Remember! This answer is provided only to give you a general understanding of the test.
On the actual assessment, the answers you do NOT choose are as important as those you do! Only by taking a whole PPA practice test you can achieve an accurate, representative profile.
Here are the factors each description is related to:
- Trusting – Influence
- Respectful – Compliance
- Courageous – Dominance
- Agreeable – Steadiness
As I’ve mentioned, the required profile for each position greatly varies, so the ranking you should choose for these descriptions will also vary.
Here are three examples:
- Directing Manager – the desired profile for a directing manager will be high on Dominance and Influence, and low on Steadiness and Compliance. Therefore, “courageous” should be ranked as Most, and “agreeable” should be ranked as Least.
- Bank Teller – the desired profile for a bank teller, as in most service-oriented positions, is high on Compliance and Influence and low on Dominance and Steadiness. Therefore, “respectful” should be ranked as Most, and “courageous” should be ranked as Least.
- Auditor/Inspector – positions that require awareness of the rules and assurance of compliance to them require a profile that is high on Compliance and Dominance, and low on Steadiness and Influence. Therefore, “respectful” should be ranked as Most, and “trusting” should be ranked as least.
The PPA preparation course includes a full PPA practice test that will:
- Teach you to recognise which words relate to which DISC factor
- Allow you to create and fine-tune your DISC profile to precisely match that of the ideal candidate.
What Is the Thomas PPA Test?
The Thomas International Personal Profile Analysis Test (PPA), also known as the Thomas personality test, is a personality profiling test used by employers to assess candidates’ fit for a particular job.
The test constructs a behavioral profile based on 24 self-assessment questions. While the test should be answered at around 8 minutes, it is officially untimed.
The scoring method of the Thomas PPA test is based on the DISC model, creating your personality profiling according to 4 factors: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Compliance.
One of the main challenges of the Thomas PPA assessment is that questions are constructed as forced-choice questions.
Let’s see what this means and how to overcome this difficulty.
Thomas PPA Assessment Question Format + Sample
All 24 questions of the PPA test are constructed as follows:
You should select one word at the top row which most describes you, and one at the bottom row which least describes you.
Each word relates to a different factor of the DISC model, and those you choose as ‘Most’ and ‘Least’ will determine your score on each of these factors.
But where’s the catch? 2 things:
- You need to recognise which word relates to which factor.
- And even MORE important – The answers you DO NOT choose are as important as those you do.
So, How Should You Answer This Question?
The honest truth is that in the PPA test, there is no single right answer for any SINGLE question.
Contrary to what the PPA test instructions claim, there ARE right or wrong answers, but not for single questions.
Your aim is to create a solid, comprehensive profile of all 24 questions to best reflect the traits required for the job you want. And that can be accomplished only by taking the full, actual test.
However, just to give you a sense of how the test works, let’s see what the most preferable response for such a question would be for several positions.
Remember! This answer is provided only to give you a general understanding of the test.
On the actual assessment, the answers you do NOT choose are as important as those you do! Only by taking a whole PPA practice test you can achieve an accurate, representative profile.
Here are the factors each description is related to:
- Trusting – Influence
- Respectful – Compliance
- Courageous – Dominance
- Agreeable – Steadiness
As I’ve mentioned, the required profile for each position greatly varies, so the ranking you should choose for these descriptions will also vary.
Here are three examples:
- Directing Manager – the desired profile for a directing manager will be high on Dominance and Influence, and low on Steadiness and Compliance. Therefore, “courageous” should be ranked as Most, and “agreeable” should be ranked as Least.
- Bank Teller – the desired profile for a bank teller, as in most service-oriented positions, is high on Compliance and Influence and low on Dominance and Steadiness. Therefore, “respectful” should be ranked as Most, and “courageous” should be ranked as Least.
- Auditor/Inspector – positions that require awareness of the rules and assurance of compliance to them require a profile that is high on Compliance and Dominance, and low on Steadiness and Influence. Therefore, “respectful” should be ranked as Most, and “trusting” should be ranked as least.
The PPA preparation course includes a full PPA practice test that will:
- Teach you to recognise which words relate to which DISC factor
- Allow you to create and fine-tune your DISC profile to precisely match that of the ideal candidate.
As you can see, this is where the difficulty of the forced-choice element comes into play. All options are positive, so you will have to ‘sacrifice’ some traits – namely, choose traits in which you admit you are not as good.
In the PPA test, the art of selecting the right statements for Most and Least throughout the entire test, based on the specific job you want is what will get you the passing score.
The PPA preparation course includes a full PPA practice test that will:
- Teach you to recognise which words relate to which DISC factor
- Allow you to create and fine-tune your DISC profile to precisely match that of the ideal candidate.
How Is the Thomas PPA Test Scored?
Remember that I said that in the PPA test, answers you do not choose are as important as those you do?
And remember that I said that there is no correct answer for a single question, only for all the 24 as a whole?
Here’s why.
After you are done ranking your responses for all 24 PPA test questions, 3 profiles will be created for you:
PPA Test Profile #1 – Work Mask
The words you choose for “most describes me” make up the first profile graph, which represents the qualities that you want others to see in you.
PPA Test Profile #2 – Behaviour Under Pressure
The words you don’t choose will make up the second profile graph, which represents the qualities that you yourself believe you possess.
PPA Test Profile #3 – Combined Profile
The difference between your Work Mask profile and your Behaviour Under Pressure profile makes up the third profile graph, which represents how people at work perceive you.
This profile is the most important one since it is the one that reflects your actual work behaviour in the eyes of the employer.
The PPA practice test will guide you step-by-step on how to create the three profiles and fine-tune the result based on the job you want.
What Does the Thomas PPA Test Measure?
The Thomas PPA Assessment is based on the psychological theory known as the DISC model. The name is derived from the 4 behavioural factors assessed:
- Dominance – the need to control. Forceful, competitive, courageous, and aggressive.
- Influence – the need to connect with others. Outgoing, friendly, and sociable.
- Steadiness – the need for stability and peace. Calm, collected, and unpressured.
- Compliance – the need for correctness, formality, and conformity. Orderly, respectful, rule-obedient, and traditional.
Based on your choices (and the choices you do not make) The PPA test will rank your personality profile on a scale of these 4 factors (or traits) and will compare that to the ideal candidate’s profile for the specific job you want.
Here are several ideal profiles, taken from our Thomas International PPA practice test:
On the accurate Thomas International PPA test preparation, you will find 11 such ideal profiles, covering all most common job profiles taking the PPA assessment.
Thomas International PPA FAQs
The advice given to test-takers to ‘be yourself’ when answering test questions is helpful for employers to get a glimpse into how you view yourself. However, these instructions can be misleading for candidates who wish to show a side of themselves which they may only portray in certain work-related settings. So, when approaching the Thomas PPA test, you really should be considering which side of your personality you want to show that will be best for your desired job position.
It is possible for your test results to drastically affect your chances of getting hired. The reason for this being that employers use this personality assessment to find out which candidates’ personality profiles match the job position’s requirements. Note that there are right and wrong answers when comparing test results to a specific job’s criteria.
When preparing for any assessment, you are ultimately gaining more knowledge and confidence for when the real test comes along. By practising in advance for the Thomas PPA personality assessment, you will be able to know which traits you need to emphasise and which traits you should avoid based on the requirements of the particular job you’re interested in. By becoming more familiar with the test, you will be able to improve your chances of getting hired.
