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Career Advice - Career Psychometric Testing - ICErecruit

Psychometric testing is a way of assessing a person's ability or personality in a measured and structured way. Some psychometric tests are used by employers to help them in their recruitment process while other tests can help people with career decision making.

There are 3 main types of psychometric personality testing:

1. Ability
These are broken down into three types of test.

General intelligence tests - these assess your general ability (your intelligence). They are not dependent on prior learning or knowledge but more on how good you are at solving problems using logical thinking.

Specific ability tests - Either attainment tests which examine the skills and knowledge you already possess.

Or Aptitude tests which are more of a measure of your potential for certain activities.
2. Personality
These are designed to allow organisations to measure aspects of your personality. There are no right or wrong answers. They seek to present a picture of how a person will behave in particular circumstances.
3. Interest
Interest inventories examine a person's interests and are often used in careers guidance but can also be used for selection purposes.

It is common for graduate employers to use psychometric tests as part of their selection process. Organisations believe tests help them recruit the right people with the right mix of abilities and personal qualities. They are also useful for "sifting out" large number of applicants at an early stage.

Tests can be administered by pencil and paper or computer. You may be asked to take them in an assessment centre, test centre or online. Employers may set a particular score which you need to achieve to proceed.

Using psychometric testing to find the right job
If you want to be happy in your work, you need to find a career that suits your personality, meets your needs and helps you to achieve your personal goals. Psychometric tests can be used to identify the right career path for you.

It can be very difficult to separate the careers that suit your personality and abilities from the careers that would frustrate you or make you unhappy. To be happy and successful in a job, you need to ensure that your abilities, values and personality are well aligned with those needed for your chosen career and with those of the organisation you work for.

Online psychometric tests are very useful for this sort of self-assessment - they are quick to complete and give you good information on which you can base your decision making.

The following websites have great psychometric testing resources:

  • MAPP - which takes you through a structured analysis of the work that you like and the work you hate and, based on this, recommends a list of careers that will suit you

  • Analyze my Career - which provides aptitude tests and other tests that help you to identify careers that you will do well in.

  • Career Test Advisor - Testing a new career direction? Check their assessment of career test websites before you choose a test provider.

  • Mathcentre - Many people find numerical tests difficult, often this is due to being out of practice dealing with numerical information. This is a website which offers quick reference guides, practice and online exercises on many branches of maths.