The MAP personality test provides a picture of different aspects of your personality, such as how determined, outgoing and open you are.

You don’t need to worry about giving the ‘wrong’ answers when you take the test, as no personality is better or worse than any other.

MAP is one of the most common personality tests on the market and measures different aspects of an individual’s personality.

he web-based self-assessment questionnaire contains 200 statements. Your task is to rate how well these statements apply to you.

What does MAP measure?

Goal orientation: How do you relate to goals and results? How important is it for you to achieve your goals? A person with high goal orientation tends to be more structured, logical and have a stronger inherent drive to perform well, while a person with lower goal orientation tends to be more flexible and have a more easy-going attitude to their commitments.

Balance: How do you view your ability to handle what you are faced with? A person with high balance tends to be calm and confident, while a person with lower balance tends to be more anxious and dwell on things.

Openness: How do you relate to the world around you? A person with high openness tends to be curious, take in a lot of information and seek mental stimulation, while a person with lower openness tends to be more in the here and now.

Extraversion: The personality test measures extraversion. How much energy do you put into social situations and what role do you take? A person with high extraversion tends to form more relationships and have a greater social need than a person with lower extraversion.

Social style: How are you perceived by others and how much trust do you have in the world around you? A person with a high social style tends to be perceived as trusting and warm, while a person with a low social style tends to be perceived as matter-of-fact and reserved.

There is no such thing as the ‘right’ personality

In recruitment, candidates’ test results are usually matched against a requirements profile for the role.

Depending on the role in question, certain characteristics are more important than others.

In some professional roles, for example, you may need to be highly extroverted and determined to succeed, while in other professional roles this is not as important.

There is no advantage in being dishonest or thinking too much about how you might be expected to answer when taking the test. Ultimately, you don’t want a job that doesn’t suit your personality.

Some behaviours come easily and naturally to us, while others require more energy.

If you find yourself in a role where you constantly have to make an effort, for example by maintaining a lot of customer contacts even though you are not outgoing, there is a risk that over time you will become overly stressed and insecure and therefore neither perform well nor feel good.

What do you gain from taking the MAP personality test?

In addition to giving you a chance to show different sides of yourself during the recruitment process, the test results can also contribute to increased self-insight.

Perhaps there are behaviours you want to change, and others you want to highlight and take advantage of.

If you have a clear picture of your personality, it is easier to see which jobs and contexts suit you.

Read more about our MAP personality test here.