Psychometric Assessments
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Psychometric assessments are a great way to understand how a person thinks, behaves and operates in a professional environment. Employers use these assessments to gain a better understanding of YOU alongside interviewing reference checking and screening. Psychometric assessments are also a fantastic development tool. An employer can use your psychometric assessment reports as a learning and development tool if you become a new member of their team for your ongoing Professional Development and onboarding.
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Skills assessments:
Usually, Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word), Typing (speed and accuracy).
There will also be testing for specific roles. For example, a Graphic Design OR Videography/Photography role – the employer may ask you to show them how you use Adobe Premier Pro or DaVinci. For a Finance Manager role, they may ask you to analyse a Profit and Loss sheet.
Personality Assessments:
A personality assessment measures your natural tendencies and preferences. There are no right or wrong answers, it’s all your personal preferences. The aim is to answer how you are instead of how you would like to be or want to be. A lot of these assessments will pick up if you’re trying to present yourself in a certain way. It’s also best to avoid the neutral/middle check boxes too often as this will present an incomplete report.
Ability Assessments:
Ability Assessments are a TEST, and usually timed. One common ability assessment is a ‘Cognitive’ ability test and is made up of mixture of vocabulary, numerical and abstract reasoning questions. These questions will give an employer an idea of how you understand numbers, follow instructions and think critically (how quickly you pick up new information). All the questions are multi choice and they advise not to use calculators, dictionaries or the internet while completing the assessment; you are allowed a pen and paper to make notes and calculations.
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Before beginning a psychometric assessment, there are a few things you can and will need to do prior. Firstly, make sure you will have at least 45 minutes to an hour of uninterrupted time in a quite environment. It’s important you are not distracted and are able to complete the assessments in one period as the assessment links can expire or time out.
It’s also important you are in the right frame of mind. If you are extremely tired or dealing with something personally that is overtaking your mind, it may affect how you perform in the assessments and could cause a result that does not reflect you truly.
Most assessments will need to be completed on a computer or laptop. Usually, phones do not show the full assessment screen and questions can be missed. This can skew your results.
You can also ask your Recruitment Consultant or Hiring Manager for practice tests prior to sitting your real assessments. This allows you to familiarize yourself with the questioning and what to expect with layout of the test.
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You are always entitled to feedback. Ask the Recruitment Consultant or Hiring Manager to provide feedback so that you can understand your style and how that may fit with your prospective employer. Feedback will usually be provided over the phone or in person or they may have a specific feedback report that they can email you.
Remember, psychometric testing is supposed to be ONE piece of the puzzle in a hiring process. It should not be the final decision maker for an employer. Take a breath and try your best.