Many large and medium business houses are using psychometric assessments in the recruitment process. These are basically psychological assessments performed by specialist psychologists who hold great knowledge and expertise in this area. These are extensively used in IT companies, financial institutions, management consultants, armed forces, local authorities and so on.
Psychometric testing is a very effective measure of screening out job applicants in a far more objective manner than what could have been done solely by the traditional selection method. The traditional method of selection was solely based on the interviews, qualification and work experience possessed by the job applicant. This testing is not just useful for recruiting new employees but also for deciding the employees for promotions and transfers.
There are mainly two types of psychometric assessments- aptitude tests and personality tests. The personality test is a test to measure the personal qualities and abilities of the person while the aptitude tests aim at checking the mental abilities and reasoning.
The personality tests are aimed to get information on the personal style and self-view of the candidate. The job performance of a candidate will be greatly dependent on the personality of the person. The simplest of this test involves a questionnaire with multiple choices. These tests do not have any particular correct answer set but are basically aimed to check the integrity and honesty of the person towards himself and others.
Aptitude tests are very common to check the potentials of the job applicants in various fields. The various different forms of aptitude tests are-
• Verbal and written-In this the communication skills (both written and oral) of the candidate are tested. Communication is a very important aspect of working effectively and efficiently in an organisation.
• Numeric tests- Here the ability of the person with logics related to numbers and the ability to play with numbers is tested.
• Abstract reasoning- The creative thinking and the ability to think logically is tested here.
• Spatial and diagrammatic tests- Here the person’s ability to understand and solve diagrammatic problems is checked.
• Other tests based on the type of job.
Thus, it is important to develop a professional psychometric test that can simplify your selection process.