Personality tests in job applications (Norway): how you are measured

What a personality test in a job application is

A personality test in recruitment is a questionnaire where you say how well statements about ways of working and behaving fit you. It gives the employer a picture of how you probably prefer to work, and it is used together with the interview, references and CV, not instead of them.

In Norway a test can be certified in a scheme run by the Norwegian Psychological Association and DNV. Two independent experts assess the documentation against the EFPA model for reviewing tests, and the certificate is valid for three years (DNV, service description for test certification, in Norwegian). The aim is to confirm that the test meets requirements the Norwegian professional community regards as generally accepted (same source). Certification says something about the quality of the test, not about who gets the job.

What the tests typically measure

The five-factor model is the leading modern scientific model of personality traits (Store norske leksikon, the five-factor model, in Norwegian). It describes personality with five broad areas:

• Openness: curiosity, new ideas and change.
• Conscientiousness: structure, follow-through and order.
• Extraversion: how much you seek contact, speak up and take initiative.
• Agreeableness: cooperation, trust and consideration for others.
• Emotional stability: how you handle pressure, criticism and setbacks.

Many work-related tests build on or relate to these five, but split them into narrower traits and give them work-related names. Aon writes, for example, that 10 of the 15 aspects in ADEPT-15 are linked to the five-factor model, while the other five come from their own leadership research (Aon, personality assessment with ADEPT-15, in Norwegian). Alva Labs writes that its test measures the five areas (Alva Labs, how the personality test works).

So two tests can split the same areas differently. An area called cooperation in one report may be spread across several scales in another. Read the report you get using the test's own explanations, not a different test you have taken.

You are compared with a norm group

Your answers are not turned into a grade. They are compared with the answers of a large group who have taken the same test before, a norm group. A common scale is the sten, from 1 to 10. On it, 5 and 6 mean you sit around the typical level in the group, and higher or lower numbers mean a clearer tendency towards one end (Clevry, how to interpret personality questionnaires).

Two things follow from this:

1. The score is relative. A high score means you described yourself that way more than most people in the norm group, not that you are better. Both ends of a scale can be a strength in the right job.
2. The norm group matters. The International Test Commission's guidelines on test use say the test user should not draw conclusions from norms that are not relevant to the people being tested or are outdated (ITC Guidelines on Test Use). The same answers can therefore give a different result when compared with, say, Norwegian job seekers than with an international group.

No test measures perfectly. The same guidelines say the person interpreting should take each scale's reliability and error of measurement into account (same source). A result near the typical level could just as well be slightly above as slightly below.

Open tests for research and self-insight

Not all personality tests are owned by a company. The International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) is an open collection of items and scales placed in the public domain, so anyone may use them freely, including commercially (IPIP, ipip.ori.org).

A widely used test from the collection is the IPIP-NEO-120. It measures the five areas with 120 items, divided into 30 narrower facets of four items each, and was developed by John A. Johnson (Johnson, 2014, Journal of Research in Personality). The norms are based on answers from people who took the test voluntarily online, and Johnson himself writes that the facets are good enough for research, but not for important decisions about individuals (same source).

A result from an open test can give you words for how you describe yourself. It does not tell you what you will get in the test an employer asks you to take.

The personality test in Søknadsbasen is based on the IPIP-NEO-120 and is free, also without an account (take the personality test). It is self-insight, not a hiring test, and it is not certified. The result is compared with the open international norms, and employers never see it.

The tests look for embellished answers

A review of 33 studies found that job applicants on average describe themselves as more conscientious, more emotionally stable, more extraverted and more open than people taking the same test without applying for a job. For some jobs, such as sales, applicants embellished most on the traits that seemed most important for the job (Birkeland et al., 2006, International Journal of Selection and Assessment).

Test developers know this, and some tests have built-in checks. Aon writes, for example, that the statements in ADEPT-15 are checked against an index of social desirability, to reduce answers given because they look good. Their recruitment report can also include an interview guide, so the employer can ask you about what the profile shows (Aon, personality assessment with ADEPT-15, in Norwegian).

You do not need to go into the test on guard. The point is that a profile that does not hang together, or is too good to be true, rarely helps you.

You have a right to information and feedback

The Norwegian Psychological Association adopted the ITC guidelines on test use as binding for Norwegian psychologists in 2000, and they also underpin the European guidelines for test users (Journal of the Norwegian Psychological Association, 2021, in Norwegian). Under the guidelines, whoever tests you should (ITC Guidelines on Test Use, appendix B):

• tell you beforehand what the test will be used for, what kind of test it is, who gets the result and how it will be used
• say whether the test is optional, and what it means not to take it
• make sure the result is interpreted by a qualified person
• make sure you have the result explained as soon as possible after the test, in terms you understand
• tell you who has access to the result, and how you can complain

The guidelines also say you should mention anything that might make the result misleading, and ask before the test if you are unsure why you are being tested or what the result will be used for (same source).

Data protection rules apply as well. You can ask the employer for a copy of the personal data they hold about you, and they must answer without undue delay and within one month at the latest. It should not cost anything (Datatilsynet, the right of access, in Norwegian).

Why honest answers pay off

There is no answer key to learn for a personality test, and this guide gives you no tricks to beat one. There are three good reasons not to try:

1. The profile will be used later. If you embellish, you have to defend someone who is not you when you are asked about it in the interview.
2. The tests are built for it. Applicants embellish on average, and some tests have checks against it, as described above.
3. You want a job that fits. A profile describing someone else can land you a job you do not enjoy. Both ends of every scale can be a strength, and no end is right for every job.

How to prepare

Preparing is about giving an accurate picture, not a pretty one:

• Pick a quiet time. Take the test when you are rested and will not be interrupted.
• Read the instructions. Some tests ask you to choose between two statements, others ask how well one statement fits.
• Answer based on how you usually are at work, not how you think the employer wants you to be, and not based on an unusual week.
• Do not dwell on each question. Your first honest answer is usually good enough.
• Ask before you start which test it is, what it will be used for and who will see the result.
• Ask for feedback afterwards, and think of examples from work that show what the report says. The guide to common interview questions shows how to build such examples.

Sources

All sources were read on 19 October 2026.

1. DNV GL, Tjenestebeskrivelse for sertifisering av arbeidspsykologiske testverktøy (service description for certification of work psychology test tools), revision 4, 6 May 2019. https://www.dnv.no/siteassets/images/pdf-documents/tjenestebeskrivelse-testsertifisering.pdf
2. Store norske leksikon, Femfaktormodellen (the five-factor model). https://snl.no/femfaktormodellen
3. Aon Assessment, Personlighetskartlegging med ADEPT-15, 13 February 2023. https://aonassessment.deskpro.com/no/kb/articles/pdf/personlighetskartlegging-adept-15
4. Alva Labs, How Alva's personality test works. https://help.alvalabs.io/en/articles/3135417-how-alva-s-personality-test-work
5. Clevry, How to interpret personality questionnaires. https://help.clevry.com/how-to-interpret-personality-questionnaires
6. International Test Commission, ITC Guidelines on Test Use, version 1.2. https://www.intestcom.org/files/guideline_test_use.pdf
7. Birkeland, S. A., Manson, T. M., Kisamore, J. L., Brannick, M. T. and Smith, M. A. (2006). A meta-analytic investigation of applicant faking on personality measures. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 14(4), 317–335. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/psy_facpub/2324
8. Grønnerød, C. and van Delft, C. (2021). Retningslinjer for tester bør bli bedre kjent (guidelines for tests should be better known). Tidsskrift for Norsk psykologforening. https://www.psykologtidsskriftet.no/asset/article/2021/09/Retningslinjer-for-tester-bor-bli-bedre-kjent-/Retningslinjer-for-tester-bor-bli-bedre-kjent-.pdf
9. Datatilsynet, Rett til innsyn (the right of access). https://www.datatilsynet.no/rettigheter-og-plikter/den-registrertes-rettigheter/rett-til-innsyn/
10. International Personality Item Pool, Permission. https://ipip.ori.org/newPermission.htm
11. Johnson, J. A. (2014). Measuring thirty facets of the Five Factor Model with a 120-item public domain inventory: Development of the IPIP-NEO-120. Journal of Research in Personality, 51, 78–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2014.05.003