SHL Occupational Personality Test (OPQ): Full Guide 2024 (2024)

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The SHL Occupational Personality Questionnaire test is a widely used among employers to pick the most suitable candidates for various job roles. The purpose of the SHL OPQ test is to pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses. This information helps employers to decide if you’re a suitable match for the position they are filling or not.

Unlike other SHL assessments, the OPQ test doesn’t gauge an individual’s skills. Instead, it concentrates on characterizing their personality and aligning it with the qualities needed for a particular role. Essentially, there’s no strict right or wrong answer. The responses from the test taker significantly aid potential employers in understanding their professional demeanor and evaluating how well they might blend into the distinct culture and work style of the company.

Designed to examine personality traits, the OPQ tests offer a concise snapshot of an individual’s character. These personality assessments have seen substantial evolution over time, resulting in the most recent version – the OPQ32. This model evaluates 32 personality traits, categorizing them into three main domains: Relationships with People, Thinking Style, and Feelings and Emotions. To accommodate various assessment needs, the OPQ32 comes in three unique formats, each differing in the number of questions and the time required for completion.

The OPQ32n and OPQ32i are two distinct versions of the OPQ test. The normative version (OPQ32n) asked test-takers to respond to statements on a scale, indicating their level of agreement or disagreement. On the other hand, the (OPQ32i) ipsative scale version presented multiple statements, and test-takers had to choose one statement that was most like them and one that was least liked by them, forcing a choice between equally desirable options.

However, the ipsative scale version (OPQ32i) has now been replaced by a new version known as OPQ32r. This new version also employs a forced-choice format, but it uses item response theory (IRT) to generate scores. IRT is a theory that allows for the evaluation of a person’s latent traits (in this case, personality traits) based on their responses to items (questions) on a test.

Here’s a glimpse into the type of questions you can expect to encounter in the most recent version, the OPQ32r, as part of the SHL OPQ test:

Which Statement describes you most?

• I often volunteer to lead projects at work.
• I like to brainstorm ideas before starting a task.
• I prefer to finish one task before moving on to the next.

Now, if you select ‘I prefer to finish one task before moving on to the next.‘, that option will disappear from the screen, leaving you with the remaining two options:

Of the remaining two statements, which one describes you most?

• I often volunteer to lead projects at work.
• I like to brainstorm ideas before starting a task.

You are then required to select the statement that is the next best reflection of your professional behavior.

SHL’s OPQ uses OPQ32r (shorter ipsative format), which contains 104 questions presented as blocks of 3 statements summing it up to 312 statements. This format uses a forced choice format which requires choosing two statements that are most applicable to them, which makes it difficult to cheat or manipulate answers and hence is preferred by employers.

Designed with the professional environment in mind, this questionnaire includes items that are closely related to both individual and team dynamics within an organization. The test, accessible in 37 languages, is mobile-friendly and includes questions that often echo earlier ones, requiring you to select both a primary and secondary choice that best describes you.

Each question ties directly to a work-based scenario, asking you to select the options that best match your professional persona. Remember to consider your answers in the context of a work setting.

At the beginning of every question, you’ll be presented with three statements. Your job is to pinpoint and choose the one that most closely mirrors your professional self. After making your initial selection, the chosen statement will disappear, leaving you with two options. Your next task is to choose the one from these remaining options that you feel is the next best description of your work personality. This interactivity adds another layer of engagement to the test.

Though the test allows you to revise your last response, you cannot navigate back further than that, so careful consideration is essential.

The SHL Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ) is designed to assess an individual’s fit for a role and predict their future performance. SHL uses its own scientific database to report different personalities of people. These reports are further relied upon by many employers.

Although we don’t have access to the specific database and technology that SHL utilizes to generate their personality reports, we’ve developed a rating system in our practice test that is based on common personality traits. These are the traits that employers often seek when they’re trying to find the perfect balance of characteristics for various roles.

For Example, if your personality is characterized by influence, quick decision-making, autonomy, calmness under pressure, and a high level of emotional control and optimism, our rating system might mark you well on the leadership trait.

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