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ARTICLE 4: Taking the Myth Out Of Psychometric Tests
The following article explains
what psychometric tests are and some other general info about them.
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What is a Psychometric Test?
It's an instrument attempting to find out about individual differences:
personal characteristics underlying actions, possible future behaviour,
how "good" you are at something compared with other groups of people.
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But they look like quizzes in magazines
True. Some use simple right/wrong questions. Some ask you to chose
the one out of three or four responses which best reflects your views.
Others, however, will show you shapes, numbers, pictures - even the
famous ink blots that open Frasier. For many there is no right or
wrong, just answers that reflect your individuality. Whatever you
see, the differences between a good psychometric test and a quiz is
what lies behind the test: over 100 years of theory, data gathered
on other people, complex statistical techniques and the precise way
the items are worded and drawn, or ordered. Sometimes a true psychometric
test does look like a quiz....but there's a lot going on beneath the
surface.
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So what do they measure?
Anything going on inside you and how that affects your behaviour.
They're used on young babies to check development, in the treatment
of mental illness and in rehabilitation. In businesses, they're used
to decide on recruitment, to give career counselling, to promote people
and to build teams.
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If you're going for a job you're likely to be given one of two types
of test:
Ability Tests - Old IQ tests claimed to give one number that
expressed your intelligence. Nowadays we know that there are lots
of different sorts of intelligence. The most common tests assess verbal,
abstract, spatial and numerical intelligence but there are many others:
emotional intelligence for example. People may be good at some, not
so good at others. Jobs require different mixes of intelligence.
Personality Tests - Personality tests are not like horoscopes.
Good ones are based on theory and many years' research in which they
are tried on millions of people to build up profiles of the sorts
of people who are successful in different jobs.
You might get tested for other things - ethics, values, integrity
for instance - but ability and personality are the most often measured
aspects of people during the recruitment process.
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Will the test decide whether I get the job?
Not on its own, if the test is being used well. Good tests are supplied
only to people trained in their use and they know that tests should
NEVER be used on their own to make a decision. Tests are used as part
of a process, each part of which - interviews, references, work simulations
- provide different parts of the jigsaw. Tests only measure specific
aspects of people and are often used to provide objective back-up
to subjective feelings.
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When will I be tested?
Tests are used at different stages in the recruitment process. Sometimes
they're used in conjunction wih other information (i.e. CVs) to shortlist
candidates; sometimes they're used as part of a first interview, sometimes
to generate questions for a further interview. The information they
generate might be used to plan training for a potential candidate.
Increasingly, you'll find that access to the test is given via password
sites on the internet or even on web recruitment sites. But be careful:
there are some very bad tests on the internet. |
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What should I look for?
You should take the test in a good environment where you can concentrate
on it without disruptions. The test administrator should put you at
your ease and be happy to explain anything you're not sure of. Check
that the test looks good - it's not a photocopy or a cheap print out.
Ask questions about the test; what it's for, how it's being used in
the process. Finally, all good test users are trained to give feedback
to you on how you performed once the test has been interpreted. This
should always happen because recruitment is a two way process and
you have a right to understand the decision and learn a bit more about
yourself.
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Should I be nervous?
A little bit of adrenaline helps in a lot of activities including
testing. But there's no need to be worried. Strangely, research shows
that a lot of people enjoy a well-run testing process because the
feedback gives them more information about themselves. Basically,
tests are there to help you and the employer make good decisions.
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This article was supplied by www.ase-solutions.co.uk,.a Human Capital
Consultancy.
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