How the Sova personality questionnaire works
Sova’s instructions say personality questions ask you to select only one answer in each column. Each screen is a group of statements about how you work, set against columns from Least like me to Most like me, and no two statements can take the same column. Prep sites describe other versions too: groups of four where you pick most and least like you, and statements rated on a five-point scale.
It measures 18 work traits built on the HEXACO model, the Big Five plus a sixth factor for honesty and humility. Sova says the full questionnaire takes around 20 to 25 minutes, and the same answers can feed up to 18 different reports for the employer.
Sova also has a shorter Image Personality Questionnaire: 87 items on the same 18 traits, answered with a swipe and built for phones. It is compulsory in Sova’s Early Careers assessment.
How to answer a ranking grid
Work through each group like this:
- Read all the statements in the group before placing any.
- Place the one that is most like you and the one that is least like you first. Those are usually the easiest calls.
- Fill the middle columns with the rest, comparing the remaining statements with each other.
- Answer as you behave at work now, not as you would like to be or as the job advert reads.
Worked example
A group reads: “I enjoy working out a problem from first principles.” “I keep my desk and files in order.” “I find it easy to start conversations with strangers.” “I stay calm when plans change at short notice.” “I like to be recognised for my work.”
Suppose you are an organised, analytical person who is quiet with strangers. You might put the first-principles statement in Most like me, the tidy desk next, staying calm in the middle, recognition fourth and starting conversations in Least like me. There is no correct order; what matters is that the order reflects you, block after block.
Tips for the real Sova personality questionnaire
- Do not try to look perfect. Every statement in a group can sound good, and forcing the “ideal” one to the top each time gives a profile that does not hang together.
- Use the ends of the scale. Keeping everything near the middle removes the contrasts the profile is built from.
- Go with a considered first reaction rather than reworking each group.
- Read the employer’s values, but do not answer from them. A profile that fits you is easier to back up in an interview.
- Set aside about 25 minutes without interruptions if the full questionnaire is included.
Practise the Sova personality questionnaire on CogniPrep
Ours has 20 groups of five statements, each to rank across five columns from Least like me to Most like me, with no ties. On a phone each statement gets five numbered buttons; on a wider screen it is a grid. Next unlocks when all five are placed, and there is no Back. There is no clock. At the end you get a profile across Sova’s 18 traits in three groups, plus a note if your answers present you unusually positively. It is a profile, not a score, and it is shorter than Sova’s full questionnaire.