Psychometric testing

[Mamee & Co]

I have reached second interview stage and am about to have to undergo various types of psychometric testing, probably numerical and verbal reasoning as well and some excel tests.

Don't know if I have just been lucky up until now but I have never had to do these tests. I have googled and had a look at the various tests which come up and the questions and they seem relatively straightforward, but thought that I would ask for people's experiences, if they had been tested in this way for a position.

[jeffanar]

I did psychometric testing for my first job. There was multi-choice questions at the start for verbal / abstract / numerical critical reasoning. These were timed, and I didn't finish any of them but did very well in terms of percentiles, so don't worry too about finishing all the questions.

Then there was a whole load (maybe a couple of hundred) of questions which I think were just yes/no or true/false, and these were used to generate an 'assessment of vocational preferences' and the 'Humm-Wadsworth Temperament scale'. It's basically a whole lot of quite repetitive questions that you are supposed to answer as honestly as possible. I still have the report and actually find it really interesting to read!

If you practice some of the numerical/logic etc. stuff then you should be fine, just don't get stressed by the time constraint, and try to work as quickly as possible without making mistakes

[sks]

Yup, there have been threads on this before, but psychometric testing is apparently very common in NZ. I went through a Myers-Briggs battery for a position that I ultimately wasn't offered (but I don't think there was any linkage -- a couple of large projects that the firm was expecting to start were put on hold).

You can find a couple of practice tests online if you just want to run through one or two. There's really no way to study or skew the outcome significantly, so just familiarize yourself with the test format and relax.

[James 1077]

The tests that I've had to do are normally done online and are timed. There is a practice session at first so that you understand what sort of questions will be in each section.

To be honest they are pretty simple - the main tip is to make sure that you don't get bogged down on one question but take a guess and move on. If you are reasonably strict with that then you tend to do better in the tests.

I've no idea what they are really looking for though - they seem like a way of justifying HR staffing levels rather than being a useful tool for differentiating between candidates for the role!

[catt]

My advice as someone qualified to conduct psychometric testing is to be honest in answering the questions and just flow with it, as already been suggested dont think too hard about any one question or you will get bogged down. Not one question is a make or break one they are accumulative and the answers are provided in batches not as a one only answer. The person who conducts the tests is not the necessarily the person who will be pulling the answers together and you should get a complete assessment paper at the end of it and if really lucky the person who does do the marking will talk you through the answers............good luck

[Grasshopper]

Hi Mamee & Co..

Which ones are they asking you to do?.... These types of things can look at Personality Type, Prefered Learning styles, Leadership indicators, Learning potential, Team Style Indicators; Technical Competence and so on...

As Catt suggested... best to relax, don't think too hard and to go with the flow... and above all...ask for the feedback!.. Gotta keep those HR types employed and busy somehow eh?

[victoria24]

in my experience, the test results form part of the questioning in the behavioral part of the interview process.

[Att]

In my experience as a manager those tests are a complete load of crap. As all such silly HR games they can be easily faked and in the end tell you nothing about how good the person will be when employed. Typical corporate waste of people's time.

[tywil]

In my experience as a manager those tests are a complete load of crap. As all such silly HR games they can be easily faked and in the end tell you nothing about how good the person will be when employed. Typical corporate waste of people's time.

agree 100%

[Mamee & Co]

Well it wasn't too bad...goodness knows what it will supposedly reveal....some of those questions are a bit..mmmm...odd...so probably it will be something along the lines of "I'm a woman, with a need for chocolate, to reduce the irrationalities imposed upon me my the young and male of the species on a monthly basis whilst avoiding the arts and enjoying sunsets" eyes:

But it is good to know that according to the machine that I have extensive excel skills which I never knew I had!

I'll get a report at the end of the week....