“Should taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment be part of my interviewing preparation?” is a question I’ve heard often. My answer is, “It depends.” It depends on you, and whether or not you will put in the work to make this assessment worthwhile.

If, for example, you take it to get a brief glimpse of yourself and how you are wired, that’s fine, but it is like going to a movie. It’s an entertaining hour or two. It was a fun discussion, there were a few surprises, and then you move on and forget about the experience. Whatever this is, it isn’t interview prep.

But if you take the Myers-Briggs assessment with an eye toward getting an objective accounting of your strengths and weaknesses, then it has real value. This value increases if you develop a familiarity with the theory that helps you recognize the potential type of your interviewer and how you might modify your behaviors to make them more comfortable.

These strategies are more fully outlined in my book, No Medal for Second Place: How to Finish First in Job Interviews, and are a bit lengthy for a blog post. But the answer to the question I posed at the beginning is, “Yes, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment can be a valuable part of your interview prep, if you make it so. This requires one to study the theory and its personal and interpersonal implications.”