Psychometric tests measure capabilities and personality characteristics that define candidate fit for any given job position. The tests are designed to be objective and unbiased, developed as per scientific methods.

Psychometric testing can aid in the prediction of a job applicant’s likely behavior patterns, attitudes, mental reasoning, and personality type. When utilized as a part of a more extensive recruitment process, this candidate online assessment tool might mean the difference between discovering a star employee and someone who doesn’t suit the company’s culture or job needs. 

There are two primary types of psychometric tests:

• Personality Test
  • Ability Test

  Why is a Psychometric Test Important For Recruiters? 

One of the primary uses of psychometric tests in an organizational context is their application in assessing a candidate’s mental ability and behavioral style. Thus, they offer crucial insights into a person’s cognitive ability and reveal their underlying potential. The host of benefits it offers include:

• Identifying personality traits
  • Putting candidates on a level playing field.
  • Adding validity to the recruitment process
    • Cost-effective
      
      

  If you’d like to implement psychometric testing as part of your recruitment process, consider the gamut of assessments offered by Discover Assessments.

Personality Aptitude Test is a special type of test which helps in determining the personality of an individual. These are differentiated into two tests. The first one is a projective test which involves determining the kind of response made by an individual to a stimuli and usually identifying his responses through the use of visual or auditory sensations. The unconscious desires of the person are revealed in this way. The second type of exam is an objective test that uses self-report questionnaires to make psychological assessments, and these are more reliable. Find out how these types of tests are excellent for career choices and decisions.

Choosing the right career

Taking a personality aptitude test helps a person to know about his strengths and preferences, which he might not have thought about much himself. Honest answers and responses can help individuals to determine their strengths and weaknesses, and finding a career which is a perfect match for them. They are able to narrow down their career choices and choose the right profession that they would like to explore in the years to come.

Getting job satisfaction

It is often that people are unsatisfied with their present job but find themselves to be confused regarding which field they should enter. A personality & aptitude test assesses the values, preferences and interests of candidates and finds out what interests and motivates them. It also offers information and suggestions regarding specific careers that they can take up.

Finding out suitable candidates

These tests are also used in career consultation agencies and organizations to determine the suitability of candidates to various domains of employment. For instance, if a candidate feels like taking up a computer job while his interests are found to lie in retail, he can be advised to enter the retail industry. The thumb rule for each candidate is to read each question carefully and offer honest answers to every one of them. Once the career test comes to a finish, employers and consultants can easily find out whether or not a candidate is the right fit for a vacancy.

Comprehensive analysis and evaluation

With Personality Aptitude Test, the abilities and skills of an applicant are fully evaluated. This includes the ability of the candidate in key areas like technical ability, spatial ability, perceptual ability, analytical ability, acuity, verbal reasoning and numerical reasoning. It is one of the main ways to completely evaluate the skills that the applicant needs in order to make progresses in that domain.

Sharpening skills and abilities

A Personality Aptitude Test is overall very assistive in knowing whether or not the interests, preferences, strengths and goals of an individual are in accordance to the needs and demands of a specific sector or organization. People who feel their interests lie elsewhere can move to a sector that is more suitable for them, while those determined to make a mark in their chosen domain but lacking in abilities can go on to sharpen their skills and make a fresh start. This helps save time and money for candidates as well as organizations looking for suitable applicants.

Personality Tests are important for assessing the behavioral traits which are required in specific careers. This type of assessment falls under the scope of Psychometric assessment and is important for finding out whether a candidate has the aptitude and skills for a particular job. It considers personality traits such as socialization, motivation, sensitivity threshold and the power of a person to cope with challenging scenarios. It is quite challenging to interpret personality traits accurately. While hiring deserving workers, sound judgment can be obviously very assistive for workers. Read and know about 3 of the most common Psychometric Personality Tests that are used widely.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

This kind of assessment aims to evaluate the preferences of candidates and find out their approach to the world and their decision making process. It was during the 1940’s that the MBTI was developed first by the mother-daughter duo of Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers. They devised this test as a way to understand personality preferences that would assist women entering for the first time in the labor force to identify which of the war-era jobs would be most suitable for them. The test, originally used as a questionnaire, slowly turned into the MBTI by the early years of the ‘60s.

This type of test includes a series of compulsory choice questions where any of two probable answers have to be chosen by every individual for every question. The choices include a combination of short sentences and word pairs for reflecting contrary preferences. If candidates feel they cannot choose the right answers, they have the option to skip questions. At present, the European English version consists of 88 questions whereas the North American English version comprises of 93 compulsory choice questions.

OPQ32r

This kind of test is internet-based and can be taken online. It is available in over 30 different languages around the globe. Most people take less than half an hour to finish the questionnaire. They can get a wide range or reports which offer graphical, concise and clear performance against job competences. The majority of reports are created to be utilized by line managers.

SHL OPQ32r

This type of test evaluates behavioral aspects which are important for performing to the maximum potential. These aspects cannot be identified easily by interviews, going through CVs and other standard methods. With this specific form of Psychometric Test, a simple and clear framework is used for determining what kind of impact personality traits will have on professional performance.

These tests are being seen as more advantageous, given that no printed material is involved in the process and the expense of administrating the test is much lower. Results can immediately be obtained without any input from humans. Many candidates are happier with this test, as they can participate in them in their own free time and from anywhere. The acceptability of these tests has led to the rise in the number of choices and recruiting organizations are now using more varied tests for assessing candidates. 

Psychometric tests are being increasingly relied on to test or assess the personality of individuals, often conducted in the pre-hiring process. These are standard instruments for determining the characteristics, attitude and intelligence of individuals. Personality traits are understood through these tests, and this helps recruiters to find out whether a candidate has the skill sets needed for improving the productivity of the organization. Find out about 8 of the Psychometric Tests which are used most widely today.

Aptitude Tests

Such kinds of tests are used widely for evaluating the level of knowledge or ability of an individual in a specific domain. However, these are used most commonly for understanding the level of ability or intelligence of a person. The format can differ on the basis of the kind of Aptitude Test which is being used.

Knowledge Tests

These are designed for specific domains, like IT or engineering, and usually consist of multiple choices. This type of multiple-choice format evaluates the proficiency of the candidate in a specific area or domain.

Accuracy Tests

Candidates have to find out whether a numerical series in same or varied, within a very short time span. Accuracy test, also referred to as Checking Test, evaluates the ability of candidates to spot problems in a cluster, accurately and quickly.

Abstract or Inductive Reasoning Tests

It evaluates the ability of a subject to understand and deal with unknown information for problem solving. This is aimed at finding out how well a candidate is able to think, analyze and conceptualize. The format of this type of test includes finding out how to finish a sequence of symbols simply by taking a look at it.

Numerical Reasoning Tests

It evaluates the ability of a subject to examine and understand numeric data and calculate wherever needed. Currency conversions, trends, percentages and ratios are some of the topics which are dealt with. A multiple-choice test format is used.

Verbal Comprehension or Verbal Reasoning Tests

It evaluates the ability of a candidate to understand arguments or verbal descriptions and draw inferences by understanding their significance's. In verbal reasoning tests, the format includes reading a section or passage and then providing answers to questions with False, True or Can’t Say. The emphasis of verbal comprehension test is more on syntax, spelling and grammar.

Personality Questionnaire

This kind of questionnaire is created to know about the working process of candidates, and the ease with which they can fit in specific teams and working environments. A series of different statements are included in the test format, to which subjects have to answer “Yes” or “No”. They are also asked to choose the statements that describe them the most and the least.

Motivation Questionnaire

The aim of this kind of questionnaire is to find out what motivates a candidate, and using the information to improve the ambiance of the organization to boost satisfaction of employees and making them retain. The test format consists of a series of statements which candidates have to rate as whether improving each will motivate or de-motivate them. 

Psychometric testing and assessment is increasingly being used for the assessment of the aptitudes, values, work styles, personality and motivation of individuals in an organization. It is useful for hiring, retention and development of the best talent in companies. The importance of Psychometric can be understood the growing importance of pre-recruitment assessment in organizations. It also reflects the growing requirement for transparency and compliance by offering tools that make hiring and management extremely objective and effective. Find out about some of the primary advantages of Psychometric assessments before employment.

These are objective

There are quite a few flaws in the interview process, and evaluation of interviews can be very subjective. There are differences in the way an interviews distinguishes a great response from a good one. With a pre-recruitment assessment, the intuition of interviews can be supported or debunked. A valid Assessment Tool can offer an external and unbiased perspective which can be useful along with standard evaluation methods used in interviews.

These are cost-effective

Although assessments involve some expense, they can actually help save money. Hiring the wrong people can cost your organization in time, money and reputation. You will waste a lot of money and time in interviewing, training, salaries and other benefits, sub-par performance, retraining new recruits and losing superior employees to competing companies. With pre-hiring assessments, you can choose the right candidates, boost productivity and save money.

These improve recruitment process

With pre-employment assessments, you can find out the key areas you need to probe during interviews. You can improve the recruitment process by combining the information with proper behavioral interviewing skills. For instance, if a candidate is not found to very decisive during the assessment process, you can devote sections of the interview to finding out about the key decisions taken by the candidate in the past and the results for them.

These help increase success ratio

Using an assessment to compare your current best workers against the workers who are less effective, you can determine specific qualities which can indicate success in your organization. You can compare new candidates against this model and spot those who can be best for your company. With time, you can add more data to your decisions on hiring. This will automatically help boost the success ratio for your organization.

These are simple and user-friendly

This type of assessment has been designed to be simple enough to be effective for users. With forced-choice options, the competency of candidates can be assessed easily. The use of online testing ensures that more time is saved, and the results are easier and quicker to obtain than with numerous pen-and-paper tests. Basic assessments can take only around 15 minutes, as compared to written tests which take 1 – 2 hours to be completed.

These are transparent

Full transparency can be expected with these assessments, and supportive documents can be furnished to display how an assessment has been validated for your particular organization. Assessments can be made suitable for your specific type of industry, irrespective of whether you are in retail, management, services or any other type of industry.