Dimitri Jones October 2, 2020
BUS311-1900 Professor Brielle Buckler
The Defender
Personally, I never understood the idea of a personality test because I would always spend so much time thinking of different scenarios that would alter my answer resulting in a personality that I feel was completely wrong. Surprisingly as I read the results for this personality test it describes me closer than ones I have completed previously. The personality type selected for me determined by the 16 personalities assessment is the Defender. The defender personality is described as conservative with well developed people skills and excellent analytical abilities. As I began to dig deeper into the introduction the key piece for me was the ability to get a job done on time despite procrastinating sometimes, we take pride in our work resulting in us being perfectionists at times. I did agree with this portion of the personality, but I also did disagree with some portions which is why I think it is unfair and ineffective when determining candidates for a job. Like most personality exams certain questions tend to give you a higher percentage towards a specific trait which may result in inaccurate judgements especially if someone like me who overthinks each question is taking the personality test.
The next part of the personality assessment highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the personality based on the answers to the questions. The strengths that were involved with a defender are strong work ethic, loyalty, practical skills, reliable, patient and supportive, all words I would use to describe myself. Supportive stood out for me because personally or in the workplace I may not always agree with someone’s choice because everyone is different, but I take pride in supporting people through their decision that are close to me. The career in sports management that I am pursuing allows me to support athletes, whether they be children or adults in their decisions and assisting them to make the best decision for their brand.
The weaknesses that are common with the defender personality include being shy, repressing their feelings, becoming overwhelmed from too much work, and reluctant to change. The two weaknesses that stood out to me happened to be me taking things too personally and repressing my feelings. I have recently noticed how much I take things personally resulting in me repressing my feelings which isn’t the best thing. When I take things personally it often allows me to not give it my all in the workplace or lose friendships when they just tell me what I need to hear. Now the weakness of becoming overwhelmed because of work I feel is inaccurate. I usually know my limit and push myself to be the best I can be but to say I become overwhelmed I wouldn’t agree with.
The most interesting part to me in this personality test happened to be the section that focuses on personal life, workplace habits and career paths. In the introduction they specified that often with defenders the traits we display we don’t usually look for them to be reciprocated, however in the friendship tab it states a lot of what establish a defender’s friendship is the mutual support advice and reassurance which I agree with 100%. In the introduction path they stated with defenders’ skills and work ethic we receive a lot of promotions and I highlighted this point because earlier I stated that I don’t do it for recognition, but blessings always come around. With these two portions f the personality exam I saw myself thinking at surface level that I possibly disagree what they are saying but when I was presented with a scenario or an example, I began to agree with the initial message.
In conclusion, I still believe personality tests should not determine employment or be a determining factor when hiring a candidate. I think it may help in knowing what’s on the surface of an individual sometimes however with someone like myself, I’ve taken almost ten different personality test and agree with three of them. This is a reflection of me overthinking questions before I answer them which can alter how my personality test appears. In addition I also feel like some jobs don’t need a personality exam because if you are working in an environment by yourself such as IT I don’t think this matters. If an individual happens to be working in the teaching field or somewhere that requires constant communication with others, a personality test might mean a little more. Ultimately there are other factors that should be considered more instead of this type of test when looking for candidates.
