How To Prepare For SHL Psychometric Personality Tests

SHL tests are increasingly seen as one of the most useful psychometric tests available. Easy to complete, they offer an accurate and rounded view of the personality of the candidate or employee.

Organisations use psychometric tests as an essential part of their recruitment and selection process. Ability, aptitude and personality tests form an important part of this process and are most commonly used for recruitment and selection as well as career planning. Increasingly employers are adopting the Occupational Personality Questionnaire or OPQ developed by Saville and Holdsworth Ltd or SHL. The test is commonly referred to as SHL’s personality test and measures 32 personality traits that are relevant to various professions. Employers use this test judge how well an applicant fits a particular role.

Testing times

In a OPQ test a candidate will have to select their answer from four pre-defined responses. Their selection determines the type of personality they have and what kind of employee they are, the test will highlight their strengths and weaknesses. There are no right or wrong answers to these tests, whilst personality traits and types are fairly static, the tests can help an employer put the candidate in a suitable team, working to bring out the best of their abilities.

Taking the test

The psychometric personality tests are generally divided into categories such as relationship, sociability, influence, empathy and thinking style. They also have a means of detecting fake responses to help prevent the test being unfairly weighted. The SHL tests are multidimensional and can be cognitively challenging for candidates, therefore it is advisable that tests are taken in a quiet, stress free environment, giving the candidate as much time as they need to complete it. They will need good reading and comprehension skills to follow the question patterns and answer correctly, and practice tests are available online should candidates feel they might benefit from being more familiar with the type and style of the questions asked of them.

The right results

Aptitude tests such as SHL tests measure personality traits with the purpose of determining a candidate’s likely behavioural style at work, with the results falling into four broad categories; friendly, leader, team player and confident. A professional report will be able to unpick the results further, giving a detailed breakdown of likely behaviours and personality traits.The tests can be adjusted to suit the needs of candidates with disabilities under the Equality Act 2010, every employer in UK has to make reasonable arrangement for candidates with disabilities during the recruitment process.