Britain is a nation of professional misfits, personality study finds

Britain's offices are full of employees who are in the wrong jobs because their personalities do not suit what they are doing, according to an internet survey.

Misfits and anomalies thrown up by the survey include warm, sensitive people working in cold-blooded trades like banking, or strong, assertive types who have found their way into creative work in the arts instead.

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A tongue-in-cheek study of more than 2,300 adults examined whether they were an introvert, extrovert, optimist or perfectionist and found that more than 50 per cent had misjudged their own personalities, and up to 75 per cent may have taken the wrong career path.

Others can take part in the survey by logging on to the website of the private health insurer Bupa, which is running the test as part of an advertising drive.

Participants are asked to select one of four shapes that they think suits their personality. The circle, the survey says, implies a calm and balanced, contented personality with an optimistic outlook. The square implies confident, clear thinking, tending towards perfectionism. The triangle suggests an individualistic outlook, with hidden depths, sometimes complex and disruptive. The squiggle, it is claimed, suggests: "I don't always take things too seriously, I'm sometimes a little unpredictable."

They are then asked to choose a colour, which allegedly gives more information about their self-image. Choosing a deep blue triangle implies a natural leader, while the yellow circle implies one who loves harmony and tranquility. Participants can then answer a series of questions, allowing the computer to tell them their "true" shape and colour. The questions range from how do you go about making a major decision, to your birth sign.

None of this, say the organisers, needs to be taken with absolute seriousness, though it implies a serious conclusion: that more people would be happy in their work if they understood themselves better.

"Shapes and colours have long been used by psychologists to symbolise and communicate a broad range of qualities, characteristics and emotions," a Bupa spokeswoman claimed.

Half the people in creative jobs came over as "strong" and "assertive", and only 6 per cent were marked out as expressive and eccentric. While 40 per cent of bankers were "warm" and "people-orientated", a similar proportion of secretaries had leadership qualities. A reassuring finding was that 60 per cent of workers in health care and education seemed to be in the right role.

Bupa devised the test to allow people to discover their personalities and whether it was suited to their work. It found Northerners were most likely to have a job in tune with their personality, workers in Carlisle and Sheffield were the happiest, while those in Bristol and Southampton were unsure about the direction in which their lives were going.