George Henderson Recruitment - Psychometric Testing

Why and How are Psychometric Tests used?

Congratulations. You have got an interview for that job you want but now you have been told that psychometric tests are involved.

Recruitment is an expensive business and the costs of getting it wrong - for the candidate and the employer - are enormous. Above all else, organisations are seeking to find the best candidate to fill a job position. To do this they need to understand:
 

• How your knowledge, skills and experience fit the job
  
• What you are capable of doing (your aptitude or ability)
  
• How you relate to the people you work with (personality and behavioural style)
  
• What motivates you

So, an employer decides to use psychometric testing because it helps them to decide whether or not you will be a good fit for them - similarly, you can use the information to decide whether the organisation is a good fit for you!

Psychometric tests are a cost-efficient way of assessing a large number of candidates or for getting a more objective picture of your abilities and behavioural style than is available from an interview. Some employers use them to pre-select from a large number of candidates, whereas others use them at later stages in the recruitment process - either in conjunction with interviews, or combined with other selection exercises in an Assessment Centre.

Many psychometric tests are used in pencil-and-paper forms, although there are increasing numbers of online versions.

Please remember, psychometric testing is only part of the recruitment process and a good employer will not make a decision on the basis of your test results alone!

What are Psychometric Tests?

Psychometric tests are structured assessments that test your ability in general or specific areas, or assess your personality or typical behavioural style. The most reliable ones have been carefully developed and trialled to ensure that they provide valid assessments of the people likely to take them.

Psychometric tests or selection tests as they are sometimes called - broadly fall into two categories:

Tests of ability and aptitude:

Ability and aptitude tests measure skills relevant to the job; they are not tests of general knowledge. Frequently, the terms ability and aptitude are used inter-changeably, so we will refer to them as ability tests from now on. Most often they are pencil and paper exercises which are administered under exam conditions. Ability tests are timed, have a multiple choice format and have definite right and wrong answers for each question. The most frequently used tests assess verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning as competence in these areas is a component of job success in many roles. They are designed so that not everyone will complete the test and, quite often, you will find that the questions become harder as you work through them.

- Verbal Reasoning Tests:

These assess your ability to understand the logic of various statements, and your ability to interpret the ideas contained in a passage of text. Some tests require you to work out the relationships between words in a question, whereas others present a passage of text followed by a series of statements to which you respond by identifying whether the statement is true, false or cannot be determined on the basis of the information provided.

- Numerical Reasoning Tests

These assess your ability to understand and interpret numbers, charts and graphs. Some tests require you to understand the relationships between numbers, fractions, decimals or percentages, whereas others present a table of figures followed by a series of questions that you answer using a response from those given. Most numerical reasoning tests do not allow you to use a calculator.

- Abstract Reasoning Tests

These assess your ability to perceive and understand the relationships between abstract shapes and patterns for example, identifying the odd one out from a series of diagrams, or specifying which pattern from the answer options comes next in the series.

How can I prepare for Ability Tests

Below we have listed a number of useful websites and other reference materials. The books in particular describe the typical types of question and give you opportunities to practice. However, practice extracting and summarising information from passages of text or tables and charts and have a go at crossword puzzles, mathematical teasers and diagrammatic puzzles. Brushing up on basic maths techniques, such as fractions, decimals and percentages might be a good idea.

Personality Questionnaires

Personality questionnaires ask you to describe characteristics that you typically display at work  e.g. how you relate to other people, your ability to deal with your own and others emotions, your style of decision-making, etc. They are self-report measures - rather than tests, for example. There are no right or wrong answers. You may receive feedback on the profile that your answers produce and sometimes this information might be used as the basis for discussion in a subsequent interview. Selectors tend not to look for a 'typical' personality profile, although certain styles will be more suitable for some work situations than others. Personality questionnaires can give you increased insight into your particular strengths and development areas.

How can I prepare for Personality Questionnaires

Below we have listed useful websites and other resource materials that will help with your preparation. In addition, think about the characteristics that make you who you are; ask close colleagues what they see as your strengths, if you think this would help. Reflect on previous appraisals or 360 degree feedback and develop a clear picture of what these have said about your behavioural style. Be prepared to be as honest and straightforward as you can. By all means, look at the job description and person specification if available but avoid trying to second-guess what the employer is looking for.  This can be counter-productive because many questionnaires check for consistency in your responses and deliberate distortion generally shows up. More importantly, would you really want to be selected for a job that does not suit 'the real you'?

On the Day Itself

Try to get a good night's sleep the evening before the test; avoid alcohol. Make sure you take your glasses and/or hearing aid if you need them. Check that you know exactly how to get to the location, and have a fall-back plan if necessary. Aim to get there in plenty of time and switch off your mobile phone.

When the test session starts, listen to, and follow the instructions carefully. If you are not clear, ask! You will have the opportunity to complete example questions before the test itself commences, so use this time to ensure that you really understand what to do. When the ability or aptitude test starts, remember both speed and accuracy will count - your score is usually the number of correct answers. Read the questions and answer options carefully and quickly eliminate the unlikely options. Do not spend too long on any one question - if you get stuck, go onto the next question that you can do. If you have time at the end you can go back to those you missed. By all means, go for a calculated guess, but avoid wild guessing. Do not worry if you do not complete all the questions - they are designed so that not everyone will finish -  but if you have time at the end, go back over your answers to check them or complete missed questions.

Please be aware, however, that whilst practice can reduce the fear factor and better assist you to show yourself at your best, it will not improve your scores much beyond your typical level of ability or aptitude.

Personality questionnaires are not usually timed, but again speed and accuracy are important. Thinking too long about a question can cause confusion - so it is often best to go with your instinctive response. Try not to read too much into the question, take it at face value, where possible. If you are asked to avoid the middle response, then do so where you can; if the other options seem to apply in equal measure, try to decide which would be most like you in the work setting.

Special Needs

Psychometric tests are less open to the biases that can be present in interviews, so they can be an important tool for selecting people with special needs. Test conditions are standardised, so everyone who takes them is given the same instructions and completes them under the same conditions. But you must discuss beforehand with the employer the specific nature of your needs so that reasonable adjustments can be made - you cannot expect an employer to respond to your special needs if they are only highlighted at the test session.

Feedback

Remember selection is a two way process and the information you gain from psychometric testing can increase your self-awareness and enable you to target your job applications. The British Psychological Society good practice guidelines suggest that test takers should receive feedback on their test performance, so do take the opportunity to receive feedback if it is offered; if it is not openly offered, do ask whether feedback is given. In itself, this will help if you are asked to complete psychometric tests again in the future.

Additional Resources

If you are told that testing is part of the selection process, ask the employer what form the assessments will take and whether they can provide advice and/or practice sheets for candidates. These are available from many of the reputable test publishers, so a well-prepared employer should be able to help with a request like this. If not, then there are a number of paperbacks available:
 

• Kogan Page (www.kogan-page.co.uk) have a broad selection of books in the "How to pass" Range. Select the "Careers and Testing" tab, followed by Testing under Subject Area and you will see a full listing of all the available titles.
  
• Similarly, HowToBooks (www.howtobooks.co.uk) list titles such as "Psychometric Tests for Graduates", "Practice Psychometric Tests", "Passing Psychometric Tests", and "Management Level Psychometric and Assessment Tests".
  
• Alternatively, try "All about Psychological Tests and Assessment Centres" by Jack van Minden, Management Books (2004) (ISBN 1852524588)
  
• If you want to brush up on your maths, look for "Refresher in Basic Mathematics" by R N Rowe, published by Thomson Learning
  
  Useful websites:
  
• http://www.shl.com/shl/en-int/candidatehelpline - a very comprehensive series of web pages covering all aspects of testing from a candidate's perspective, including some practice tests
  
• http://www.psytech.co.uk/candidate.htm - advice for candidates will useful hints on what to expect.
  
• http://www.morrisby.com - advice and practice items from abstract, verbal, numerical and other types of ability tests. Select the test-takers tab on the home page.
  
• http://www.psychometrics-uk.com/bapt.html - sample test items from the Berger Aptitude Test for Programmers which assesses your aptitude for learning computer programming languages.
  
• http://www.profilingforsuccess.com/information_for_candidates.htm - this website has comprehensive information about types of psychometric tests and has open-access psychometric tests available for purchase and completion on-line.