An Online Psychometric Test is a way of measuring an individual’s personality profile, mental capabilities and behavioural style.
Initially psychometric tests were designed for educational and psychological situations only. However, psychometric assessments are today also used by employers to choose the best candidates for a job, by determining their suitability for the role based on the required personality characteristics. These assessments can also be named as a Personality Tests or Aptitude Tests.
“Identify the extent to which a candidate’s personality and cognitive abilities match those required to perform the role.”
What does a Psychometric Test measure?
Psychometric tests are considered a combination of aptitude tests and personality tests. The aptitude test gauges candidates’ proficiency, aptitude skills and cognitive abilities, determining whether you’ve got the right skill set for a role; while the personality test gauges individuals’ characteristics, motivation and traits, analysing how character fits with the role and organisation.
Although most psychometric tests do not evaluate a person’s psychological and emotional stability, some tests are designed to gauge an individual’s truthfulness, reliability and inclinations to react in certain ways or give certain emotional responses.
Example test question
Psychometric test questions relating to your work-related personality are designed to find out about how someone reacts in different situations and/or how an individual deals with others in the workplace, and so tend to be questions with no right or wrong answer. They are designed to simply to find out which is most like the individual.
For the statements below say whether you (a) strongly agree (b) disagree (c) are unsure (d) agree or (e) strongly agree enjoy meeting new people.
I enjoy meeting new people.
I like helping people.
I sometimes make mistakes.
I’m easily disappointed.
I enjoy repairing things.
What are the benefits of Psychometric Assessments?
According to Psychometric Success, over 75% of the Times Top 100 companies in the UK use a form of psychometric testing.
The key benefits to a business in utilising psychometric testing are:
improve efficiency of recruitment process
improve quality of candidates for interview
help avoid employee turnover
improve and reduce HR and recruitment costs
Why do firms use Psychometric Testing in recruitment?
Psychometric testing is a valuable resource in the selection and recruitment process. Research by Personnel Today & Network HR Executive Search state 88% of respondents who use psychometric tests say they have faith in the test results and 78% agree that they are a “powerful tool” for hiring.
The key objective is ultimately to identify at the earliest stage possible in the process which of the job applicants are unlikely to fulfil the role requirements based on their test results and therefore narrow the applications ready for the interview stage.
Employers can then use the information collected from the psychometric test to identify the hidden aspects of candidates that are difficult to extract from a face-to-face interview.
“The recruitment process should be seen as an investment and tests help to demonstrate how your investment would thrive in the workplace.”
Using Psychometric Testing for team building
Psychometric tests also can be used to help Businesses develop an already existing team by gauging each team members own personality traits and discovering individual’s working preferences. Teams are made up of a variety of different types of people and unless they understand these differences, effective communication is not always possible. Getting a team to undertake a Psychometric Assessment can help different personality types to understand everyone’s preferred communication style.
Further information can be found at: https://skillsarena.com/personality-profiling-recruitment/
Denise Allen has been working in the marketing industry for over 15 years and is Head of Marketing at Skillsarena who provide Talent Tools which enable companies to select, develop and retain valued staff.