Personality assessments are sometimes used by companies to evaluate potential employees. Often, it's because they've benchmarked their current top performers and pinned down what makes an employee in a given position successful, and are looking for someone similar to place in an open spot. It takes a lot of the risk of hiring out of the equation for hiring managers and makes them more comfortable. (Popular assessments include DISC, Caliper, Gallup, and Myers-Briggs.)

Here's something you might not know about these personality tests: even though assessments are given to candidates to evaluate them for a particular job, it's perfectly acceptable for job seekers to use the results of their test when going after any other job at any other company.

Say you were given one of these tests, but you didn't get the job. If the company shared those results with you, you can use them in your job search as a credibility-builder. If you're working with a recruiter or even a hiring manager who's on the fence about you, you can offer to share the results of your personality test with them. You simply say something like, "Can I share the results of my DISC/Caliper/Myers-Briggs test with you so that you can see what my characteristics are?"

This can also work as part of an email follow up with a hiring manager after a phone interview. You just send along the results with a quick explanation: "I wanted you to see this personality assessment that I took for another organization, so that you can see who I am."

Then, when they see that your traits are what they're looking for in a great candidate, they're much more confident in either presenting you to a company, or moving forward in the hiring process.

Don't overlook any tools you can use to your advantage in the job search process. This particular one can be a very powerful one to help you land the job.

Find more insider tips on the job search at Peggy McKee's website, Career Confidential ( http://www.career-confidential.com). Recognized as an expert resource for jobseekers, Peggy has been named as one of the HR Examiner's Top 25 Most Influential Online Recruiters, and has been quoted in articles from CNN, Yahoo!HotJobs, the Denver Examiner, and upcoming articles in the Wall Street Journal.