What is psychometric assessment?

Be it at home, in classrooms or workplace, we interact and bond with people and form social relationships. We are expected to exhibit certain behaviours which form a bond and security with others. However, we tend to have certain traits or characteristics which are more or less similar to others and sometimes different. This may affect or serve as a benefactor for our performance at work, school or community. There are internal factors such as intelligence, personality, social cues etc. which cannot be externally observed at all times but they contribute to our behaviours and ability to form relationships. Through relationships, we understand how cooperative, adjusted or reserved we are as people but until we prove their existence, they are only our qualitative experiences which have no certain implications.

When we fall ill, we go to a doctor. A doctor will check for our symptoms and vitals through physical examination. The results from PE will tell the doctor the severity of the sickness upon which medicine prescription is given. Similarly, when we feel under the weather and feel unproductive due to low mood or tiredness, there is no plausible way to identify a reliable solution for this experience. The Psychometric Assessment follows a statistical protocol where the behaviours and experiences of people are quantified and generalized to a population using statistical methods and analysis.

Need for Psychometric Assessment in Employment:

The performance of employees and delivery of work is the key focus of any organisation. When employers look for the right employee, they keep the job role, motivation and ability to deliver quality work, in their mind. Psychometric assessments are successfully able to assess internal traits such as personality, intelligence, aptitude etc., and behavioural outcomes such as performance, management and organisational skills. Psychometric tests also bring out potential mental health issues a candidate could be facing like anxiety or depression that may prepare the organization to offer inclusive healthcare packages.

Assessments during Job Selection:

Different psychometric tests in the market are available for measuring different abilities and traits of the candidates. Group testing is done at the undergraduate level where performance tests determine the ability of the person, cognitive tests are conducted at the earlier stages of the interview to assess the capacities and skills of the candidate, and personality assessment is done during the end of the interview to check if the candidate is fit for the job role. Not all candidates and companies use Psychometric testing for selecting candidates. Startups and Small scale organizations rely on assessing the competencies of the candidates using their performance tests because these companies focus more on market sustenance so their employment focus is more on hiring candidates who can deliver quality work on time and be capable to take over leadership roles.

Efficacy of the Psychometric Assessments:

Not all assessments are completely accurate by themselves. They are not the sole parameters for the job requirements, often they are accompanied by interviews and sometimes ‘technical’ tests to review the job performance of the candidate. Psychometric tests are standardised meaning the results of their scores are true to the most general population otherwise, the tests will not be considered standardized or reliable for assessment purposes. They are objective and performance-oriented in nature. The attributes being assessed are well defined and bring accuracy to the outcome of the test. These assessments are also more valid compared to reference letters, interviews and academic achievement.

In an ideal hiring environment, an employer will have clear expectations and goals set for the potential employee. Assessments and interviews will be in congruence with each other to gain a methodical and meaningful insight into each candidate profile applying for the job position.