How the MPA works
The questionnaire has 160 statements about how you behave at work, set out in 40 groups of four. In each group you mark the statement that fits you best, then the one of the remaining three that fits you worst. Each group tests four different properties at once.
This forced-choice format is called quasi-ipsative. Master uses it to make the test harder to fake: you cannot rate every flattering statement highly, because you always have to pick one to put last.
The result is a profile on nine properties in three areas. Ego drive covers achievement orientation, self-assertion and use of energy. Social behaviour covers emotional control, social contact and confidence or trust. Work style covers attention to detail, security and abstraction orientation.
There is no time limit, and you can return to an unfinished questionnaire through the original link, though the employer may set a deadline. Master recommends a laptop or desktop.
How to answer the MPA
There are no right answers, but there are ways to give a clearer profile:
- Picture an ordinary working day, not your best day and not life at home.
- Choose best first, then least from the three that are left. Leave the other two blank.
- When two statements both fit, pick the one that fits slightly more and move on. First instincts are usually the most accurate.
- Do not chase the statements that sound best. Each group mixes properties, and choosing by image scatters your profile.
- Think of a real example for the choices you make. The interview that follows usually asks for them.
Example group
A group might read: “I prefer to finish one task before I start another.” “I enjoy meeting new people.” “I say so when I disagree with a decision.” “I check my work twice before handing it in.”
Someone who is methodical but quiet might choose the first as best fit and the second as least fit. Someone else could reasonably choose the opposite. Neither is better; what matters is that your choices across all 40 groups describe you consistently.
Tips for the real MPA
- Find a quiet half hour. There is no clock, but answering in one sitting keeps your frame of mind steady.
- Read every statement in the group before choosing. Racing through makes your profile less reliable.
- Expect some groups where nothing fits, or everything does. That is how the format works.
- Expect to be asked about your profile at interview. Saxo Bank, for example, uses MPA with the ACE reasoning test for every second-round candidate.
Practise the MPA on CogniPrep
Our MPA game has 40 groups of four statements. In each you mark one best and one least, and Next unlocks only when you have exactly one of each. There is no clock and no going back to an earlier group. At the end you get a profile on the nine properties rather than a score, with achievement orientation labelled as an estimate because Master does not publish how it is calculated. The statements are our own.