Online Tests

Psychometric tests are often used as part of a recruitment process.

They are a way for employers to assess your intelligence, skills and personality.

In other words, recruiters use psychometric tests scores to work out whether or not to hire you.

These tests also evaluate your capacity to work with others, process information and cope with stress.

The majority of psychometric tests are taken online, although paper tests are sometimes used.

 

A Brief History of Psychometric Tests

It was in 1905 that Alfred Binet introduced the first ‘intelligence test’.

They have since evolved to become a common feature of a selection process.

Particularly within large, competitive organisations, these types of test are frequently used as they can assess candidates based on their acquired skills rather than their educational background.

Why and When Are Psychometric Tests Used?

Recruiters like to use psychometric tests for the following reasons:

• They are objective and impersonal, allowing candidates to be compared in ability terms without unconscious bias;
• They help to make the recruitment process more efficient and can represent substantial HR costs;
• They are proven to be reliable indicators of future job performance.

The tests may appear at any stage in the recruitment process but usually, you will undertake the test at one of these three stages:

1. Immediately after you submit your application form
2. As an add-on to your interview
3. Immediately before or after your actual interview

What Do Psychometric Tests Measure?

The term ‘psychometric’ is coined from the Greek words for mental and measurement.

There are three main areas that the tests explore:

1. Your capabilities,
2. Your aptitude for the job,
3. To determine whether your personality fits in with the vision of the organisation you are hoping to join.

Essentially, the tests are looking to evaluate your intelligence, aptitude and personality, as well as how you handle pressure and your working style.

What Are the Different Types of Psychometric Test?

As explained further below, there are essentially three categories: aptitude tests, skills tests and personality tests.

Let’s examine each in turn:

Aptitude Tests

Aptitude tests aim to assess a specific or general set of skills, though this often depends on the type of job that you are applying for.

Categories found within this group include:

• Numerical reasoning test. Used to identify how you interpret data, often via a combination of written and statistical information presented in reports, graphs or charts. This can also be used to assess basic mathematical abilities. Try a free sample test below.
• Verbal reasoning test. Used as a way to determine your ability to evaluate detailed written information so as to make an informed decision. Try a free sample test below.
• Inductive reasoning test. These require you to identify trends or patterns, typically using diagrammatic information. Try a free sample test below.
• Diagrammatic reasoning test. These assess your capacity for logical reasoning, using flowcharts and diagrams. Try a free sample test below.
• Logical reasoning test. Aims to evaluate your skills in reaching a conclusion. You may be provided with some information and then asked to make a decision on what you have been provided with. As such, these tests are also often known as deductive reasoning tests.
• Error checking test. Assesses your ability to quickly identify any errors in complex data sets such as codes, or combinations of alpha-numeric characters.

 

The type of test that you will have to undertake will be determined by the job type and sector.

As with any type of recruitment related test, it is always recommended that you familiarise yourself with the process so that you know what to expect and are adequately prepared.

Psychometric tests are quite formal and impersonal but there are many ways in which you can practice and prepare.

Increasingly, psychometric tests are completed online using specialist systems that removes the requirement for a paper-based test.

 

Personality Tests

Personality assessments enable employers to evaluate your suitability based on your behaviour and the way in which you approach your work.

This will be used to determine how well you will fit into the organisation and the culture of the business.

Your responses will often be cross-referenced with those of a top-performing employee or successful manager, which will be an indication as to whether you share the same characteristics.

Employers look at many factors during the recruitment process, from your knowledge and experience through to your aptitude in areas such as decision making and teamwork.

Increasingly, they will use personality tests as a way to determine if you have the right attitude and personality to fit in with the company’s culture and vision.

Myers Briggs is one of the most commonly used personality tests.

After progressing through a series of questions about how you would feel or act in a given scenario, you will be assigned to one of sixteen personality types based on your responses.

Employers then review this personality type to see if you would fit in with their organisational values.

There is rarely a time limit, as they are looking for you to answer the questions honestly (though it’s worth having a sense of the job description and the employer needs in the back of your head as you go along).

 

How to Prepare for (and Pass) Aptitude Tests

Practising similar aptitude tests beforehand is likely to improve your performance in the real tests.

As such, try to become more familiar with the types of test you may face by completing practice questions.

https://www.assessmentday.co.uk/

The above website is an excellent resource and contains practice tests and solutions for just about every online test you can take including numerical, verbal, diagrammatic, and logical reasoning. There are also personality and situational judgment tests.

Preparation Before the Test

Treat aptitude tests like an interview: get plenty of rest and sleep, plan your journey to the test site, and arrive on time and appropriately dressed.

Listen to (or read) the instructions you are given and follow them precisely.

Before the actual aptitude test itself, you will almost certainly be given practice examples to try.

Make sure you ask questions if anything is unclear at this stage.

You will normally be given some paper on which to make rough workings.

Often you can be asked to hand these in with the test, but typically they do not form part of the assessment.

Taking the Test

You should work quickly and accurately through the test.

Don’t get stuck on any particular question: should you have any problems, return to it at the end of the test.

You should divide your time per question as accurately as you can – typically this will be between 50 and 90 seconds per question.

Remember that the tests are difficult and often you will not be expected to answer all the questions.

Be particularly cautious if the aptitude test uses negative marking; if this is not the case, answer as many questions as possible in the time given.

Remember that multiple-choice options are often designed to mislead you, with incorrect choices including common mistakes that candidates make.

When approaching any type of psychometric test, it is really important that you do not try and give answers that you think the employer will want to read, as they can usually see when candidates try to do this.

If you are the right match for the business, you should find the tests relatively straightforward.