Psychometric Testing Is Not Only Useful for Recruiters

Many recruitment and HR professionals use psychometric testing for screening candidates for short listing and further interviews, but the technique is also useful for learning more about oneself.

The tests are also used to help with career development and training of existing staff and to aid counselling if there should be problems.

There are three main types of psychometric   testing , used for assessing potential abilities,  aptitudes  and personality and the appropriate  test  needs to be selected for the information required, but also the test needs to be carried out by someone proficient in their use.

As the economic climate continues to be challenging and every vacancy attracts large numbers of applicants it is no surprise that employers are increasingly using this tool to find someone who fits the vacancy profile as closely as possible. Such tests can be expensive but they are seen as an effective way of minimising the risks of making the wrong choices because the recruitment process itself can be a costly business.

A job description needs to be carefully constructed to cover all the essential requirements of the position to be effective and the psychometric test can therefore play a part in refining this also.

In a nutshell the ability  test  is designed to measure a person’s capacity to learn and can therefore assess the subject’s future potential while the  aptitude  test  will measure the subject’s ability to perform in a specific range of skills and ways. If personality is an issue where someone will have to fit into a team and perhaps grow with it then the psychometric test can give some measure of objective evaluation of this.

As employers become more demanding roles, such as the traditional PA’s are changing and expanding. Often nowadays the PA, particularly at senior level, is working for a team of managers, may be required to step in as a manager themselves in some situations and be flexible about where and how they work. Increasingly they can be asked to train and manage more junior staff, carry out research and manage simple accounts.

For the candidate who is looking for a PA role, therefore, a psychometric test can help them to learn about their own potential to meet these additional requirements. It may help to reveal hidden abilities that enable a candidate to target a particular sector or consider a change of career.

Learning about oneself and what one could potentially become may also provide insights that can help with identifying areas of weakness that the candidate can then tackle with additional training and qualifications.

All this will help the candidate to refine their CV and fill out application forms with the confidence of knowing that they can demonstrate how they meet the requirements of the job and thereby improve the chances of being called for interview.

Psychometric Testing Is Not Only Useful for Recruiters