How the RPQ works
The RPQ is reported as 80 items, presented as adjectives, each rated on a five-point scale from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. There is no time limit, and it takes no more than about 10 minutes.
Your answers produce scores on five areas: Extraversion, Confidence, Structural, Tough-Mindedness and Conformity. Each is compared with a norm group drawn from the general population. There is no overall score.
The RPQ is the short member of the family. IBM’s catalogue also lists the much longer Occupational Personality Inventory (OPI), so check which one your invitation names.
How to answer the RPQ
With 80 quick items, a simple routine works best:
- Picture yourself at work on an ordinary day, not at your best or worst.
- Read each word on its own and decide how true it is of you, then pick the matching point on the scale.
- Use the whole scale. Agreeing mildly with everything gives a flat profile that says little.
- Go with your first considered answer. Spending a minute on one word rarely improves it.
Worked example
You are shown “Methodical”. If you plan your work step by step and rarely skip a stage, Agree or Strongly Agree fits. If you prefer to dive in and sort details as you go, Disagree is honest.
Later you are shown “Spontaneous”. If you said Strongly Agree to Methodical, Strongly Agree here as well would pull the same factor in two directions. Neither answer is wrong, but a pattern like that across many items makes a profile hard to read.
Tips for the real RPQ
- Do not answer as the job advert reads. Both ends of every factor suit some roles.
- Answer consistently. A profile that pulls both ways on similar words is hard for an employer to read.
- Set aside 10 quiet minutes and finish in one go.
- Be ready to talk about your profile at interview. Employers compare it with what the role needs.
Practise the RPQ on CogniPrep
Ours has 80 items, single words and short phrases, 16 for each of the five factors, rated on a five-point scale. One tap records your answer and moves you on, with no Back, and there is no clock. At the end you get a profile on the five factors, plus notes on how much of the scale you used and how consistently you answered items on the same factor. It is a profile, not a score.