I've taken the MBTI Step II on more than a few occasions. I'll admit, I have a hard time placing myself on this particular system (well, the T/F and J/P measures, I'm pretty confident about I and N). Plus, I'll admit it, I really like taking personality tests. Still, it's an expensive test and, at the end of the accompanying consultation, you'll have presumably verified your type. I figured that you could benefit from my extravagance and get a critique of the various MBTI interpreters available.
Who to take the test from:
Personality Desk: This is Molly Owens' company. She does solid work insofar as she's really on top of things, knows what she's supposed to do and does it. When you buy the report, her site immediately gives you access to the testing site. After you take the inventory, she's fairly expedient in getting your report to you. If at the end of the verification you decide another type is a better fit, she'll send you a new report based on your verified type. This is something MBTI interpreters are supposed to do (it costs them nothing to do this) but, in my experience, many do not. She'll volunteer to do it and get the report to you promptly. She used to do the verification over the phone. Now, she emails you the information to verify, but is available for follow-up questions.
Become Who You Are Terry Marselle is an INFP, and a really nice and helpful guy. He's not set up for you to take the test automatically so after you pay, you have to wait for him to see the email and send you the link. However, it only took a couple of hours to get the link, and it only took that long because he happened to get a request for a high volume of reports from a Russian company. Once I took the test, he got the results to me quickly. He sent me a lot of information about a couple possible types before the session. He also was very clear that there was no time limit on our call and offered to let me contact him for follow-up questions, if I had any after the call. Of all of the MBTI interpreters, he's the one, I think, that gave the verification process the most thought.
Who to Avoid:
Ransdell Associates Stephen Tiebout will use your email to spam you. The spam email came directly from his account. I both emailed and called him (receiving his voicemail) a number of times in the event that it was a rogue spammer accessing his account, but I never got a response and it never stopped.
Paladin Associates Although you have immediate access to the test site, it takes a really long time to get your results. Most interpreters guarantee your results within 12 hours. After 24 hours of waiting, I contacted him. First, my emails were unanswered, then, finally, I managed to get him on the phone. He told me he had generated the report, but would not send it out until the following morning. The only explanation he gave was "I need to make sure there's nothing wrong with your report. I'm a psychologist." I argued back and forth for awhile with him until finally he conceded and sent me my report within an hour. A few days later, I received an email about setting up my consultation. I immediately came back with a number of available times. A few days after that, I got a reply confirming a time. I spoke with his colleague, who did not appear to know much about the MBTI at all. When I wanted to verify my results, her suggestion was that I simply go out and buy Keirsey's book. When I continued to push on the matter, she suggested we go through my facet results. She occasionally would try to get me to talk about my favorite school subject to determine type (again, something Keirsey asserts, but the MBTI merely correlates and does not suggest should be used to determine type). I noticed as we went through and she "asked questions" that she was reading verbatim from the descriptors listed in the participant's manual (not the user's manual, which is considerably more detailed). I got the feeling that she didn't know much about the MBTI. In general, not someone I'd recommend.
So, there you have it. A little bit longer than what I'm going for with my posts, but necessary to give you the full picture of my recommendations.
