The following information is provided to assist candidates who are completing assessments to understand a little more about the assessments, the process and why they are used.
The answers to the following questions are provided:
- What is a Psychometric Assessment?
- Why Do Organisations Use Psychological Assessment?
- What Types of Assessments Are There?
- What to Expect of the Assessment and Testing Process?
- How to Prepare Yourself To Do Your Best?
- Do You Get a copy of Your Assessment Results?
- What are the Test Items Like – Are there examples?
Some of the information provided may be more or less useful depending on how much you already know about assessments.
If you are new to assessments and this is your first time completing them, then we recommend you at least read the following pages:
Once you have read those pages, then you should be ready to complete the assessments and can go to the online testing links page.
If you have completed many assessments before, you may only want to read the pages of interest, prior to going to the online links page.
What is a Psychometric (sometimes called Psychological) Assessment?
There are many myths and misconceptions about what psychometric assessments are and what the tools can or cannot measure. For most people, it will confirm things you already know about yourself or are aware of.
The psychometric assessment tools you will be taking have three main characteristics:
They are work related and scientifically researched
- The assessment exercises you will undertake have been validated and are proven measures of preferences and abilities that can affect on-the-job performance.
- Even if on the face of it, you may not see the relevance of an assessment or its items while taking the assessment, it has been selected on its researched ability to assess specific work preferences for a role.
- The tools are designed to measure the desired person competencies, that is the skills, preferences and attributes, required to do well in the role.
They are standardised
- Standardisation means when you respond to the questions, you are doing so under the same conditions as other candidates.
- For ability tests you will experience the same testing instructions, questions and examples.
- For personality assessments we are not interested in any one answer you give to a question, we are interested in the overall patterns of answers, and how this compares to others in similar roles.
They are objective
- The results of each assessment are scored according to a standard set of rules and against a standard comparison (norm) group.
- There is little scope for subjective biases to creep into the interpretation of your results.
Why Do Organisations Use Psychological Assessment?
Psychological assessment provides an objective and scientifically tested method to measure your preferences and are recommended as part of a “best practice” recruitment process. Assessment can also be used to assist in identifying development needs, career options and future potential of an individual.
While interviews and referee checking provides both objective and subjective information about you (i.e. descriptions, observations and opinions from other people which are not necessarily true), psychological assessment information is mostly free from subjective bias.
The combination of all recruitment information from different sources, including psychometric assessment, can build up a broad picture of your abilities, fit with an organisation and team, and work preferences.
What Types of Assessments Are There?
Depending on the situation you may be asked to complete assessments that fall into the following three categories.
- Ability assessments - in which you have to work out analytical problems under time pressure. Generally, these are designed so you will not be able to finish the test in the time allowed. These tests will be assessing general problem solving, verbal and numerical reasoning abilities.
- Personality questionnaires – in which you are asked to answer a range of statements about your personal preferences, attitudes and motives. There are no right or wrong answers and it is best to go with your first reaction to items, rather than over think them. These questionnaires have no right or wrong answers, just as there is no right or wrong personality.
- Behavioural exercises – in some instances you may be given behavioural exercises such as intray, roleplays, writing exercises, or presentations to complete. These exercises are often designed to mimic tasks that you may do in the role.
What to Expect of the Assessment and Testing Process?
You will be taken through the assessment process by an administrator who will guide you on what you will need to do as part of the process. Client organisations tend to have specific assessments they use and these may even vary for different levels of roles. The administrator will tell you the assessments you are required to complete.
Most often candidates will do one or more ability tests, personality profiles and in some instances behavioural exercise(s). We will also gain your consent to undertake the assessment process.
Ability Tests
If you are required to do timed ability tests some of these can be done unsupervised online, but in most instances you will need to come into an office to be supervised and guided through the process by a trained Test Administrator.
Supervised Administration will generally include the following:
- You will book a time at an office to complete the tests.
- The administrator will outline the process and try to make you comfortable.
- The administrator will ensure you understand what is required prior to starting the actual assessment.
- Most ability assessments have practice questions you will do prior to the timed part of the test.
You should advise the administrator if there are any factors which may influence or prejudice your performance such as, ill-health and work pressure, and this will be noted when interpreting the results.
Personality Questionnaires and Behavioural Exercises
Generally any personality questionnaires can be done in your own time and are administered online. You may be sent a link to do these, and most often there is a log-on and passwords required to take the assessment.
Behavioural exercises are often used in an assessment centre methodology, but can also be part of an individual assessment process.
How to Prepare Yourself To Do Your Best?
Completing assessments can be both physically and mentally tiring. Here are some things you can do to prepare yourself prior to completing the assessments:
Be well rested - Make sure you have plenty of sleep and rest before the ability assessment session. This will help you perform well, and feel alert and ready to undertake the timed tests.
Try to be calm - Some of the ability testing session may feel similar to sitting an exam at school. Prior to the beginning of the timed test, take your time to get ready, read all the instructions and ensure you understand how to complete the test correctly.
Be honest – When completing personality assessments, you may be tempted to answer as you believe we might like you to answer. However, there are measures built into personality assessments to ensure you have been honest and candid in your answering.
These measures pick up if someone has “faked” the assessment by trying to make themselves out to be “Saint-like” with no weaknesses. If the “fake” measure is elevated we will require you to re-sit the questionnaire and answer the questions more candidly.
Ask Questions - Do not be afraid to ask questions of the Test Administrator about any aspects of the assessment procedure or tests.
Do You Get Your Assessment Results?
- Niche Consulting will provide you with feedback on your assessment results. For more in-depth assessments this generally takes the form of a feedback conversation where you get to discuss the results of your assessment with a psychologist.
- For some more straight forward assessments your feedback may be provided in the form of a computerised feedback report, although you would also have the opportunity to discuss this report with a psychologist.
- The discussion process helps us ensure we have an accurate picture of you and we will make the client aware if you believe the information is not a good reflection of your preferences.
- You are entitled to request a correction to the assessment information if you believe the assessment information is incorrect.
- You generally will not receive a copy of the client assessment report as this information falls under the Evaluative materials clause in the Privacy Act.
- However, in some instances the client may have arranged for you to get our results in a personal report.