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Pyschometric testing
What are they and how to prepare for them?
Psychometric tests and questionnaires
What are they and how to prepare for them?
The purpose of the selection and recruitment process is for an employer to select an appropriate person to fill their vacancy. They will be looking for someone who has the skills, abilities and personal qualities to do the job well. During the selection process a variety of assessment methods can be used; these almost always feature an application form (usually on-line) or CV and an interview, but can also include other methods such as group exercises, presentations and psychometric tests.
All selection methods are seeking to gather evidence that you have the abilities and qualities to be successful in the job, but different methods are better at measuring particular things. For example, an application form gathers information on your qualifications and work experience, demonstrates your written communication skills, and may ask you about other skills; an interview allows you to demonstrate your oral communication skills (often while giving examples of skills and previous experiences); while psychometric tests measure whether you have specific abilities or appropriate personal qualities in relation to the job specification.
Employers may therefore use a variety of methods to gain an overall view; the greater the variety of situations in which a selector can see you perform, and the greater the number of skills that are being tested, the more accurate and objective the assessment should be. So what are psychometric tests and how do they fit into the selection process?
Psychometric tests and questionnaires
These are structured pencil and paper (and increasingly computer based on-line) exercises, often in the form of multiple choice questions. They are designed to assess your reasoning abilities, or how you respond to different situations. The tests should have been carefully researched and trialled to ensure that they are fair to all people sitting them. Your results are usually compared with how others have done in the tests in the past. There are two main types of psychometric tests:
Aptitude or ability tests: aim to assess your capabilities in tests of reasoning, that is, the level and nature of your thinking competencies.
Personality questionnaires: gather information about how and why you do things in your own particular way. They look at how you react or behave in different situations, and your preferences and attitudes. Questionnaires on interests and values are also produced, but are rarely used for selection purposes.
Aptitude or Ability tests
These test your logical reasoning or thinking performance – they are not tests of general knowledge. They are administered under exam conditions and are strictly timed. A typical test might allow 30 minutes for 30 or more questions.
The questions have definite ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ answers, which you often have to select from a range of alternatives.
As you go through the tests, the questions may become more difficult and there are frequently more questions than you can complete in the time. It does not matter if you fail to finish the tests (though you should complete as many questions as possible), it is the number of correct answers which counts.
Your score is then compared with how other people have done on the test in the past. This group (the ‘norm’ group) could be other students / graduates, current job holders (who have been successfully recruited in the past) or a more general group. This enables selectors to assess your reasoning skills in relation to others, and to make judgements about your ability to cope with tasks involved in the job.
Obviously the validity of such tests rests on how closely they assess abilities necessary to the job. For this reason there is a variety of tests, for example tests of reasoning with written information (‘verbal reasoning’ tests), numbers, charts and graphs (‘numerical reasoning’ tests) or abstract figures (‘diagrammatic reasoning’ or ‘spatial reasoning’ tests). The choice of tests used should relate to the work tasks involved in the job.
Tests are often used in conjunction with other selection methods, so it is your overall performance which is important - the tests do not necessarily carry more weight than other elements. however, aptitude tests are sometimes used prior to a first interview (often with or shortly after completion of the on-line application form) and at this stage there is often a ‘pass’ mark or cut-off score, which you have to achieve to continue your application.
Employers may send you some sample questions (or refer you to appropriate part of website) before you sit the test to give you an idea of what to expect. You should also be given some practice examples at the start of the test session itself.
Personality questionnaires
How successful you will be in a job depends not only on your abilities, but also on your personal qualities. Interviews and group exercises can be used to assess social skills, but personality questionnaires can further explore the way tend to react to, or deal with, different situations. They are usually ‘self-report’ questionnaires, which means that a profile is drawn up from your responses to a number of questions or statements. These focus on a number of personality factors such as: how you relate to other people; your workstyle; your ability to deal with your own and others’ emotions; your motivations and determination, and your general outlook.
Unlike aptitude tests, there are no ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ answers and questionnaires are frequently untimed. The selectors will not be looking for rigid ‘typical’ personality profiles, although certain characteristics will be more or less appropriate for that particular job (eg independence, social confidence and persuasiveness are important characteristics for sales personnel).
From your responses, the selector gains information about your style of behaviour – how and why you do things in your own way. You may receive some feedback on the profile which your answers produce and occasionally it may form the basis for discussion at a subsequent interview.
Questionnaires exploring your interests or values are much less commonly used in selection. These are designed to clarify what fields of work interest you or what factors make work more worthwhile for you – an example of these might be the ‘Prospects Planner’ programme available through the Careers Information Room.
The best way to approach all of these questionnaires is just to answer them as straightforwardly as you can. Guessing what the employer is looking for is difficult and could well be counter-productive – after all, you do not want to be given a job which really does not suit you.
How to prepare
We are often asked at the Careers Centre if we can supply practice questions to prepare for employers’ aptitude tests. Unfortunately this is quite difficult and while we do have some example questions (not whole tests) and some reference books with example questions, you cannot usually get hold of or buy psychometric tests, take copies of them or get ‘past papers’ since companies feel that it would undermine the tests’ effectiveness if candidates could practise limitlessly. Also, unlike in examinations, the same test questions are used for several years.
There are, however, a number of things you can do to prepare yourself.
- Sit a practice aptitude test: CEEC will offer the facility to take practice tests and will give feedback on your performance. There are usually two or three practice test sessions offered per term. This is probably the best practice you can have for a real test, since tests are administered under test conditions.
N.B. our licence to use these tests excludes the possibility of letting you ‘browse’ through these test booklets or letting you take them away. You can only have access to them by sitting them ‘for real’. - Examples of test questions: CEEC does have some examples of test questions eg Civil Service and Saville & Holdsworth in reference files. There also some test questions on the computers in the information room and links to some websites.
- Books with test questions: A number of reference books available in the information room contain sample test questions but, a word of warning, checkthe level at which the questions are pitched since proficiency at questions aimed at school leavers will not prepare you adequately for graduate tests.
- Websites: There are several websites where you can get sample questions to try and sometimes (for a fee!) you can get feedback on your results. The Saville & Holdsworth website (http://www.shldirect.com) has some excellent examples.
http://www.psychometric-success.com is aimed at providing student job seekers with the practice they need to pass psychometric selection tests. there are over 100 pages of information regarding psychometric and aptitude tests.
Other major graduate careers sites may also link to test examples such as prospects and doctorjob.
http://www.topemployers.co.uk - Practice graduate numeracy tests. The tests are sponsored by JP Morgan and are based on the typical numeracy / data interpretation tests that many graduates have to do. - Brush up on your maths: Practise basic arithmetic with and without a calculator. Addition, subtraction, division, multiplication and calculations of percentages and ratios are commonly required. The ability to extract information from charts and graphs is as important as the actual calculations in these tests. Reading financial reports and studying data in charts could also be useful practice. The University Student Learning Development Centre suggests the following websites; http://www.lancs.ac.uk/celt/sldc/maths/web-links.html
- Graduate Numeracy Game: http://www.topemployers.co.uk/finance-jobs-game-revenues-by-sector.html Find out how the financial services market is divided up with this jigsaw puzzle
- Verbal reasoning skills: these are more difficult to quickly ‘brush up’ than mathematical techniques. Reading manuals, technical reports or academic or business journals may help. Practise extracting the main points from passages of information and summarising their meaning.
- Puzzles: having a go at word games, mathematical teasers, puzzles with diagrams etc may help to get you into a logical and analytical frame of mind.
If you have a disability and you require special provision, discuss this with the employer in advance of the test session.
On the day
- Try to get a good night’s sleep the evening before the test and plan to arrive in good time at the test location (if the test is pencil and paper) or arrange for quiet undisturbed situation if the test is on-line.
- If you usually wear glasses (or hearing aid etc) make sure you take them with you
- Ensure that you know exactly what you are required to do – do not be afraid to ask questions
- Follow the instructions you are given exactly. Read through the questions and answer choices very carefully.
Eliminate as many wrong answers as possible. For example, with numerical tests, a quick estimate may help you discard several of the options without working out every alternative. - Work as quickly and accurately as you can. Both speed and accuracy are important – don’t spend too long on any one question and keep an eye on the clock.
- Do not waste too much time on difficult questions. If you get stuck on a question, leave it and move on. Whether it is advisable to guess answers depends on how the test is being marked. Some tests just award marks for correct answers whilst others also penalise wrong ones. If you are not told the marking policy during the introduction to the test, you can always try asking, to help determine your strategy (although the test administrators may not tell you!). The best approach is probably to go for a reasoned choice, but to avoid wild guessing.
- Don’t worry if you do not finish all the questions in the time allowed, but if you do, check your answers.
Final thoughts
Practice will help you prepare and familiarise you with the demands made by aptitude tests. This can help you feel more confident in facing tests. However, don’t spend too much time on preparation for tests, especially if you are in your final year. Although improvement is possible, it is unlikely that people can improve their scores beyond a certain level. Do not neglect your coursework as your degree result will be more significant in your future career than an aptitude test result.
If you have not done well on a test, remember that there can be a number of reasons for poor performance. These could include: feeling tired or unwell; being unable to concentrate due to personal problems; misunderstanding what you had to do; answering questions too slowly; panicking; a lack of practice eg mental arithmetic. Poor test results on the day do not necessarily mean that you are lacking in ability.
It is however a fact that, just as some students always have difficulties in exams, then some people just cannot do aptitude tests. This does not reflect on your intelligence – it may only mean that you are not primarily a logical person. You may have a much more intuitive approach to solving problems, which could be equally valuable in a successful career
Remember that as in any test, you can only try your best. Test performance is not the be all and end all, and even if you don’t get this job there will be others.
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