RICHMOND. Be yourself... There s a lot less to remember.

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1 Psychometric tests: Preparation and why there s nothing to fear by Heidi Nicholson, ichmond olutions and tephenie Curnock, Amber Occupational Psychology olutions Let s begin >> PEONAL CAEE ADVOCATE +44 (0) info@richmondsolutions.co.uk richmondsolutions.co.uk

2 Be yourself... There s a lot less to remember. In our time we have been asked by friends, so how do I make myself look really good in these tests? The spur for the question is invariably that someone has been confronted by having to do psychometric tests for the first time. They are an unknown, and as a result the people posing the question are fearful that the tests will reveal a side to their character they would rather not discuss or, worse still, that they will not be offered the job on the strength of performance in the tests alone. Psychometrics assessments fall in to two main categories aptitude tests, which assess cognitive capacity such as numerical and verbal reasoning ability, and personality questionnaires which assess behavioural and motivation characteristics. A recent CIPD survey showed that 35% of businesses now use a combination of interviews and psychometrics when recruiting for a role and research suggests that this combined approach increases the likelihood of employing the best candidate. Psychometrics are typically used to corroborate other parts of the selection procedure, not supersede it. The second bit of good news is that effective preparation can help. The first bit of good news is that it is highly unlikely that you will lose a job opportunity on the strength of the psychometric tests alone. PEONAL CAEE ADVOCATE

3 Improving your performance on aptitude tests Aptitude Tests comprise of multiple choice questions, each question having one correct answer. They are designed to measure an individual s capacity to think logically and solve problems independent of prior knowledge (such as abstract reasoning tests) and the capacity to learn from past experiences and apply this to new situations (such as numerical reasoning and verbal reasoning tests). When assessments are conducted scores are derived for actual ability (as opposed to ability relative to other candidates) and are established by comparing scores to a norm group. A norm group consists of scores collected from a comparison group of individuals of a similar level of attainment. In the case of aptitude assessments, research indicates that several factors influence performance on these tests - such as level of attainment and the recency of completing formal education, the frequency of using critical reasoning skills on a day to day basis, previous experience of taking psychometric tests and familiarity with the types of questions and information these tests include. Therefore with several factors different affecting performance on aptitude tests, the strategies you employ to help you perform at your best will largely depend on the time you have before the test. It may not be practical or possible to change your educational background in the short term, however there is always benefit in the medium term to ditch the calculator and complete lots of udoku puzzles or crosswords in order to exercise those critical reasoning skills or brush up on the mental arithmetic. However if the test is looming and you re short on preparation time, in the short term, practicing actual psychometric test under similar test conditions presents the best gains in helping you to perform at your best. esearch has also indicated that practice with high quality test materials in a similar form these tests are delivered (e.g. timed and online) also helps to reduce test anxiety. Test anxiety is made up of several factors such as emotional worry, unfamiliarity and lack of confidence. educing test anxiety through practice and feedback has been shown to reduce errors made when completing subsequent tests. educing test anxiety means there is more mental energy available during the test for reasoning activities rather than being wasted on emotional worry. Feedback on relative strengths and areas of weakness from practicing tests can also help to target your energies beforehand so that you focus your preparation on the areas where you need to. By practising these tests, not only will you increase your confidence when it comes to the real thing, but you will be able to develop your test-taking strategies and, having gained an insight into your performance, work on improving your results. PEONAL CAEE ADVOCATE

4 Improving your performance in personality profiling Alongside the ability based test, the other major part of psychometric assessment is personality profiling. This is conducted through completion of a questionnaire (usually online these days) followed up by an interview or feedback session. Personality assessment helps to establish a profile of individual behavioural preferences, needs and talents. This can include motivation and perceived effectiveness and, since these are self-report questionnaires, it is important that the data gathered is validated through discussion with an individual who is trained to accurately interpret the profile (such as a Psychologist). Personality questionnaires are considered to be fair and objective tools with an established reputation for predicting performance. ituational factors may impact on a personality profile and the feedback session can help establish why an individual has responded in a particular way. The root cause can then be identified and discussed. Profiling provides an interviewing panel with a deeper understanding of what drives a person and how their motives and talents may interact with other factors such as the organisation s culture, key aspects of the job and the working environment. This all helps to determine the potential performance and competency in the role. Where ability tests have clear right and wrong answers, this is not so with personality assessments, so you can t necessarily improve your performance. However in the case of personality assessments it is rather a situation of gaining a greater insight into your own strengths and limitations through prior self-reflection in order to help you prepare for your feedback session or interview. It is important to point out that when responding to personality questionnaires don t try to second guess what you should say: much research has been carried out into response styles. The more robust and reputable assessments have now incorporated multiple checks to measure response styles throughout the questionnaire. These response style scales measure how consistent you have been in your answers and to what extent you have tried to present a favourable impression. With so many integral checks, trying to present a certain image can result in a confused or distorted profile and will act as red flags to the trained eye. o when answering personality questionnaires, it is always best to answer honestly based on accurate self-reflection of your typical behaviours. PEONAL CAEE ADVOCATE

5 The benefits for preparing for these tests Gaining an understanding of how different behaviours, needs, motives and preferences might interact with aspects of an organisation s culture, the job and the work environment. Being aware of key factors that are likely to inhibit or enhance your success in a particular role. Being aware of the pitfalls of attempting to second-guess desired traits in a personality questionnaire. Understanding your strengths and how to use them to the full. Being aware of the pitfalls of overplaying certain key strengths and how to reduce their potential negative impacts. Developing strategies to address likely areas of limitation - demonstrating strength of character and self-awareness to an employer. Being prepared for what aspects of your personality a psychologist may be particularly interested in. Understanding the structure for challenging and questioning the findings of personality profiling during feedback. Getting an insight into how personality profiling can influence questions asked at the interview stage, so that you are as prepared as possible to face any panel. PEONAL CAEE ADVOCATE

6 Conclusion There is really no mystery to psychometric assessment. You may hear that preparation is not effective but research has shown that several factors contribute to effective performance and practice can help. Being prepared can not only improve your familiarity and reduce errors but will increase your confidence. ince they are an increasingly popular part of selection processes, being prepared for them is an important part of the job hunting process. PEONAL CAEE ADVOCATE

7 ome of the most commonly used tests: Personality Profiling Wave Professional tyles and Wave Focus tyles (aville Consulting) is a powerful measurement of personality. It measures an individual s motives, talents, preferred culture and competency potential in a single questionnaire. It enables employers to look at an individual s job fit and organisation fit and provides information on factors that enhance and limit performance. The profile is split into 4 clusters, and provides detail in up to 108 different facets. The Wave Focus tyles is a shorter version of the Wave Professional tyles questionnaire. NEO PI- (Hogrefe) is a highly-regarded, well-researched assessment of personality. It concisely measures the five major domains of personality (the five factor model) along with traits or facets that define each domain. OPQ32r (HL) provides detailed information on 32 specific personality characteristics which support performance on key job competencies and is designed solely for use in a business environment. It measures aspects of behaviour crucial to performance potential which cannot be identified through other means, such as a CV or an interview. It offers a clear, simple framework for understanding the impact of personality on job performance. 16PF (OPP) measures 16 traits that describe and predict a person's behaviour in a variety of contexts. It looks as an individual s whole personality, revealing potential, capacity to sustain performance, and helping identify development needs. PEONAL CAEE ADVOCATE

8 ome of the most commonly used tests: Ability/Aptitude tests aville Consulting Aptitude Assessments includes a range of tests for Directors, Managers, Graduates and Professionals designed to measure different aspects of an individual s aptitude. These tests come in a variety of formats (online and hard copy) and assess an individual s ability to evaluate complex written information, evaluate numerical data and evaluate processes represented through diagrams. ome tests also include information on test taking style including accuracy, speed and caution. Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal assesses an individual s critical thinking skills relevant to problem solving and decision making. This includes the ability to define and select relevant information to solve problems, recognise assumptions, evaluate arguments, formulate and select relevant hypotheses, judge inferences and draw valid conclusions. HL Verify is a range of online (unsupervised) ability tests which are followed up by a short (supervised) verification test at an interview or assessment centre. The tests measure an individual s ability to evaluate the logic of various kinds of argument presented in written form, the ability to draw inferences and understand the relationships between various concepts independent of acquired and the ability to make correct decisions or inferences from numerical or statistical data set in a realistic workplace context. The Verify item bank creates unique online tests for every test taker, improving security and reducing the risk of cheating. PEONAL CAEE ADVOCATE

9 ome of the most commonly used tests: Ability Tests (continued) Leadership Judgment Indicator (Hogrefe) provides valuable insight into the relative leadership strengths and provides an assessment of the degree to which the leader can flex away from his or her preferred style to the most appropriate one for the particular situation. It is a scenario-based assessment which measures an individual s preferred style in addition to how well the individual understands the importance of sometimes behaving against their preferred style. ABLE eries tests (OPP) are based on real-life scenarios and work simulations. They measure an individual's potential to learn a given task, adapt to changing work environments and their ability to handle future work challenges. These tests are used to supplement information about and individual s past experience based on evidence collected from the interview and or CV. cenarios Assessing Managerial Judgement (HL) comes in three editions, Graduate, Managerial and Executive. The test measures an individual s ability to weigh up reallife situations and decide on appropriate and effective ways of handling them. The test provides an overall rating of managerial judgement which is also broken down into key components including Managing Objectives, People Management and eputation Management. PEONAL CAEE ADVOCATE

10 ichmond olutions offer psychometric familiarisation as one of their services. For further details, please contact Heidi Nicholson,Partner at If you would like a free review of your CV or LinkedIn profile, please contact us via our website. For updates from ichmond olutions follow us on and join our LinkedIn group. With regular updates and information always appearing on our blog,why not come and take a look PEONAL CAEE ADVOCATE +44 (0) info@richmondsolutions.co.uk richmondsolutions.co.uk