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Are you a recruiter or hiring manager looking for candidate pre-employment assessment tests and tools including aptitude tests? We invite you to visit our Assess Candidates website.
What is the Occupational Personality Questionnaire test? What does this SHL personality test measure? How to ace this OPQ test? Rest assured, we got you covered with our latest OPQ guide.
In this text, we will cover in-depth SHL OPQ tests, top employers who use them and why and how you can boost your OPQ test practice with our top SHL personality test tips.
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Not sure if you should practice to prepare for your SHL personality test? According to research conducted by Psychology Today (2022), over 80% of Fortune 500 companies use personality assessments in hiring.
A recent study (Bradley et al, 2019) found that candidates who do not practise assessments, tend to fail at the first hurdle of psychometric assessments (54%-84%). This study looked at the Top 100 global employers.
We at GF offer a work-style personality questionnaire designed by expert chartered psychologists that you can use to practice and prepare for your next SHL OPQ assessment and get your job, first time.
Before we dive in, check out what’s coming up in this complete guide:
Without further ado, let’s dive in!
The SHL OPQ, or the SHL Occupational Personality Questionnaire, is a widely used self-report tool in the field of human resources and talent management. It helps employers get insights into your personality traits and workplace behaviours for a specific job role.
Discover more about SHL and the assessments they provide thousands of employers with our dedicated SHL guide here.
Uncover the key facts about personality assessments like the Occupational Personality Questionnaire with this quick video below:
Keep reading below to find some top facts about these SHL OPQ tests.
Here are some top facts that you should know about the SHL OPQ assessment test before filling in your next SHL personality test.
Discover more about the various SHL psychometric tests used by thousands of employers globally with our in-depth SHL guide here.
So, what do these SHL psychometric tests look like? Keep reading below to uncover the most popular examples.
The SHL personality assessment test that you may encounter can be any one of the following types:
Let’s cover what each type of the SHL occupational personality questionnaire entails one-by-one starting firstly with the SHL OPQi.
The SHL OPQ32i, also known as the ipsative version, is a forced-choice questionnaire which requires you to choose the statement from a block of four that most closely and the one that least closely represents you for 416 questions.
Below is an example question you can get in your SHL OPQ32i.
Which of the statements most likely and least likely describe you:
Now, let’s move on to the most popular choice of employers for the SHL OPQ32 personality test: SHL OPQ32r.
The SHL OPQ32r is an interactive forced-choice questionnaire where you answer 104 questions within 25-30 minutes. Here, you choose the one statement of the triplet that most resonates with you and when that one disappears, you repeat the process with the remaining two.
Here is an example question you can get as part of your SHL OPQ32r:
Which statement describes you the most?
Another commonly used SHL OPQ test used by renowned employers is the SHL OPQ32n. Let’s now discuss this OPQ test below.
The SHL OPQ32n, also known as the normative version of the OPQ, requires you to rate 230 statements on a 1-5 Likert scale based on the extent to which you disagree or agree with each within 35-40 minutes.
Our Work Personality Questionnaire (WPQ) also uses the normative format, similar to the SHL OPQ32n test. Here’s a sneak peek of our WPQ below:
Keep reading to uncover why the SHL OPQ personality test has become so important amongst employers.
The SHL occupational personality questionnaires allow recruiters to assess candidates for improving hiring decisions, talent management, and team dynamics for a variety of job roles to promote organisational productivity and employee satisfaction. These job roles include:
Want to prepare for your coming SHL OPQ assessment test?
So, what do the SHL personality psychometric tests help employers to measure for hiring? Let’s find out.
The SHL personality assessment (OPQ) evaluates candidates based on the following SHL’s ‘Great Eight’ general competency dimensions as part of its universal competency framework. These are:
Leading and Deciding:
Assessing leadership qualities, decision-making abilities, and the capacity to influence others.
Adapting and Coping:
Measuring how well you can adjust to changing circumstances and handle stress.
Supporting and Cooperating:
Assesses your ability to support and cooperate with others in team with having personal values that match the organisation’s
Interacting and Presenting:
Evaluating how you confidently interact and persuade others.
Analysing and Interpreting:
Assesses your analytical skills with ability to adapt to technology quicker and dive deep into the problem and communicate in writing.
Creating and Conceptualising:
Evaluates your creativity and open-mindedness with courage to drive organisational change.
Organising and Executing:
Assesses your strategic planning and ability to follow instructions and strive for quality service delivery and customer satisfaction.
Enterprising and Performing:
Evaluates your financial and business acumen with ability to achieve personal work objectives and strive for personal growth and career development.
Good to Know: Discover more about personality tests and commonly used formats like Big Five Model with our latest complete personality tests guide.
Let’s uncover how the SHL OPQ32 works for hiring in the following section.
The SHL OPQ32 test assesses candidates based on the following three broad domains based on the above eight general competencies, part of SHL’s universal competency framework:
Let’s cover how each SHL OPQ32 dimension works to assess your overall work style and personality.
This OPQ dimension evaluates how you interact with others and may include questions that may explore personality areas like:
This second OPQ dimension evaluates how you read and interpret data and information. Examples of personality areas that are explored here are:
This OPQ test dimension assesses how you think and feel internally about different situations and may touch upon personality areas like:
Give reading a break and watch this quick video to discover how personality assessments like SHL OPQ measure you.
Employers globally are switching to personality tests like the SHL personality questionnaires to assess candidates. Keep reading to find out more.
Many multinational organisations use SHL OPQ assessments as part of their online assessments stage, typically before their interview and assessment centre stage. A few of these top employers include:
Check out even more companies that use SHL OPQ tests with over 100 step-by-step employer guides full of super useful expert tips you can use to ace your next employer recruitment process and get your dream job!
So why do employers frequently use the SHL OPQ online test for hiring? Let’s find out below!
Large organisations like PwC use SHL OPQ assessments as part of human resources and talent management. Here are the key reasons why employers use SHL OPQ online tests:
Effective Hiring:
OPQ tests help employers identify candidates fit for the specific job role and organisational culture leading to more successful hiring outcomes.
Comprehensive evaluation
Employers usually use a combination of SHL assessments like numerical and verbal reasoning tests with OPQ test to evaluate candidates for the skills necessary for the job role.
Talent Development:
These SHL OPQ online tests provide insights into existing employees to design suitable development programmes to enhance their skills.
Team Building:
The SHL OPQ personality tests help organisations to build well-balanced teams by taking into consideration individual personality traits and behaviours.
Leadership Development and Promotion:
These SHL personality tests help identify potential leaders and promote promotion and succession planning design development programs to enhance their skills.
Conflict Resolution:
Understanding employees’ personality traits can assist in managing and resolving conflicts more effectively.
Retention and Engagement:
By ensuring a better job-person fit, these tests can lead to increased employee satisfaction, engagement, and retention.
Objective Assessment:
SHL OPQ online assessments provide an objective and standardised method for evaluating candidates and employees, reducing biases in decision-making.
Legal Compliance:
Using a structured assessment like SHL OPQ helps organisations ensure legal compliance in their hiring and talent management processes.
Good to Know: The OPQ test reflects self-perception and isn’t fully representative. Assessors combine the OPQ results alongside other assessments for a comprehensive view.
Check out the short video below to discover more insights into how employers use personality tests such as the OPQ in recruitment:
Wondering how will you be scored and what your SHL personality test report looks like? Keep reading to find out.
Employers will compare your OPQ candidate profile with the relevant groups, such as the ‘graduate comparison group’ or ‘managerial and professional comparison group,’ to assess how your rankings are compared to similar individuals on the traits being evaluated for.
Your SHL OPQ personality report may include the following:
Check out a sample of our WPQ report below, similar to SHL Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ) report:
SHL OPQ Test-Style Sample Report
Your can interpret our WPQ report above, similar to how an example SHL OPQ report will show, as:
As shown in our example above, the SHL OPQ online assessment tests also come with their own set of authenticity measures to see how the candidate views themselves. This feature is well-favoured by employers such as British Airways.
Keep reading to know more about these measures!
Depending on the version used, every SHL OPQ assessment either has a ‘social desirability scale’ or a ‘consistency scale’ at the end of the results to check if you did the test randomly or have attempted to distort it in some way.
Discover what these two SHL OPQ scales entail below.
The SHL Social Desirability scale is part of OPQ32n that examines whether someone has responded in a socially desirable way. A highly socially desirable result may appear if an individual has tried to portray themselves in a more desirable way to an employer.
The SHL Consistency scale is part of the OPQ32i and OPQ32r and examines how consistently you have responded to the questions presented in the OPQ. For example, a low result on this suggests there has been a lack of consistency in the way the questionnaire has been answered.
Good to Know: Since an unusually high or low on either of the scales may also be due to low self-awareness, indecisiveness, low motivation to complete the assessment or people-pleasing tendencies, most employers use SHL OPQ interview reports to verify the OPQ results.
Employers use OPQ interview reports to design the subsequent interview stage to help verify the assessment results. They use narrative descriptions and summaries from each candidate’s OPQ profile to choose relevant interview questions to ask to discover their potential.
Check out the following section for our top 5 SHL personality test tips to help you prepare for your next SHL OPQ online test.
Here are our top OPQ tips that you can use to prepare for your next SHL OPQ online test.
Practice for your OPQ test with our WPQ to uncover your strengths and areas to improve with expert feedback. You can find a SHL OPQ practice test on their practice website.
Follow the given 4-step strategy in times when you feel stuck when required to choose from skills and competencies that seem equally desirable:
For Example: Depending on the type of OPQ personality questionnaire, your task may involve from simple ranking statements based on how they describe you to giving a set number of points among statements reflecting your skills, like leadership, adaptability, attention to detail etc.
Ensure to understand what specific traits the employer aims to measure with the SHL OPQ online test. It will help you respond more effectively.
For Example: Your SHL OPQ test results show that you are more inclined to take a ‘conscientious’ rather than an ‘easy-going’ approach to your work. This means you are likely to be well organised and have strong attention to detail but may be resistant to change.
Be honest in your responses, and try to maintain consistency in your answers, as the OPQ test often includes either the social desirability or consistency scale to check for any distortion or inconsistency.
For Example: Ensure that if you describe yourself as having a specific level of skills, say strong communications skills, consistently emphasise it throughout the questionnaire in relevant questions.
Use your past experiences to respond to the statements where you resolved complex issues or implemented solutions and relate them with the traits being evaluated.
For Example: Reflect on your past experiences where you resolved complex issues at work or during your studies to answer statements around problem-solving. Consider whether you enjoyed doing these and how effective these actions were.
Use the feedback provided by the career counsellor or HR professional to gain insights into your strengths and areas for improvement, which can benefit future job applications and interviews.
For Example: Understand your strengths to help highlight your relevant skills in your job applications and interviews, while simultaneously working on identified areas for improvement to help you better prepare for your future assessments and career opportunities.
Check out this video to unlock your potential with essential tips for SHL OPQ assessments:
Good to Know: It’s advisable for you to retake the OPQ every 12-18 months to accommodate changes, even though most traits are likely to remain stable over time.
And with that, we’ve covered all you will need to know about the SHL Occupational Personality Questionnaire!
Let’s now also uncover answers to even more top questions people ask about SHL OPQ tests!
The SHL OPQ test assessment consists of multiple-choice questions that gauge personality traits like motivation, communication, leadership potential, and problem-solving, giving employers valuable insights into your suitability for a role.
No, the SHL OPQ is a personality assessment and as such is not a test of knowledge or skills. Instead, it identifies your behavioural traits and how these may apply in a work-related context.
Review your provided report with your results to see your key strengths and development gaps. Discuss them with a career counsellor or HR professional, and implement their feedback to understand your strengths and areas for improvement in a work context.
As the SHL OPQ tests measure your personality, there is no ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ in the typical sense as there are no absolute right or wrong answers. Instead, the OPQ is used to measure your job fit to the company.
As the SHL personality tests measure your personal traits, it’s not about studying but being familiar with the assessment format and how the traits are assessed. We recommend practicing with sample questions ahead of the OPQ to feel more comfortable.
Do you want to pass your SHL OPQ assessments, first time? Sign up for tools offered by GF, the only aptitude practice test experts that provide tests to over 150 UK universities and their students, and also across Asia and continental Europe. Go to GF now and select from the range of products we offer at no risk. We offer a comprehensive premium package with a full set of assessment tools for job candidates (numerical, logical, verbal reasoning, situational judgement tests, assessment centre exercises, and more). Buy with peace of mind without commitment to a full 100% money-back guarantee if you do not pass your job tests.
Do you want to pass your SHL OPQ assessments, first time? Sign up for tools offered by GF, the only aptitude practice test experts that provide tests to over 150 UK universities and their students, and also across Asia and continental Europe.
Go to GF now and select from the range of products we offer at no risk. We offer a comprehensive premium package with a full set of assessment tools for job candidates (numerical, logical, verbal reasoning, situational judgement tests, assessment centre exercises, and more).
Buy with peace of mind without commitment to a full 100% money-back guarantee if you do not pass your job tests.
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