QUIZ: What's your office personality?

Updated March 26, 2025, 8:17 a.m. | By East Coast Breakfast / Skyye Ndlovu

Which person are you in the office? Are you the overachiever, the gossip queen or the ghost? Take this quiz to find out where you fit in at the office, and share it with your colleagues to see who really rules the office.

Ahh, the workplace. It's a jungle full of coffee addicts, spreadsheet wizards, and that one person who somehow always knows when there’s free cake in the canteen.

Whether you’re the life of the office or the mysterious figure who only appears when deadlines are near, everyone has their own unique work personality.

So, who are you in the grand office ecosystem – the office clown, the gossip queen, or the one who keeps sending “per my last email” with just a little bit of attitude?

Take this quiz to find out.

1.⁠ ⁠The coffee addict

The workday starts at 8 am. You? You only start functioning at 10 am – after your third cup of coffee.

You're always spotted pacing in the office kitchen, aggressively stirring sugar into your coffee like it owes you money. Your colleagues know better than to talk to you before the caffeine kicks in, and you’ve likely tried convincing HR to install a second coffee machine (because one is never enough).

Your desk is a graveyard of half-empty coffee cups, and your loyalty to your favourite brand of instant coffee is stronger than your loyalty to your job.

Signature phrase: “Don’t talk to me before my coffee.”

Downside: Your blood is 80% caffeine, and your sleep schedule is a myth.

2.⁠ ⁠The overachiever

Meetings at 8 am? You were in at 6 am. Deadlines on Friday? You submitted it on Monday.

You treat work like an Olympic sport and yourself as the gold-medal contender. Your emails are immaculate, your PowerPoints have animations, and you probably use a planner (a real one, not just Google Calendar).

The boss loves you, but your colleagues secretly wonder if you ever sleep.

Signature phrase: “I took the liberty of doing some extra research…”

Downside: Everyone expects you to lead the project, every single time.

3.⁠ ⁠The gossip queen

Forget HR – if there’s tea to be spilled, you’re already brewing it.

You always know who’s leaving, who’s getting promoted, and who was caught microwaving fish in the canteen. You live for a good scandal and have a sixth sense for overhearing conversations that are meant to be “private”.

Your desk is the unofficial office news desk, and your group chat? Elite.

Signature phrase: “I’m not one to gossip, but…”

Downside: You might be the reason for 90% of “company-wide” meetings about professionalism.

4.⁠ ⁠The last-minute magician

You thrive under pressure because you leave everything until the last minute.

Deadlines? Suggestions? Strategies? You’ll have them… five minutes before they’re due. You may not always start early, but you always deliver. You’re the king/queen of “quickly putting something together”, and somehow, it’s always just good enough to pass.

Your colleagues don’t know whether to admire or fear your ability to pull miracles out of thin air.

Signature phrase: “Give me five minutes.”

Downside: Your stress levels spike way too often, and you may or may not have aged 10 years in one.

5.⁠ ⁠The office clown

Meetings are boring. You? Never.

You make work bearable with your jokes, memes, and well-timed impersonations of the boss. You’ve perfected the art of making people laugh just as they take a sip of coffee (which usually ends in disaster).

You believe the best way to survive corporate life is to add some comedy to it, and honestly, everyone lowkey agrees.

Signature phrase: “This meeting could have been an email.”

Downside: HR has given you at least one “friendly reminder” about office conduct.

6.⁠ ⁠The mysterious one

You work here? Really? No one’s ever actually seen you do anything, but somehow you’re still employed.

You arrive quietly, do your work in record time, and vanish. No one knows what your voice sounds like because you avoid office small talk like it’s a life-threatening disease. Your camera is always off in Zoom meetings, and your lunch breaks? A complete mystery.

Some say you have another job. Others think you might be a secret agent. Either way, you get the job done, without anyone knowing how.

Signature phrase: “… [seen online] … [seen offline] …”

Downside: If you ever miss work, people assume you probably quit.