So Where Do We Go From Here

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When it comes to employment has our world become testing crazy? What with psychometric, personality, aptitude, verbal, spatial, emotional, mechanical, numerical and reasoning assessment tests, it certainly feels like it!  Maybe you might first look at the picture, think about it, and then see if you wished you had thought something different by time you have finished reading this article.

The value of testing, at job interviews and within human resource structures, is sometimes brought into question. This is especially so when one considers the offers of training available on the Internet to help “pass” these methods of evaluation. Surely if it is possible to train and get help then the whole raison d’être of testing is undermined? The one word which encompasses many of the tests is “psychometric” as the theories associated with this have been applied in the measurement of personality, attitudes, academic achievements and beliefs.

The use of such tests has become ubiquitous since they were first mooted in the late 1880’s to such an extent that their reliability and validity must be expertly evaluated. It is true to say that the use of psychometric testing, as part of recruitment procedures and staff assessments, is widespread. You may well ask, “Is it a waste of time training to pass such tests?” My reply would be a categorical, “Yes, it is a waste of time!” The whole idea is to find a position which mutually suits you and your employer. It is of little benefit to anyone if you end up in a job you cannot do well especially as it will probably mean you will be unhappy.

The easiest and best way to approach any of these tests is to be yourself. Relax and enjoy them. There actually isn’t any pass or fail as it is simply an assessment of your overall skills. Someone who is good at time management may not be as good at problem resolving. Equally someone who excels in decision making may not be so good at presentation.

A successful company needs personnel that, as a team, are able to provide all the necessary skills. It would take a miracle to find these all in one person. We all shine at something and it is the psychometric tests which will help identify this. It is useful for you to undertake your own psychometric appraisal in order for you to know and understand yourself better. Why leave it for others to find out? Knowing yourself puts you ahead of the rest. Some of my friends are now developing picture/visuals as a means of determining skills and motivation. If you have looked at the picture with this article and thought about it, what caught your eye first, second, third and do your subsequent thoughts give a clue to your profile skills? Did you look at the young girl on the right first (the groom)? Did you look at the driver on the left? Did you look at the ponies and then realise that the one on the right was a mule? Did you wonder where the picture was taken? Did you wonder about the sport?

No doubt you will appreciate that over a selection of pictures the order in which you perceive and question things will start to give an overall picture of what motivates you.  Some people are able to develop a skill of “animal instinct” assessment and amongst the best of these are many school teachers. They may quickly determine a pupil’s prospects.
The headmaster at Richard Branson’s school is attributed as saying that Branson would either end up as a successful business man or in jail. It didn’t take any psychometric test to be proved right on both counts.  However when testing is waived before you, as the be all and end all, you should always keep this thought uppermost: – “Winners are always doing something different to everyone else – it is this difference which makes them winners”. So where do we go from here, as it is doubtful if any amount of testing will pinpoint this winning difference?

Dave Eager