What is a Character Map?

This Character Map is based upon the extensive research of Swiss psychiatrist C J Jung and subsequent work by Isabel Briggs Myers (1897-1980) and her mother Katherine Cook Briggs (1875-1968). Drawing upon this work, this Jungian Type analysis helps to assess individuals across a range of four scales and helps to build a picture of our particular and significant personal preferences.

Can I fail the test?

The Character Map is not a test! It is an assessment process and not about pass or fail, right or wrong, good or bad; it is about finding out about you as an individual. It is not meant to try and put individuals in a psychological ‘box’ or to pigeonhole us.

How does it work?

In the same way that many of us are left or right-handed, the principle of Character Map is that individuals also find certain ways of thinking and acting easier or more natural than others. Jungian Type places these in a particular order, sorting the psychological opposites into four opposite pairs (or dichotomies), with a resulting sixteen possible combinations. None of these combinations are 'better' or 'worse'; however Jung recognised that everyone has an overall combination that is most comfortable, or natural, for them. In the same way as writing with the left hand is hard work for a right-hander, so people tend to find using their opposite, ‘less natural’, psychological preferences more difficult! Even if people become more proficient (and therefore behaviourally flexible) with practice and development, they still have natural psychological preferences.

How will the Stopgap Group use the information?

At the Stopgap Group we use our Character Map to gain a better and more comprehensive understanding of our candidates; thus we’re better placed to make informed decisions regarding suitability for particular roles. In the same way that we would never make a recruitment decision on the basis of your CV, neither would we make a decision based on the results of an assessment process. The Character Map is used to generate a backdrop to the interview, which is where we really get to know you!

What will the client get?

A far more in-depth and rigorous assessment of you as an individual which means we will all have a greater chance of getting the recruitment decision right - for everyone’s sake! We will use the Character Map results, combine these with information from the interview and use this to build a picture of you as an individual. Recruitment is a people business. The greater our understanding of you as a person, the greater our chances of getting the right fit – and this is where Character Map comes in!