Psychometric tests

Many organisations now choose to conduct psychometric tests, which are designed to measure and assess an individual's personality, aptitude and abilities. Used alongside the traditional recruitment methods, psychometric testing can add an extra dimension to the selection process and improve the chances of getting the ideal candidate match for a vacancy.

TYPES OF TESTS

• Personality Questionnaires - assess motivation, interests and values as well as behaviour and attitudes and highlight how an individual perceives him/herself.
• Verbal Reasoning Tests – assess ability to make sense of reports which cannot be relied upon to be objective, truthful or consistent.
• Numerical Tests – assess skill with numbers and general logic.
• Abstract Tests – assess logical thinking.

WHY TESTS ARE USED

Psychometric Tests are often requested because employers realise that a person's ability to do a good job is based on a number of factors and not just his/her academic background and experience. Test results should highlight other aspects of a person's personality, for example, how they interact with others, what sort of environment suits them best, their working style, and how they may react in certain situations. 

HOW TO APPROACH PSYCHOMETRIC TESTS

• Tests are not always designed to have right or wrong answers, just answer the questions honestly.
• Some tests will have time restrictions. Simply work as fast as you can, following the instructions given. It is not unusual to have more questions to answer than time allows.
• Accuracy is more important than speed.
• Read through and check your answers.

Your answers will be scored to evaluate your suitability for the job, organisation and training programmes provided. You are entitled to see the result of these tests including any profiles of you which may have been generated from the data received. 

Practise Questions

Should you be new to these methods of assessment, there are websites available to obtain example tests. www.shl.com and www.psl.co.uk .