Pre hire psychometric tests

                                                Figure 1:  Psychometric test

A psychometric test is a procedure or evaluation used to look at individual characteristics that can affect a candidate's fitness for a position. When properly created and developed, psychometric tests are scientific and objective instruments that strive to remove prejudice and assist companies in fairly comparing individuals' abilities to execute a job function. In the later phases of the recruiting process, such as in-person or video interviews, employers can use the data collected from psychometric testing to better understand candidates' strengths and danger areas (SHL, 2023). Psychometric tests are frequently used as tools to support professional choices, such as the choice and grading of human resources. There is hardly a job type, from the assembly-line worker or filing clerk to top management, for which some sort of psychometric test has not proven useful in situations like hiring, job assignment, transfer, promotion, or termination (Merwe, 2022).

Different Types of Psychometric Test

Aptitude Tests

A candidate's cognitive or personality abilities are assessed via an aptitude test. They are often used in job evaluations because they may be used to estimate a candidate's chances of success in a position while removing any bias through their standardized administration (Assesment Day, 2023). Although this frequently depends on the sort of job you are looking for, aptitude tests are designed to evaluate a particular or general range of talents. A few other tricks can be identified under this. They are as follows:

·       Numerical reasoning test

·       Verbal reasoning test

·       Inductive reasoning test

·       Diagrammatic reasoning test

·       Logical reasoning test

·       Error checking test

 

Skills Tests

A skills test is an assessment that is designed to provide a candidate's ability to carry out the tasks mentioned in the job description with an objective, validated evaluation. A skills exam often includes a number of questions in various forms to gauge a candidate's readiness for the job. A good skills exam will have questions that can be answered by someone who is actually performing the job and that can measure important performance indicators with accuracy. Additionally, inquiries should be designed to expressly address the duties of an available post. Many skills assessments use immersive elements, such as coding tasks or work simulations, to simulate how a candidate might behave in a real-world situation (Garland, 2023).

Personality Tests

A personality test is one way to assess a person's personality. Testing and evaluation of personality traits are techniques for identifying recurrent traits that people exhibit across settings. Personality tests can be used to direct therapeutic interventions, define clinical diagnoses, and predict how people will respond in different situations. We often do informal personality assessments and classifications of people. When we talk about ourselves or others, we frequently bring up various facets of our personalities (Cherry, 2023).

 Benefits of psychometric testing

Employers who incorporate psychometric testing into their hiring process can benefit from a variety of factors. Those are:

·       Improved hiring decisions

Psychometric tests may provide vital information about the personalities, skills, and motivations of job prospects, assisting companies in making knowledgeable hiring decisions during the recruiting process. Finding the top achievers for the various job responsibilities gets simpler when this degree of insight is provided. Finding people who are in line with the goals, objectives, culture, and values of the company is another benefit.

 

·       Better understanding of employees and job candidates

A thorough image of a candidate's or employee's distinctive traits may be painted with the use of psychometric testing. This information may be very helpful for potential applicants, workers, and employers. Employers may use this data to make data-driven recruiting decisions, which can save them time and money. From the viewpoint of a candidate or employee, however, it may be utilized to pinpoint particular areas in which they need to grow personally.

 Increased employee performance

Psychometric testing is a wonderful tool for finding fresh talent, but it is also helpful for the training and development of current personnel. These assessments are an excellent approach for businesses to identify an employee's strengths, areas for improvement, and areas of interest, enabling them to construct a personalized development plan for that person. As a result, you'll see an improvement in worker morale, promote higher job output, and raise general worker satisfaction (Davies, 2023).

                                                Figure 2: Advantages of psychometric tests

 Disadvantages of Psychometric Tests

·       Method can become a fake one

Many times, businesses are duped into purchasing non-psychometric tests in the name of required psychometrics. As a result, many companies struggle to achieve the desired outcomes. Although these deceptive techniques give the impression that they are giving each side a full picture, they are not. When businesses understand the reality, the cost will already have increased significantly.

·       Not complete in the whole sense

There isn't a comprehensive psychometric exam that can be used for all types of interviews, and it varies greatly depending on the selection. Additionally, several factors were taken into account when designing the test, making it impossible for a candidate to adequately prepare.

·       Can make a candidate nervous

Some of the candidates can become nervous at the onset of the tests and can fumble right from the beginning to the end and the last thing a person needs for an interview is to entirely collapse the same.

The base is a small population

These tests are created using statistical sample populations with the sole intention of being completely honest; hence, they do not account for test-taking fraud. This test's execution would then be an abject failure (Reddy, 2023).

 Conclusion

Psychometric tests are important during the hire process, most of the candidates having a lot of qualifications but they are unable perform after they recruited for the positions. Theses type of exams are supporting to identify that they are fit mentally for the appointment and are seen as making a good contribution.

 References

Assesment Day, 2023. Assesment Day. [Online]
Available at: https://www.assessmentday.co.uk/#:~:text=An%20aptitude%20test%20is%20an,bias%20through%20its%20standardised%20administration.
[Accessed 26 April 2023].

Cherry, K., 2023. Very Well Mind. [Online]
Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-personality-testing-2795420
[Accessed 26 April 2023].

Davies, J., 2023. Tazio. [Online]
Available at: https://www.tazio.io/blog-posts/psychometric-tests-what-are-the-benefits
[Accessed 26 April 2023].

Garland, S., 2023. Verveo. [Online]
Available at: https://vervoe.com/skill-testing/#:~:text=A%20skills%20test%20is%20an,on%2Dthe%2Djob%20tasks.
[Accessed 26 April 2023].

Merwe, V. . D., 2022. PSYCHOMETRIC TESTING AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 2(77-86), p. 86.

Reddy, C., 2023. Wisestep. [Online]
Available at: https://content.wisestep.com/advantages-disadvantages-psychometric-tests/
[Accessed 26 April 2023].

SHL, 2023. SHL. [Online]
Available at: https://www.shl.com/solutions/products/assessments/psychometric-tests/
[Accessed 26 April 2023].

Figure 1:  Psychometric test

Figure 2: Advantages of psychometric tests