What is the DISC Profile Test?

The DISC personality test is a self-assessment that analyses a person’s behaviour and how they prefer to interact with others. DISC assessments are based on the behavioural theories of Carl G Jung and William Moulton Marston.

DISC assessments are practical, easy to interpret, quick to implement, and used by thousands of organisations in New Zealand and all over the world. Managers and employees quickly adapt to DISC and use it easily in their day to day interactions.

DISC personality tests are used to enhance productivity and collaboration, assist in recruitment decisions and improve communication.

DISC profile test vs. other personality tests

You may find it surprising that no one owns DISC, it is public domain. Some companies have reports and questionnaires using this theory, that are marketed under and protected by a registered trade name. One of the more common questions we get asked is, “What makes Extended DISC® different from other personality tests?”

Extended DISC® measures more behavioural styles than any other personality test. Most tests only report on 8-16 behavioural styles, Extended DISC® measures 160 different styles.

Extended DISC® measures both conscious and unconscious behavioural styles, this allows for depth of analysis and minimises the impact of the environment. As a result, Extended DISC® identifies the real strengths and developmental areas to allow for performance improvement.

What are the differences between behaviour vs. personality tests?

People often use the terms personality and behaviour interchangeably. Although behaviour is a part of our character, we need to view them as separate things, as there is a difference between behaviour and personality.

Personality tests analyse your character traits, which includes your patterns of thinking and feeling. Personality tests are useful to grow your self-awareness. However, while entertaining, they often provide very little practical insight for employers. Most personality tests are descriptive, and few of them are predictive.

Behavioural assessments, such as DISC profiles, analyse patterns in the way you react and respond to situations in your environment. Behavioural assessments predict how you will behave in a given role or work situation, making them incredibly useful in recruitment situations.

Can you fail a DISC profile test?

One of the biggest misconceptions about DISC profile tests is that you can pass or fail. DISC is not like a traditional test, there are no right or wrong answers. DISC is a behavioural inventory that measures your natural and adjusted behavioural style.

One of the most significant benefits of DISC is that it is non-judgemental, it does not differentiate between the DISC profiles as being better or worse. The DISC styles are just different.

A strength of the Extended DISC® Assessment is that a result will not be produced if a person has not established a clear answering pattern. When the system cannot reliably recognise a person’s DISC style, it will provide an invalid result. Organisations need valid and accurate results to make critical people-related decisions. The candidate simply answers the questionnaire a day or two later after the instructions are reemphasised to them.

What to expect during the DISC profile test

As organisations in New Zealand place more emphasis on cultural and job fit, DISC profile tests are becoming more common during the recruitment process. Receiving an invitation to complete a DISC assessment can be a little intimidating. We put a guide together to help you understand what to expect and how you can prepare.

DISC questionnaires analyse your natural behavioural style to predict how you are likely to behave in a workplace. The questionnaire is an online, self-assessed behavioural inventory that describes your natural and adjusted behavioural styles, it is not a ‘personality’ test. 

DISC does not provide high or low scores or classify people into ‘better’ or ‘worse’ categories or measure intelligence, professional skills or attitudes. Instead, it gives accurate data on which behavioural styles someone consciously and unconsciously displays. It doesn’t limit your ability to develop and change. The DISC questionnaire is based on the Extended DISC® model, which has proven statistical reliability.

The test is straightforward, and answering the questionnaire takes only 8-10 minutes. The questions are easy to understand, and you simply choose a set of words that is most like you or least like you. Remember not to over analyse, go with your gut feeling and be as honest as possible. Do not attempt to influence the results; you will only confuse yourself and invalidate the results.

How to prepare for the DISC profile test?

No distractions.

Choose an environment free from distractions. Pick a place where you can focus solely on the questionnaire without the help of anyone else. Choose a suitable time when you will not be interrupted or distracted. Our Extended DISC® tests take only 10 minutes to complete.

Be sure to answer honestly.

DISC profiles often have
in-built measures to analyse how consistent you are in your answering pattern. It’s natural to want to make yourself look good when applying for a job. It’s better to be yourself and answer honestly, not how you wish to be seen.

Read all the instructions.

You will receive pre-reading material that helps to explain the process. Read this carefully, so you understand how to prepare for the questionnaire. Another set of instructions appear online that guide you through the steps to answer the questions.

DISC profile test questions

The Extended DISC® questionnaire consists of 24 forced-choice questions. The questionnaire is a self-assessment, read each statement carefully and answer truthfully. Remember that when it comes to behaviour, there is no right or wrong answer.

While answering the questions, imagine describing yourself in your current work role. Each of the 24 questions contains four statements. Begin by choosing the statement that describes you most. Click the corresponding box in the column marked with an ‘M.’ Then select the statement that describes you least and click the relevant box marked ‘L.’

DISC profile test answers

After completing the questionnaire, you will receive a copy of the report from your manager or business coach. They will schedule a time with you to sit down and debrief the report with you. This is a great time to ask any questions you have about your report or discuss any concerns.

Next steps

The true value of DISC assessments come from using the methodology consistently in your daily interactions. Self-awareness is vital in understanding how we prefer to do things. Long-term success is created when we learn to adjust our behaviours to others’ DISC styles. We recommend you refer back to your DISC assessment regularly. This will help you to develop practical steps to adapt your behaviour with the DISC styles to help create more productive interactions.