Answer the questions below as quickly as possible, choosing the answer that most closely fits your behaviour. There are no "right or wrong" answers for thsi quiz - it's just about finding your personal preferences.
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- When learning a new skill at work, I prefer to:
- Learn the overview first and then move to the details
- Get straight to the detail of how to do something
- When telling a story about something that happened at work:
- I can tend to jump all over the place, sometimes back-tracking - it can be a bit random.
- It's easy: I start at the beginning and work my way through to the end..
- When receiving information at work:
- I prefer to work with the overview or concepts..
- I like the information in smaller chunks.
- When working with a proposal or plan at work:
- I get stressed by too much detail.
- I love detailed information.
- When writing a report at work:
- I find it really easy to write executive summaries.
- I tend to use quite long sentences with lots of facts and descriptions.
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Read through the profile summaries below to find out more about how you think and how it might impact your interview performance.
These profiles are about your personal preference in the context of work – they may be different for other areas of your life. Also bear in mind that they are not “labels”. It just gives you an indication as to how you behave in certain situations. There is no “right or wrong” and no one profile is “better” or “worse” than another. A strong business needs a broad mixture of all profiles, to perform effectively.
You may find you are part-way between two behaviours. That’s completely ok. For many of the profiles, the majority of people are have a mixture of preferences.
The commentary below gives an insight into how your behavioural preferences may impact your interview performance. Much more detail is available if you sign up for a full profile with one of our consultants.
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Mostly 'A's = "Global" |
If your preference at work is "global", then you probably prefer to get overviews and executive summaries; only looking at the detail afterwards.
You will tend to be comfortable, working at a conceptual level. Dealing with detail for a period of time may irritate you. However, strategic planning is likely to be one of your strengths.
This pattern is relevant for a number of reasons
- You may present ideas in a random order, because you are thinking at such a conceptual level. The links between the ideas are clearly formed in your head, but may not be obvious to others! Be aware of this when responding to questions or presenting ideas.
- You may work with too much of an overview mindset. If your boss or colleagues tend towards a "specific" pattern, they may think you're not up to "getting your hands dirty" or that you're not very "down to earth".
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Mostly 'B's = "Specific" |
If your preference at work is “specific”, then chances are you prefer to work with small pieces of information, rather than large chunks. You may like to understand the details of a situation first, before being given the overview or executive summary.
Your strengths are likely to include logistics and attention to detail.
When talking or writing, you may tend to use longer sentences, with lots of facts and step by step sequences.
This pattern is important because colleagues may want less detail than you are used to giving. You may find you're going into too much depth, when they might be looking for an overview. You may find that "global" colleagues find this irritating!
This can also be an advantage, because it is likely that you will enjoy tasks that require an attention to detail. However, you may find writing an "executive summary" your worst nightmare!.
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