Aptitude and personality tests
Psychometric (aptitude and personality) testing is commonly used during the graduate and internship selection process to identify candidates with the right skills and attributes for the job.
Psychometric testing results are used with other information gathered during the interview and the assessment centres.
Psychometric test types
Cognitive ability
These test your 'aptitudes', for example:
- technical skills and abilities
- analytical skills
- problem-solving
- mathematical skills
- pattern recognition
- information processing
There may be questions about logic, or about evaluating information and making decisions based on the available data. They are generally timed, and there are right and wrong answers.
Verbal reasoning
Assesses your understanding of word meanings, sentences and grammar and your ability to determine logical relationships.
Non-verbal/abstract reasoning
Includes numbers or groups of patterns where you need to choose the next pattern in the series; you are required to work out a rule or principle and relate it to another set of patterns.
Numerical reasoning
From simple arithmetic to reasoning tests, these require you to draw inferences from some numerical data and use this to solve another problem.
Clerical speed and accuracy
Measures speed and accuracy in checking for errors in data, editing mistakes and/or classification of sets of data.
Spatial reasoning
Looks at your ability to rotate shapes in space.
Mechanical reasoning
Diagrammatic mechanical problems for you to solve.
Personality preferences
These questions evaluate things such as the values and interests that drive your behaviour. Understanding your personal attributes will help an employer assess whether you are a good match for the role. For example, if you are very social, like working with groups of people and have a lot going on, you are unlikely to be happy working alone or in a very subdued environment.
These 'self-report questionnaires' look at tendencies or past behaviours, to predict how you might behave in the future. The results give a profile of your strengths, your values, your working style, your preferences, maybe even how you respond to conflict or stress.