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Many employers are now
using psychometric tests in graduate recruitment. The two main types
of psychometric tests used are:
- Personality Questionnaires
- Aptitude Tests
1.
PERSONALITY QUESTIONNAIRES
Personality questionnaires
are often referred to as tests, but this is misleading since they
do not have pass or fail scores.
They are designed to
measure attitudes, habits and values, and are usually not timed.
Sometimes this type
of questionnaire is incorporated into the employer's application
form; sometimes they are used during the second stage selection
process.
If you are faced with
a personality questionnaire, then simply answer the questions
HONESTLY!
Attempts to guess
the 'correct' answers can often be spotted when your answers are
being analysed, or may result in your being offered a post in
an area of a company that you are unsuited to.
Preparation or practice
does not affect the outcome of this type of questionnaire. So
don't worry; simply follow the instructions and be honest.
If you wish to try
a questionnaire, then a seventy question example can be found
on the World Wide Web (CLICK
HERE).
Examples of personality
questionnaire questions:
1. For each
of the following, choose whether statement A or B is more indicative
of you.
When making
decisions on how to spend my time:
A. I carefully
balance demands against deadlines and targets.
B. I get started
immediately on the most important item.
When working
in a team:
A. I try to develop
a co operative approach.
B. I promote competition
to keep performance high.
2. Please respond
to the following statements by indicating whether you believe
they are true (T), or false (F).
A. Aid to third
world countries will stifle their development.
B. When a team
makes a decision, it is necessary for a team member to go
along with it even though he or she may have opposed it.
C. Children should
be seen and not heard.
D. Oil and gas
use should be cut back so that there will be sufficient left
for our children and grandchildren.
Answers:
Personality questionnaire
questions: There are no right or wrong answers.
2.
APTITUDE TESTS
Aptitude tests are
designed to give an objective assessment of a candidate's abilities
in, say, verbal understanding, numeracy or diagrammatic reasoning
skills.
These tests are marked
and in some cases have a cut-off point, above which you pass below
which you either fail or need to be reassessed.
Normally these tests
are timed, with time pressure often being a crucial factor in
the effectiveness of performance in the tests.
You can prepare for
these tests in several ways depending on the type of test (as
discussed below). It has been shown that, up to a point, the more
you practise for the tests, the higher the scores you will obtain.
Why do employers
use aptitude tests and how can they help them, and you?
Employers use aptitude
tests to decide if someone has the abilities needed to do the
job. As well as identifying suitable people for jobs, the tests
(along with personality questionnaires) can also be used to
identify suitable jobs for people.
Aptitude tests can
be helpful to you by demonstrating to the employer (and yourself)
where your strengths and limitations lie, and hence can be useful
in helping to find a job which suits you.
The tests used have
been carefully checked so as to be completely fair, and, in
being more objective than for example, an interview, can sometimes
allow abilities to be demonstrated which had not come out in
other areas of the assessment procedures.
What sort of aptitude
tests will you have to do?
This varies widely
from employer to employer, but in most cases involves a mixture
of verbal and numerical tests. Further details of these types
of tests are given below.
Diagrammatic
Diagrammatic tests
are favourites in aptitude test books, but are not so popular
in employers' tests.
Skills
For specialist posts,
such as those in information technology, tests may concentrate
on specific skills such as using a simple programming language
or checking computer data and syntax.
Spational Reasoning
Spatial reasoning
tests may be used for jobs which require three dimensional perception.
Verbal
The most basic types
of verbal test may involve spelling, or giving synonyms (words
with the same meaning) or antonyms (opposites), or finding the
odd one out in a set of words.
More complicated
are analogy tests, where you need to recognise the relationship
that exists between the words in a word pair, and then identify
a word pair which displays a parallel relationship.
Other tests involve
filling in words to complete sentences, or interchanging two
words in order to make a sentence read sensibly.
Many verbal tests
are used to assess logical reasoning, for example, determining
the correct sequence of a set of sentences, or identifying from
a number of pieces of information those that are needed to solve
a problem.
In order to test
verbal analysis and comprehension, you may be asked to answer
questions which relate to a given passage.
Examples of
verbal test questions:
1. The relationship
between WORD and SENTENCE is best expressed similarly by which
of the following pairs of words?
A. ENGINE and
CAR
B. BIBLE and BOOK
C. CELL and ORGANISM
D. SONNET and TEXT
E. STEM and FLOTHEYR
2. Which
two words if swapped would make the following sentence sensible?
Although food
production linked to career is partly a question of lifestyle,
an active interest in this could form the basis of an alternative
diet.
Answers to examples:
Verbal test questions: 1. C, 2. career, diet.
Numerical
These tests appear
in a wide range of different forms, but all are designed to
measure numeracy and logical thought.
A popular form of
test involves completing a series of numbers, or a series of
letters of the alphabet, or a row of dominoes.
Simple arithmetic
calculations, without the use of a calculator, are becoming
more common. Related tests involve estimating the answers to
arithmetic problems when there is insufficient time to calculate
exact answers.
Many employers' tests
now include interpretation and utilisation of data from tables,
charts or graphs.
Examples of
numerical test questions
(You should not
use a calculator for either of these examples).
1. A diagram
on a sheet of paper is increased in size to 120% of its original
size, and this copy is then reduced by 40%. What percentage
of the size of the original diagram is the final copy?
A. 28
B. 36
C. 48
D. 72
E. 80
2. Fractions:
What is the following approximately equal to? 5/9 + 3/4 +
5/7 =
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
E. 5
Answers
What can you
do to give your best performance?
Verbal Tests:
Prepare by doing
crosswords and verbal puzzles, and by playing word games.
Numerical Tests:
Practice doing
arithmetical calculations without using a calculator.
Try number puzzles
and study data presented in tables, charts and graphs.
If you are very
rusty with arithmetic, try re learning the times tables up
to 12 and practise multiplication, division and percentage
calculations.
Don't be afraid
of enrolling on a basic numeracy course if you think that
would help (details usually in University Careers Services).
Diagramatic
Tests:
All you can do
is practice with as many examples as possible.
PRACTICE
Practice can improve
your test scores for all types of aptitude tests, so try as many
examples as you can.
Here follows a list
of example sheets and books which have a wide range of examples
of the different types of questions asked.
Sample Test Sheets
The following are
commonly available from University Careers Services:
- Advanced Managerial
Tests Practice Leaflet, Saville & Holdsworth Ltd.
- Aptitude Test
HAT Aptitude Test for Programmer Personnel IBM.
- Data Interpretation
and Verbal Organisation Tests Civil Service Fast Stream Entry
- Deloitte &
Touche Ability Test
- European Commision
Comprehension
- Graduate Management
Admissions Test (GMAT) Bulletin of Information and Registration
Form.
- Graduate Record
Examinations General Test Descriptive Booklet.
- Information Technology
Test Series Practice Leaflet, Saville & Holdsworth Ltd.
- Practice Exercises
for Problem Solving Procter & Gamble.
- Self Assessment,
Introduction and Practice Tests Civil Service Fast Stream
Entry
- Why are aptitude
tests used? Saville & Holdsworth
Books
Software
(On CD-ROM)
Computerised Tests
Civil Service
You can also try
the computerised Civil Service self-assessment tests.
These tests measure your verbal and numerical skills against
those of successful applicants to the Civil Service fast steams.
The results are confidential to you.
POWERPREP
The POWERPREP
computer program, described below, offers further opportunities
to practice.
Saville &
Holdsworth
A wide range of examples
of questions and timed tests of numerical and verbal reasoning
can be found on the Saville
& Holdsworth web site.
If you find difficulty
in understanding the answers to some of the questions, then
have a look at sets of examples which include explanations of
the answers (see the books below), or work through the Graduate
Record Examinations booklet which gives strategies
for answering a range of verbal and numerical questions.
Most University Careers
Services organise practice aptitude tests throughout the year.
These give excellent practice under standard test conditions
and the results can be of value in indicating possible career
directions.
Call into your Service
to sign up!
SITTING A TEST FOR REAL
Before a test session
- Make certain that
you get a good night's sleep.
- Arrive in plenty
of time.
At the session
- Listen carefully
to any instructions, including information on time limits, and
do exactly as you are told.
- Don't waste time
on difficult questions; move on to ones you can do more easily.
- Find out whether
or not marks are deducted for incorrect answers. If not, then
make certain you answer every question, even if only by guessing.
- If you have time,
check your answers and change any that are incorrect.
- Don't panic if the
test appears to be very difficult; some tests have relatively
low 'pass' marks - you may be doing well.
THE
FUTURE OF PSYCHOMETRIC TESTING
Like it or not psychometric
testing is here to stay. Indeed, modularisation and semesterisation
may well make psychometric testing even more attractive to employers.
This is because interpretation
of the content of a particular degree may become more difficult
and completion dates for degree courses will become more variable.
In the future computerised
testing will become more common.
The
Graduate Record Examination (GRE), a typical pencil and
paper type of aptitude test used for graduate entry into universities
in the U.S., is being replaced over the next few years by a Computer
Adaptive Testing. This is an interactive form of test,
with the difficulty of questions being set automatically adjusting
to whether or not previous questions have been answered correctly.
The POWERPREP program,
which
you can download here, allows you to practice GRE testing
on both a "paper and pencil" and computer adaptive basis.
If you are faced with
computerised testing, don't panic. Preparation for computerised
testing is exactly the same as for pencil and paper testing but,
in addition, practice
with the computerised Civil Service self-assessment tests
mentioned above.
Make certain that you
read any instructions carefully when undertaking computer tests
and, in particular, find out whether you are able to change answers.
With some computer
tests this is not possible unlike most with paper and pencil tests.
This content
is © The University of Hull.
Edited and reproduced with kind permission from John Franks - Head
of Hull University Careers
Service. All Rights Reserved.
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