Select The Right Candidates With Psychometric Tests

Psychometric tests are amongst the most accurate and objective measures of performance and work preferences, and therefore can help you make informed decisionswhich are important for the growth and development of your company.

Organisations and business often struggle to select the right person for the job. Interview performance and references traditionally play a significant role in the recruitment and selection process, though they don’t always paint an accurate picture of the candidate and their skills and aptitude for the job. Increasingly companies are incorporating psychometric testing into their recruitment process, in order to better gauge the intelligence, ability, personality and mind set of the applicants. Originally these were used in the field of educational psychology to test the abilities of students, but now they have made their way into recruitment processes as well as for the training and development of employees.

Why use these tests?

The tests mutually benefit employers and prospective employees in more ways than one. They enable recruiters to match the right person to the right job and can help the job seeker to focus their attention on the best career path for them. All areas where a prospective employee needs further development can be mapped out, and any additional training and development given. It improves communication among team members and can help employers build teams with the right balance of skills and abilities. Also, use of these tests can help reduce the turnover of staff, as they will beplaced in the right role for them as well as given the training opportunities they would benefit most from.

Adopting the test

A lot of companies and organisations use psychometric tests, including IT companies, financial institutions, management consultants, civil services, local authorities, fire services, as well as police and the armed services. These tests fall into two main areas, namely, personality and aptitude tests. Personality tests are the key to knowing about an employee by enquiring about their thoughts, behaviours and feelings in situations related to work and otherwise. Aptitude tests on the other hand, test a prospective employee’s verbal, numeric, spatial ability, abstract and mechanical reasoning, fault diagnosis and data checking capabilities.

Test under examination conditions

Aptitude tests can help both candidates and hiring managers understand what each role in an organisation entails and how best progress can be achieved through it. The psychometric tests should ideally be taken under examination conditions, allowing the candidate to focus on the test and giving the time to complete it to the best of their abilities.