Food for thought - myself this time

Well, I slept unsocial hours again.

So I meandered all over the web - there's nothing I can do nor anywhere I can go to at 2am. God forbid I plonk my ass down in front of the TV!! - and finally signed up with Match.com out of curiousity. I won't pay for the subscription, so we'll see what the cat drags in.

But what DID happen was I took their personality test. I've been fascinated by personality tests for the longest time and am always happy about the results. Oh, some might have been far off, but I'm happy to take them nevertheless. And here's what I am supposed to be :

You are a DIRECTOR/builder

You are a leader - an independent thinker who approaches problems with a rigorous, rational and systematic mind. And with your curiosity, persistence, irreverence and logic, you tend to find innovative solutions to complex problems.

You tend to be bold, assertive and hard working. You are good with details, particularly technical details, and you enjoy talking about your work with others.

You are highly loyal to friends and family. And you like to share the status and other perquisites your excellent work has bestowed on you with those who are close to you. Although you are good with people and enjoy being part of a stable and secure social network, you easily spend time alone, pursuing your own projects and goals.

You tend to be protective and pragmatic. And your friends and family find you innovative and interesting to be with.

You know, so far so good. Now it gets interesting...

How your personality breaks out

Characteristics of all four personality types can be found within each of us, but there is almost always one personality type that is dominant. We call this the major personality type.

The Personality Profile also identifies your minor or secondary personality type. You exhibit some aspects of this personality type, though not to the same degree as with your major type.

Builder, 30%: Usually very popular. Deep attachment to home and family. Calm demeanor and low anxiety. Often consistent, loyal and protective.

Explorer, 26%: Known for high energy, high creativity and spontaneity. Seeks novelty, risk and pleasure. Intellectually curious and not easily swayed by opinion.

Negotiator, 12%: Excels at seeing the big picture, long-term planning and consensus building. An intuitive thinker who is flexible, verbal and socially skilled. Imaginative, empathetic and nurturing.

Director, 32%: Daring, original, direct and inventive. A non-conformist. Skilled at abstract thinking and short-term planning. Often assertive and quite competitive. Tough-minded and efficient.

HHhhmmm. I do see this as being fairly accurate. But I also wondered... have been wondering... how long with I be happy playing the grunt at this current company I am now working for?

On the night shift, there's not a lot of calls obviously, and we're pretty much on our own : a very very small team of women who work autonomously. Reliance on each other is huge because there's no management around, and we answer the department inbox which receives emails from EVERYONE.

We advise policyholders on what they can or cannot claim against, we advise on procedure and explain their policies to them, we double check things if they have queries on their policy finances. We also get idiot insurance agents who check basic stuff with us. We throw back emails from equally stupid colleagues (our own contact centre staff) and I find myself.... thriving.

Our anwers need to be spot on, we become the face of the company. Our answers to policyholders will make or break their claims. Or advise to the agents affects how a person will do their financial planning. It's enormous.

If you sit down and do the email dispassionately, you don't see this. But take a step back and whoa, there's a reason you put senior staff on duty at night.


Oh well, enough babbling... The things that cross one's mind at night!