Psychometric Tests

By Akhil Mahesh

WHAT ARE PSYCHOMETRIC TESTS?

Aim to measure aspects of your mental ability, aptitude or your personality Used as part of the recruitment or selection process Provides employers with a method of selecting the most suitable job applicants or candidates for promotion Used by 80% of Fortune 500 and 75% of Times Top 100 companies

What do psychometric tests measure?

 How well you work with other people How well you handle stress

Whether you will be able to cope with the intellectual demands of the job
Your personality, preferences and abilities Analyze your emotional or psychological stability Best match of individual to occupation and working environment

What are the different types of tests?

Personality Tests
You will be presented with statements describing various ways of feeling or acting and asked to answer each one on a 2 point, 5 point or 7 point scale. The number of questions you are expected to answer varies from about 50 to 200, depending on the duration of the test. 1. I prefer to avoid conflict.

A) True B) False
2. I enjoy parties and other social occasions. A) strongly disagree B) disagree C) neutrals D) agree E) strongly agree

3. Work is the most important thing in my life.

A) very strongly disagree B) strongly disagrees C) disagree D) neutral E) agree F)strongly agree G) very strongly agree

Types of aptitude and ability tests

Some of the popular psychometric tests are:

16 PF MBTI OPQ32 Thomas Personal Profiling System Gordons Personal Profile Inventory Rorschach Ink-Blot Test FIRO-B Picture Frustration Test Thematic Apperception Tests (TAT)

Basis of these tests:

Five personality traits: Openness Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism

Five Factor Scoring:

-ve Extraversion Agreeableness Conscientiousn ess Neuroticism Openness to experience +ve

16 Personality Factor model (16PF)

Developed in the 1940s and refined in the 60s Attempts to define the basic underlying personality Questionnaire based Analysis using 16 personality factors

Factor A B Warmth Reasoning Emotional Stability Dominance Liveliness Rule Consciousness Social Boldness Sensitivity Vigilance Abstractedness Privateness Apprehension Openness to Change Self-Reliance Perfectionism Tension

Descriptors Reserved Less Intelligent Affected by feelings Humble Sober Expedient Shy Toughminded Trusting Practical Straightforwa rd Self-Assured Conservative Groupdependent Self-conflict Relaxed Outgoing More Intelligent Emotionally stable Assertive Happy-go-lucky Conscientious Venturesome Tender-minded Suspicious Imaginative Shrewd Apprehensive Experimenting Self-sufficient Self-control Tense

C
E F G H I L M N O Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

The 16 factors with their word descriptors of each scale

Colour Test
Select one colour Pink Blue Red Yellow Green Black

Pink - People who choose pink have the gentle side of human nature, health, abundance and youth. Blue -People who prefer blue usually dislike confrontations and play the role of the diplomat in order to avoid continued conflict. They are good orators, capable of giving a good speech. Red- A person who prefers red is one who enjoys life to the fullest. These individuals usually live according to their own rules and often do not follow the traditional norms. They avoid boring people and always try to experience the maximum fun and excitement from any endeavor. Green People who choose green are capable of creating a balance between positive and negative emotions. They are capable of seeing both sides of an issue, have a strong moral sense of right and wrong, and tend to be idealistic. Black -People who like black hold things inside and do not want to be touched. they are hard-working fixers who zero in on the essence of any problem. They tenaciously love to find the mistakes and faults of others like detectives or puzzle fans. Yellow -People who choose yellow are very business minded and like to be thought of as educated. They use their minds to achieve their goals and as a result, love games and are particularly good at chess.