Justine Winter is a registered psychologist and helps our partners with their psychometric testing. She gives us the lowdown on what it all means.
What are they?
Psychometric assessment is a term used to describe ability and personality tests. These (either ability, personality or a combination of the two types) are often used to complement recruitment processes.
Ability tests can include measures of verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning and are usually timed. Typically, these assessments are multi-choice with right and wrong answers. Personality questionnaires including motivational assessments are untimed and focus on your
preferred style of behaviours and values. There are no right and wrong answers in this instance – just what is right for you.
Why are they used?
Psychometric assessments can provide hiring managers and recruiters with objective information that is otherwise difficult to glean from interviews or reference checks alone. Findings are used to supplement data gathered from your CV, interviews and referees. It’s not intended to be solely used to inform a selection decision but rather to guide the decision and any further lines of enquiry. It can
also be very helpful for identifying how to best transition you into your new role and strengths to leverage.
What is involved?
You may be invited to complete psychometric assessments as part of the selection process you work through with us and our clients. The range of assessments will vary from one role to the next, subject to the role’s requirements and level. If you are invited to complete assessments you will be contacted by our assessment service provider and fully briefed on the process. Depending on the combination of assessments you can expect anywhere between 30 minutes and up to two hours of testing, all of which can be done online and in your own time. Our process includes offering you verbal feedback following completion of the assessments, which is provided over the phone by our assessment service provider.
How can I prepare?
- Our assessment provider will brief you on what is involved for your specific testing situation. The following points will help you in your preparation as well.
- Consider completing some practice tests before completing those assigned to you (link below)
- Complete testing alone
- Ensure you have no interruptions – this is critical. Distractions from background noises and
interruptions from phone calls or in person tends to negatively impact performance, so be mindful of choosing a quiet space with good internet connectivity where you can complete the assessments - Complete them at a time when you are mentally alert. Starting these extremely late at night is not advisable, so do consider your schedule and when you work best
- You can split tests up over several sittings – this can be helpful when you cannot do them all at once
- If choosing to do ability and personality testing
