What this quiz measures
A job offer is easy to reduce to a salary and a feeling. Both matter, but neither captures the work you will actually be doing at 10:30 on an ordinary Tuesday. A better comparison includes the manager, decision rights, commute, learning curve, colleagues, workload, benefits, and what leaving closes or opens. This check looks at habits that can influence how you weigh a deadline: appetite for change, need for order, drive, caution, responsibility, and readiness to state what you need.
Make the offer concrete. Ask what success looks like at thirty, ninety, and three hundred and sixty-five days. Ask which project has already gone wrong, how priorities change, why the role is vacant, and how performance is judged. Then list the claims you have heard as facts, assumptions, or promises that need a written answer. If the offer looks attractive only when details stay vague, that is useful information. If it remains attractive after the awkward questions, you have something sturdier than enthusiasm.
Your style can create predictable blind spots. Someone who likes novelty may underprice the stability of a good current team. Someone who prefers certainty may keep researching after the decision has become clear. Someone highly responsible may accept a role before asking whether its workload is reasonable. Use the result to decide which question to ask next, not to outsource the decision. It cannot read your contract, calculate the value of benefits, or know whether an employer will keep its promises.
The six things it looks at
The six measured parts cover caution, openness to unfamiliar work, ambition, preference for organisation, directness, and sense of obligation. Together they can show how you approach an offer, rather than whether one answer is correct for everyone.
Cautiousness
How much thinking happens between the impulse and the action.
Most people score between 8 and 18 out of 20.
- Jump into things without thinking.
- Make rash decisions.
- Rush into things.
- Act without thinking.
Adventurousness
Preference for the unfamiliar over the routine — new places, new food, new methods.
Most people score between 9 and 17 out of 20.
- Prefer variety to routine.
- Prefer to stick with things that I know.
- Dislike changes.
- Am attached to conventional ways.
Achievement Striving
Drive toward high standards and work that visibly clears the bar.
Most people score between 12 and 20 out of 20.
- Do more than what's expected of me.
- Work hard.
- Put little time and effort into my work.
- Do just enough work to get by.
Orderliness
How much structure you keep around you: lists, systems, clear surfaces.
Most people score between 7 and 18 out of 20.
- Like to tidy up.
- Often forget to put things back in their proper place.
- Leave a mess in my room.
- Leave my belongings around.
Assertiveness
Speaking up, taking the lead, and being comfortable telling other people what to do.
Most people score between 10 and 19 out of 20.
- Take charge.
- Try to lead others.
- Take control of things.
- Wait for others to lead the way.
Dutifulness
How binding a rule or a promise feels once you have accepted it.
Most people score between 13 and 19 out of 20.
- Keep my promises.
- Tell the truth.
- Break rules.
- Break my promises.
What this is built on
Defaults runs on the IPIP-NEO-120, a public-domain 120-item Big Five inventory developed by Dr John A. Johnson. Each short quiz uses 24 of its actual items, word for word, and scores them against Johnson's published adult norm tables rather than rescaled against your own answers. The same 24 count toward the full 120.
These public-domain personality items describe tendencies in self-report. They do not rate an employer, verify compensation, assess a contract, or predict your performance in a specific job.
- Johnson, J. A. (2014). Measuring thirty facets of the Five Factor Model with a 120-item public-domain inventory. Journal of Research in Personality, 51, 78-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2014.05.003
- International Personality Item Pool. https://ipip.ori.org/
Common questions
What questions should I ask before accepting?
Ask about the work rather than the brand: what problem you will own, how decisions get made, what the manager expects, what has made the role difficult, and how often priorities change. Ask for examples. Specific answers are more useful than a polished description of culture.
Should I negotiate if I want the role?
Usually, a respectful question is better evidence than silent resentment. Decide what you need to make the offer workable, whether that is pay, scope, flexibility, start date, or title. The answer also tells you something about how the employer handles reasonable requests.
How do I compare it with my current job?
Use the same categories for both: money, time, manager, learning, autonomy, people, health, and future options. Give each a short note based on evidence rather than a score that hides the trade. The comparison becomes clearer when you can name what you would be giving up.
What if the deadline feels manipulative?
A real deadline can be normal; pressure that prevents basic questions is different. Ask for the time you need to review terms and speak with relevant people. If a company treats informed consideration as disloyalty, that response belongs in the decision.