personal interview. He tells you that he is dissatisfied with your work and criticizes you for overseeing this project. How do you react?

• I am devastated, I doubt doing my job well and am afraid of being fired.
• I listen to the criticism and ask for input on what I could do differently. 
• I justify myself for my actions and look for explanations.
• I thank you for the feedback and I assure you that I will proceed differently in the future.

5 – You have made a mistake and thus spoiled an important customer. How do you deal with the situation?

• I check what went wrong and look for ways to avoid the error in the future. 
• Actually, I can’t help it, the customer’s wishes could not be met from the start. 
• I tear myself to pieces for this mistake and keep thinking about what would have happened if I had acted differently. 
• I accept that you can’t always please everyone and put all the more energy into winning new customers. 

6 – Things haven’t been going well in a long time. You have now received the notice of termination. How do you react?

• I am devastated and see myself filling out the Harz IV application. 
• I knew that sooner or later it would have to be that way. I take the time to analyze my situation and find out what I really want. 
• I blame the boss for my situation. 
• “I will find a better job”, with this thought I go on the search. 

7 – You want to turn your hobby into a profession and have started your own business with your idea. But it is not going as expected. How do you react?

• I grit my teeth and keep going.
• I give up in frustration. It was a stupid idea anyway.
• I activate my network, ask friends and acquaintances what I could do to make the business run better.
• I regret having taken the step and already see everything going down the drain.