How the Wonderlic personality test works
You read 150 statements and choose the response that best describes you for each. You must answer every one, there is no time limit, and most people take about 15 minutes. At any point you can go back and review your earlier answers.
It measures five characteristics, based on the Five Factor model: Cooperation (working with and supporting the people around you), Dependability (follow-through and consistency), Stress Tolerance (composure under pressure), Sociability (comfort in people-facing work) and Open-mindedness (receptiveness to new ideas and ways of working). Wonderlic says Dependability and Stress Tolerance are the most predictive of performance across nearly all roles.
Your profile is combined with your cognitive and motivation results. How much it counts depends on the job: the more complex the role, the more weight goes to cognitive ability and the less to personality.
How to answer the Wonderlic personality test
There are no right answers, but there are careless ones. For each statement:
- Describe how you are, not how you would like to be. Wonderlic’s instructions ask for exactly that.
- Think of how you usually behave at work, over months rather than on one good or bad day.
- Read the whole statement before you answer. Words such as rarely, usually and always change what you are agreeing to.
- Keep a steady pace. A first honest reading is more consistent than a long deliberation.
- Use the review option at the end to check any answer you gave in a hurry.
Tips for the real personality test
- Expect it alongside the cognitive and motivation sections. The full Wonderlic Select takes about 35 minutes on average.
- Do it in one sitting, somewhere quiet.
- If you need an accommodation, contact the employer before you start.
Practise the Wonderlic personality test on CogniPrep
Our practice has 60 statements, 12 for each of the same five traits, rated from Strongly disagree to Strongly agree, with some worded in reverse. The statements are ours, not Wonderlic’s. It is untimed, but unlike the real test there is no going back once you answer and no skipping. You get a profile across the five traits and the share of statements you rated Neutral, rather than a score to beat.