Integrity test practice

What the real test usually looks like

There is no single integrity test. Many publishers make one, and employers choose the test and its length. The US Office of Personnel Management describes an integrity test as "a specific type of personality test designed to assess an applicant's tendency to be honest" (OPM). Your invitation is the best guide to the one you will take.

Two broad kinds. Overt tests ask directly about attitudes to dishonest behavior, and OPM notes that they "make no attempt to disguise the purpose of the assessment". Personality-based tests ask about wider traits that research links to behavior at work (Wikipedia). Many tests mix the two.

Two publisher examples:

• Criteria's Workplace Productivity Profile (WPP). Criteria lists 50 self-report items, untimed, taking about 7 minutes. For each statement you choose one of five options on an agreement, frequency or probability scale. It measures conscientiousness, perseverance, integrity and honesty (described as valuing adherence to rules and laws, and the value of honesty), and attitudes toward theft and fraud (Criteria).
• Talogy's WorkView forms. A consultancy's description of these tools lists a broad range of item types: biographical data, situational questions, self descriptions and attitudes toward work. The WorkView 4 form, for example, has 67 items and takes about 10 to 15 minutes (Creative Organizational Design).

Question types you are likely to meet:

• Workplace scenarios: a short situation about rules, cash, safety or honesty, and a choice of responses.
• Statements about rules and conduct: a statement such as "Rules exist for good reasons", rated on a five-point agree-disagree scale.
• Self-description: statements about your own habits or personality. These describe you, so there is no right answer to practice.
• Questions about past behavior: some overt tests ask about past conduct (Wikipedia). Answer those truthfully.

Consistency checks. Many integrity tests also check how you answer, not only what you answer. Talogy's WorkView 4 has scales built in to evaluate "the inconsistency of applicant responses and the tendency of the applicant to exaggerate desirable qualities" (Creative Organizational Design), and Criteria's WPP includes a scale that looks for responses that are unusually positive or negative (Criteria).

What our mocks cover. Each full mock has 36 questions in 15 minutes in three sections: 12 workplace scenarios, where you choose the most and least effective of four responses; 16 statements about rules and conduct; and 8 consistency statements that return to earlier ideas in new words. Statements use the five-point scale from Strongly disagree to Strongly agree, and about half are worded so that disagreeing is the rule-following answer. You can go back and change answers. Our mocks leave out self-description, mood and personality items, and they never ask about your past conduct. For broader workplace scenarios about customers and teamwork, try our situational judgement test.

Question types with worked examples

Five worked examples, one for each kind of question in our mocks, with the trap most people fall into.

1. A cash scenario. A customer pays with a $50 bill, and you realize after they leave that you gave change for a $20. Most effective: record it, tell your supervisor and follow the store's policy for contacting the customer if possible. Least effective: take the difference from the drawer later to "even it out". Trap: an option that fixes the number in the drawer but not the record. Cash rules care about the record as much as the money.

2. A safety scenario. A manager asks you to skip a lockout step on a machine because a repair is running late. Most effective: explain that you cannot skip the safety step and suggest asking the maintenance lead how to speed things up safely. Trap: treating an instruction from someone senior as permission to skip a safety rule. Safety procedures apply to everyone.

3. A statement worded for agreeing. "Rules should apply to every employee in the same way." The rule-following end is Strongly agree. Trap: none in the wording; the risk is answering too fast and choosing a middle option without reading.

4. A statement worded for disagreeing. "Using a work account for personal shopping is fine if it is done on a break." Company accounts are for company business, so the rule-following end is Strongly disagree. Trap: agreeing with the part that sounds reasonable ("on a break") and missing the part that breaks the rule.

5. A consistency pair. Early in a test: "Breaks should be taken at the scheduled times." Later: "Employees may take breaks whenever they like if the work is done." These ask the same idea in two directions. Careful readers answer them as a matching pair: agreeing with the first and disagreeing with the second. Trap: rushing and answering both the same way because they sound alike. A real difference in wording deserves a different answer.

How to prepare

1. Read your invitation. Check whether the test is timed and how many items it has. Criteria's WPP, for example, is untimed and takes about 7 minutes (Criteria); our mocks give 15 minutes for 36 questions.
2. Know the scale before you start. Five options from Strongly disagree to Strongly agree. Decide what Neutral means to you: it is for when you truly have no view, not a safe default.
3. Read every word of every statement. Watch for "acceptable", "never", "only", "should not" and "even when". One word can turn a statement around.
4. Answer honestly. OPM notes that "applicant faking is always a concern" with overt tests (OPM), and many tests check for exaggerated answers. Honest, careful answers are the best approach, and they are also the ones you can stand behind at interview.
5. Be consistent because you are careful. Consistency comes from reading each statement fully and answering what it says. You do not need to remember earlier answers.
6. For scenarios, think about the rule and the people. Ask what the workplace rule is, who could be affected, and who should be told. The best response usually keeps records true, keeps people safe and stays within your role.
7. Do not look for a right answer to self-description items. If a statement is about your own habits or personality, describe yourself as you are.
8. Practice the format, not the answers. A practice run makes the screens and the scale familiar, so on the day you can give your attention to reading carefully.

How scoring usually works

Scores compare you with other people. Criteria says the WPP gives a percentile ranking for each of its four traits and an overall rating of High, Medium or Low (Criteria). Talogy's WorkView reports give a percentile ranking on each dimension and an overall score (Creative Organizational Design).

Response checks change how results are read. Criteria describes an internal self-enhancing scale that adjusts scores when answers are unusually positive or negative, and says extreme cases are flagged as a potentially invalid result (Criteria). OPM advises that results from overt tests "should be interpreted with caution" because of faking (OPM).

How employers use them. OPM says integrity tests "can also be valid measures of overall job performance", and adds that they "will not eliminate dishonesty or theft at work" (OPM). Employers usually weigh the result alongside interviews and other tests. There is no universal pass mark.

Our practice score counts how many of our own questions you answered at the keyed, rule-following end, with a breakdown by section. It is a practice score. It does not measure your honesty, it is not a result on any publisher's test, and it cannot predict how a real integrity test will score you.

Common mistakes on integrity tests

• Misreading reversed statements. About half the statements on many tests are worded so that disagreeing is the rule-following answer. Rushing through them is the most common cause of answers that do not match.
• Answering what you think the test wants. Tests commonly look for exaggerated or unusually positive answers. Describing yourself as flawless on every item is more likely to stand out than to help.
• Treating Neutral as the safe choice. A string of middle answers can look like you did not read the statements. Use Neutral when you genuinely have no view.
• Looking for a right answer to self-description items. Questions about your own habits or mood have no right answer. Describe yourself as you are.
• Racing an untimed test. Some integrity tests, like Criteria's WPP, are untimed. Read every statement fully.
• Skipping the instructions. Scales differ: some ask how much you agree, others how often or how likely. Check which one each section uses.

What this practice is, and what it is not

It is format practice. It shows you the kinds of scenarios and statements integrity tests commonly use, the five-point scale, and how one idea can be asked twice in different words. Every keyed answer here is the honest, rule-following one, and each explanation gives the workplace rule behind it.

It is not a way to beat a test. We do not teach faking, and nothing here will help you hide your views. Tests commonly check for inconsistent or exaggerated answers (Creative Organizational Design, OPM), and honest, careful, consistent answers are the best approach.

It cannot predict your result. Real tests use their own items, their own scoring and comparison groups we do not have. Our mocks leave out self-description and past-conduct questions entirely, because those describe you and have no answer to practice.