Psychometric tests what do they test

This in turn allows you to give your best performance when you take the real test. Ability tests are timed, check how long the ones you have been asked to do will take.

Personality tests usually take about half an hour. You might see a pattern that you gravitate towards certain kinds of roles or organisations, for example, an informal or agile environment where you get a lot more autonomy or a structured organisation with established processes.

This will be helpful as you look to answering questions about yourself. If you have completed psychometric tests, you are entitled and highly encouraged to receive verbal feedback from a trained assessor.

Treat it as a development opportunity and a chance to gain some insight into yourself and your work style, whether or not you are offered the role. Psychometric tests. What is a psychometric test? There are two main types of psychometric tests: Personality tests Examine how you are likely to behave in the workplace, for example your interpersonal style, task management preferences and how you like to structure your time.

The majority of psychometric testing is completed online, though some paper questionnaires remain. Most tests are timed, but some can be completed in multiple sittings. Personality tests explore your interests, values and motivations, analysing how your character fits with the role and organisation. They analyse your emotions, behaviours and relationships in a variety of situations. Aptitude tests assess your reasoning or cognitive ability, determining whether you've got the right skillset for a role.

Administered under exam conditions, you'll often be given one minute to answer each multiple choice question. Your intelligence levels are compared to a standard, meaning that you must achieve a certain score to pass. Common tests include:. You'll usually be presented with statements describing various ways of feeling or acting, and asked to record how much you agree on a two, five or seven-point scale.

There are no right or wrong answers - this, plus the fact that enforced pressure reduces accuracy and discourages honesty, means that personality tests aren't typically completed under exam conditions. While there's generally no time limit, you should expect to spend between 15 and 30 minutes answering anything from 50 to questions, usually online. The best way to prepare is to practise personality tests so that you're familiar with their format and the questions they ask.

Make sure you've read the job description, know what the employer is looking for and how the test you're taking will measure this. These tests assess your interpretation of charts, graphs, data or statistics, investigating your ability to deal with numbers quickly and accurately. Numerical reasoning tests may also challenge your knowledge of rates, trends, ratios, percentages and currency conversions.

Your understanding of written information, evaluation of arguments, and communication of concepts is being tested here. You must read short passages of text before answering questions that assess your comprehension. Verbal psychometric tests challenge your ability to think constructively and use written information to construct accurate conclusions.

Some tests also assess your spelling and grammar. This is your chance to demonstrate your ability to learn new things quickly. Abstract reasoning tests measure your ability to identify a set of rules and apply them to a new situation, judging how well you follow information or spot patterns.

Questions often consist of a series of pictures, each of which is slightly different. You must then choose another picture from a number of options to complete the series. These aptitude tests are particularly common for IT, science and engineering roles. You'll be given a hypothetical work-related situation and asked to choose a preferred course of action from a list of options.

This helps employers to see whether you match the characteristics needed for a particular job. Personality tests are usually untimed. With timed tests, the key is to strike a balance between speed and accuracy. Don't go so fast that you start making mistakes but don't be so careful over each answer that you don't finish. Some tests are designed to see how well you cope with pressure: often the time limit is so tight that most people are not expected to complete the test.

Just answer as many questions as you can. Read each question carefully before answering. You should be told whether marks are taken off for incorrect answers. Usually they are not, so it's worth making an educated guess at the answer. You can always miss out a question and go back to it if you have time later. Some tests have no time limit, but the questions get harder as you go along.

The aim is to see how far you get and stop when the questions get too difficult. It is worth taking your time to think carefully about the questions. However, it may be harder to miss questions out and return to them later — the earlier questions may help 'build you up' to solve the later questions. It's a good idea to do some practice tests ahead of the real thing.

These will let you familiarise yourself with the format, help you improve on speed and show you any areas you need to work on. Careers advice. Interviews and assessment centres. Psychometric tests How to deal with the different types of psychometric tests used in job interviews and assessment centres: aptitude tests, ability tests and personality tests.

How employers use psychometric tests Employers use psychometric tests to help them find the best person for the job. Psychometric tests can be used at different stages of the selection process: As a first step, to narrow the field when there are large numbers of applicants. This could be as part of an online application.

Alongside a first interview, so the company can decide whether to put you through to the next stage of selection.