Can you prepare for the DLR PSY personality questionnaire?

PSY refers to the personality part of the DLR test battery — a questionnaire that builds a personality profile and compares it against the traits considered relevant for everyday cockpit work. Unlike knowledge or performance tests, there's no objectively "right" answer here, so "preparing" in the usual sense doesn't really apply — but there is a sensible mental and practical approach.

What the personality part is used for

PSY is meant to capture a profile that gets compared against requirements considered important for the piloting profession — things like stress tolerance, cooperation and teamwork, conscientiousness, and emotional stability. It isn't a test with a "score" in the usual sense but a profile that feeds into a broader assessment — in the DLR Pilot Certificate, for example, as one of four explicitly named assessment areas alongside basic cognitive abilities, operational competencies, and social competencies. The exact design, the scales used, and how they're weighted aren't published in detail and can differ between procedures.

Why faking your answers is a bad idea

A common assumption is that you can simply tick the "desirable" answer on a personality questionnaire. That's generally not advisable: many of these instruments include consistency checks that flag contradictory or implausibly uniform answer patterns — answering in an extremely socially desirable way throughout tends to stand out rather than blend in. If a personal interview or assessment centre follows later, for example during company qualification or a SWISS/EFA assessment, contradictions between the questionnaire and how you come across in conversation can get noticed and followed up on.

What sensible preparation looks like instead

Rather than trying to construct an "ideal" profile, it's generally considered more sensible to:

• Answer honestly and consistently: respond in a way that matches how you actually behave, rather than steering your answers in a particular direction.
• Know the typical traits: be aware of which qualities are generally considered relevant for cockpit work (see above), without shaping your answers around them.
• Show up rested: as with the other test parts, tiredness or stress reportedly affects concentration and how carefully you read.
• Read questions carefully: take in the wording properly rather than answering too quickly or overthinking a single item — over-analysing individual questions is generally considered counterproductive.

For more on the personality test in general, see What is the personality test in the DLR test?; for handling test-day stress overall, there's the article DLR test: stress and mindset.

TipTake a deliberate moment to settle down before the questionnaire rather than moving straight into it from another test phase — that reportedly helps more than any answering strategy.

Exactly how the personality part is embedded and weighted within a given procedure differs by airline or flight school and can change. The current information from the DLR or from the relevant airline or flight school is what counts.