Psychometric tests
They're not tests at all, even though they consist of a large number of questions that demand answers. Psychometric tests (also known as aptitude tests) can provide employers with the sort of information about you that they can't easily get from the rest of the assessment centre.
The ‘psycho’ part means it’s to do with your brain and the ‘metric’ part means some form of measurement. So psychometric tests are there to give a quantifiable measurement of your mental ability. These can include personality tests but are usually to do with cognitive ability – such as verbal or numerical reasoning. Also known as ‘aptitude tests’, these are often used to ensure that you meet basic requirements. ‘The tests are an indicator but are not the be all and end all,’ says Claire McBride, resourcing manager for Mothercare . ‘People think it’s about answering as many as possible but accuracy and attention to detail are also important, and simply guessing in order to complete the test may damage your accuracy score.’ Although you cannot practise for a personality test (never has the phrase ‘just be yourself’ been more apt), you can, thankfully, practise a range of different aptitude tests - if you've signed up for this website, check your confirmation e-mail to find out how to access some SHL tests to get started on!
Bob Stead, author and occupational psychologist from the University of Hertfordshire Business School, gives his top five psychometric test tips
- Practise using example tests on the internet beforehand.
- Check the answers. If you get any wrong, find out why.
- Do the practice test again and again until you get all the answers right.
- Don’t get stressed if you don’t finish these tests. They are designed so that people rarely do finish.
- For personality tests, don’t try to pre-empt what sort of personality they are looking for – it’s no use trying to portray something that you are not.
Free practice tests
Follow these links for free practice psychometric tests:
Free psychometric tests from SHL
Free psychometric tests from Kenexa
Free psychometric tests from Peoplemaps
Free psychometric tests from Profiling For Success
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