I’m an introvert *and* an extrovert! I’m sensitive, but strong-minded! I’m destined to marry rich! Alright, that last one’s my horoscope, but the others are real results of free personality tests I’ve taken.
There’s something wonderful about personality tests—the idea that you can put yourself into a category (or categories), just like that, is so relieving and satisfying.
While we can understand that these quizzes will not be completely accurate, a lot of them do provide us with some insight into who we are, how we act, what our potential is, and where our ambition might take us. The more you know and understand about yourself, the more likely you are to find a career path you’ll love.
Personality tests can also make their way into your everyday work and job search. The New York Times recently reported that managers are increasingly using them to prompt important discussions with employees, better understand team dynamics while working remotely, and help with promotions and learning and development.
Some companies are even bypassing traditional resumes in favor of using assessments to vet candidates. (The article also notes that these tests don’t come without biases and cautions organizations about the risks of relying on a potential candidate’s results alone.) One expert quoted suggested that the industry is worth roughly $2 billion, with around 100 million workers worldwide taking psychometric tests each year.
If you’re looking for some great (and free) personality quizzes—to better understand yourself or your relationships with your peers, or just to do something fun over your lunch break—keep scrolling.
Based on Carl Gustav Jung’s study of psychological traits (for example, introversion and extroversion) and the famous Myers-Briggs test, 16 Personalities covers the “big five” personality traits of individuals: mind, energy, nature, tactics, and identity. As one of the most popular personality quizzes online—taken more than 900 million times—it’ll cover everything from your basic qualities to your romantic relationships to your workplace habits, strengths, and weaknesses.
Much like 16 Personalities, Truity’s personality test targets the four dimensions of personality type from Myers and Briggs: extraverted or introverted, sensing or intuitive, thinking or feeling, and judging or perceiving. It takes about 15 minutes to complete, and while it’s free to take and receive key findings, you can pay for a more comprehensive report on your results.
The HEXACO PI-R measures six major dimensions of personality: Honesty and humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness (versus anger), Conscientiousness, and Openness to experiences.
You’ll rate how much you agree or disagree with 100 different statements and as a result, gain some insight into how you relate to other people and react to different kinds of scenarios.
Among Truity’s many other free personality tests and quizzes (explore them all here) is the Enneagram test, which measures not 16 but nine personality types core to people’s emotional fears and motivations.
The nine types are divided into three centers of intelligence: heart types (emotional intelligence and connection to others), head types (intellectual intelligence and awareness of the world around you), and body types (instinctual intelligence, or your ability to respond to threats and opportunities).
This assessment uses the principles of DISC to evaluate how individuals rank in four primary personality types: dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness. And it’ll only take you five minutes to complete!
HIGH5 offers a free version of Gallup’s CliftonStrengths assessment, which measures your strengths and unique attributes to help you better succeed at work, relationships, and even school. For more in-depth insights, you can upgrade your assessment for just $29.99.
This quiz is based on the NEO-PI inventory that measures five characteristics: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion (or introversion), agreeableness, and neuroticism. You also have the option to take a longer or shorter version of this test, depending on how much free time you have.
An IQ test is typically something you have to pay for and have professionally administered to get a truly accurate score (and even then it only measures one specific type of intelligence). But there are some great, free resources out there—like 123test. Their free IQ tests are just shortened versions of the real deal, and they even have a “culture fair” test, which is great if English isn’t your first language.
If you think you’re smart enough to join the prestigious and oldest high-IQ society, Mensa International, take this free exam and try to score in the 98 percentile. Then, you might consider taking their official test, and if you ace that, it’s off to have some intellectual conversations!
Emotional intelligence is just as important as IQ—inside and outside of the office. EQ is the ability to process and manage your own emotions, as well as understand and influence the emotions of others.
IHHP asks short, straightforward questions about how you act around others and how you handle certain situations. It’ll not only tell you where your emotional intelligence (EQ) currently is, but also suggest ways to improve weak areas.
This test is inspired by Daniel Goleman, a psychologist and science journalist who wrote for The New York Times, as well as author of Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, a book discussing the many reasons why EQ shapes who we are. Instead of being direct, this quiz presents stories and asks you to answer how you’d normally respond in those circumstances.
The “Who Am I?” Visual DNA test is one of the most fun personality quizzes you’ll come across. Formatted less like a Q&A setup and more like a “pick a photo that you think is pretty” system, it’ll show how your character defines your outlook on and approach to life.
Skills You Need covers four major components of interpersonal skills: listening, verbal communication, EQ, and teamwork. Your answers will determine if you’re above, at, or below average, and give you some direction on how to better interact with others.
Looking for a free personality test for career development? This awesome, in-depth assessment takes you through various career situations, gauging both your skill level and interest. Then, it provides you with several options for your ultimate career. (OK, it might not know you perfectly, but you may enjoy knowing which jobs you could totally pull off.)
This assessment is built to measure your specific workplace traits, including your energy, perception, decisions style, and planning style, to pair you with the right career path. Its free career report not only outlines how you typically are motivated in the office, but jobs you’d be good for (as well as covers just how many careers available to you).
Do you know what your “dream job” even is? Let BuzzFeed decide for you—based on what outfit you put together. (Obviously, you shouldn’t take this one too seriously.)
If you’ve dreamed about going to Hogwarts your whole life (childhood and adulthood, I won’t judge), now’s your chance to know which house you truly belong in—and maybe learn a bit more about your personality along the way.
Just by choosing your favorite and least favorite colors (yup, that’s it), this test will tell you about your leadership, your management skills, your imagination, and more. But keep in mind, you’re just picking colors from a limited (and kind of ugly) selection here—so this one’s more for fun than it is an accurate assessment of who you are as an individual.
You’ve likely seen a “which character are you?” quiz for everything from Jane Austen novels to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Mean Girls—but what if you could take all those quizzes at once?
This quiz draws on a crowd-sourced database of the personality traits of more than 2,000 characters across film, television, and literature, so you can see which fictional character you’re most like. Or, after you take the test, you can filter your results by individual properties and scroll through your top characters for all your favorites.
Aesthetic can be hard to define, but this BuzzFeed quiz—that’s been taken more than one million times—makes it easy. While your external aesthetic revolves more around your fashion and design preferences, your inner aesthetic is more about your personality. Find out if your personality aligns with an aesthetic like cottagecore, dark academia, or something else.
If you were wondering, I’m ENFJ, I have high emotional intelligence, and I’d be in Hufflepuff (go badgers!). What’d you learn?
Regina Borsellino contributed writing, reporting, and/or advice to this article.