Good questions.
Clear explanations.

What does a personality profile tell you?

It describes patterns in your answers: how much contact you prefer, how readily you speak up, whether you like a plan, and how you tend to react when things change. These are preferences and habits to explore, not a complete explanation of everything you do.

A habit can feel useful in one situation and less useful in another. Wanting a plan helps when several people depend on the same deadline. A new problem may need a first test before a useful plan exists. A good report explains that difference.

What is the Big Five?

The Big Five is a widely studied way of describing personality through five broad areas. In everyday terms, these concern contact with other people, getting along, planning and persistence, openness to ideas, and reactions to stress. The research names are Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Open-Mindedness, and Negative Emotionality.

They are scales, not five types of people. Two people can fall in different places, and one person can have quite different preferences within an area. You can enjoy company without wanting to speak first in a group.

Why look at smaller parts?

A broad score can hide the useful detail. In the sample report, Alex likes time alone but is willing to raise a concern. A single label could miss that. Looking at both parts makes the conversation more specific: how much contact helps, and when does Alex want to contribute?

Soto and John’s BFI-2 research studied a questionnaire with five broad areas and 15 smaller traits. It illustrates why a report can be more informative when it preserves detail. SteepStep's own questions and working labels are not the BFI-2.

What does a score mean?

A score summarises answers under a set of rules. It is not a grade, an accuracy percentage, or a measure of your worth. It is not automatically a comparison with everyone else. Small differences in a displayed number should not become a big story about who you are.

Middle answers deserve a clear explanation too. They may mean that a preference changes with the situation. If the pattern is unclear, the report should say so. There is no need to invent a strong personality label just to make every section sound decisive.

How should I answer?

Think about how you usually behave in recent work, study, or other regular activities. Answer for what you tend to do, rather than what sounds impressive. Use a real situation when a question feels abstract.

Someone may describe themselves differently in a private reflection and a job application. The reason for taking the questionnaire matters. Clear instructions and an honest use of the results help make the answers more useful.

What does the report not measure?

It does not prove intelligence, professional skill, honesty, or job performance. Wanting to speak up does not show that your judgement is right. Wanting to plan does not show that the plan is good. Those questions need evidence from actual work.

A profile can give you a useful question to ask about a preference. A work sample, structured interview, experience, and the requirements of a role answer different questions. Do not ask one tool to do all of those jobs.

Can personality change?

Your profile describes answers given at a point in time. Work, responsibilities, and experience can change. Roberts, Walton, and Viechtbauer examined changes in personality across adulthood. Keep the date with a report rather than treating it as a permanent certificate.

When you revisit it, ask what still fits and where your experience differs. That is useful context for a conversation, not proof that one of the reports must be wrong.

What does “research-informed” mean here?

Published personality research informs the approach. Evidence for a recognised framework is different from validation of a particular questionnaire. Researchers cited on this page have not endorsed SteepStep. Their findings do not automatically establish our own questions or their use in hiring.

SteepStep's questionnaire is not established as a validated recruitment-selection instrument. Use the profile for reflection and discussion, not as an automatic rule for rejecting a person. Sackett and colleagues’ work on selection evidence shows why prediction claims need careful support.

How do I put the findings to use?

Start with one section that feels familiar. Remember a recent situation, try the suggested action, and notice what happens. A suggestion is something to test, not a promise that the same change will help everyone.

The full sample shows this in everyday language. If you want to discuss whether a profile fits your personal or company needs, contact support@steepstep.com.