Psychometric testing is a valuable personnel and recruitment aid in that it offers a standard and objective way to assess a person's skills and abilities, irrespective of previous experience or qualifications. Designed to predict specific aspects of future work performance, tests can be used advantageously in selection, personal development, team-building, succession planning, coaching, skills auditing and more. Individuals interested in their own development also find it helpful to have an objective assessment highlighting their strengths and areas requiring improvement.
There are many types of tests, and a typical battery may include:
Ability tests assess a range of reasoning skills used in different types of problem solving. For example, there are tests of various levels of difficulty tomeasure the ability to understand and draw conclusions from verbal, numerical, abstract, mechanical, and spatial information. Jobs requiring a certain level of ability may have cut-off points below which candidates are unlikely to succeed. Typically individuals will perform well on some types of reasoning tests and less well on others.
Aptitude tests can assess how easily skills and knowledge not currently possessed could be acquired. This can be particularly useful when gauging an individual's potential to acquire new learning in a particular field, for example programming, mechanical or clerical work.
Attainmenttests discover what a person can do at this point in time. Tests may include work simulations using actual job materials to test the current level of knowledge/skill in situ. Attainment tests can be used to assess learning after formal training.
Motivationquestionnaires highlight key values and priorities - the needs and drivers accounting for why a person behaves in a particular way. Gaining insight in to what motivates and demotivates a person at work allows rewards to be geared appropriately.
Personalityinventories provide qualitative descriptions of aspects of temperament and character. The information can be used in a number of ways, for example, comparing an individual's profile with those in similar roles to assess the likelihood of success; enhancing self-awareness; considering whether a person's disposition will fit in to the organisational culture.
All tests need to be both reliable - that is consistent and stable over time, and valid - does the test measure what it purports to measure, and what inferences can be made from the results.
Further information on psychometric tests can be found at The British Psychological Society's page on "Psychological Testing: A User's Guide" http://www.psychtesting.org.uk.Practice tests of varying levels of difficulty can be found on the web - some free (e.g. http://www.testprepreview.com; http://www.profilingforsuccess.com/demo.htm) or at a reasonable price. The British Psychological Society (Tel: 0116 254 9568) holds a list of members on the Register of Competence in Occupational Testing.
