RezScore has analyzed millions of resumes, and many clusters of personality traits have emerged. We have been tracking and refining these for some time, and we’re proud to present them to the public.
We’ve broken these out into four dimensions:
- Poet / Quant
- Soldier / Officer
- Introvert / Extrovert
- Flexible / Structured
All dimensions are of value in the workplace, although different skills may be different for different jobs. When applying to a job, you should consider the dimensions for which you expect to optimize.
We think of these as a more mature version of the famous Myers-Briggs personality scores. Our breakdown resolves many of the deficiencies of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). MBTI is notoriously ambiguous and difficult to utilize in the workplace, whereas our dimensions are easy to quantify and more directly related to workplace characteristics.
Poet / Quant
Much like the famous site, we often see a very natural distinction between qualitative and quantitative skills. Unsurprisingly, we often observe people who score high as quants pushing into technical fields, whereas poets are often pushing for sales or marketing positions. Depending on the position you’re seeking, you may see advantage to being in the middle — a good product manager or manager often straddles this line.
Soldier / Officer
Essentially, are you more of a leader or a follower? Good officers say jump, good soldiers say “how high.”
Not every job is well-suited to an officer. If you are applying for entry level or assistant positions, you may want to position yourself as somebody who will execute your orders.
Most of the time, however, people like to hire leaders. This is the only category which strongly correlates with salary. A higher officer score tends to predict higher pay.
Introvert / Extrovert
The only category to overlap with the Myers-Briggs test is the classic introvert/extrovert divide. Most people fall someplace in the middle, and both categories are able to succeed in the workplace. If the job you are applying for requires a lot of people skills, you should aim to fall towards the more extroverted side of the spectrum.
Flexible / Structured
Are you able to thrive in chaos? If so, then you will likely receive a higher score for flexibility. If you function better in a highly process-driven environment, then your score will reflect you as more structured.
We originally named this Type A / Type B, however it seemed to carry too negative of a connotation. People who score as being highly flexible are often able to succeed in chaotic situations, and can be strong managers or work well in a startup environment. In general, most workplaces value rules and order, and we see greater hiring potential for those who score as more stringent.
How to Act on These Scores
You may see a chart of how you score across these dimensions with your free resume report card generated at http://rezscore.com/. It’s our way of thanking you for the years of trust you’ve placed in our service.
As to how to you can use these scores in your job hunt, it’s a bit more nuanced. No right answer exists in a vacuum, but if you are applying for a leadership position you should make sure you are more “officer” than “soldier”. Similarly, presenting yourself as an extrovert may not make a difference for a technical position, but is crucial for customer support roles.
Additional Reading
Matching personality traits to jobs is a much-discussed subject. Though much of this research predates RezScore’s advances, it remains fascinating reading nonetheless:
