Psychometric tests
What are they?
Psychometric tests apparently cover everything from the traditional IQ tests and aptitude tests that provide a crude test of intelligence, which I am comfortable with, through to the bewildering array of tests we have today that test personality, attitudes and beliefs, which I detest. Employers often use the tests of personality, attitudes and beliefs as part of the recruitment process, but they have many flaws. IQ tests and aptitude tests, while also imprecise, at least have some value as an eliminator for jobs that require intelligence. Everybody knows their limitations and accepts them for what they are, but the tests of personality, attitudes and beliefs are taken more seriously.
The "attitudes" test
The first time I came across a psychometric test was in 1979 or 1980. At the time, I was working in Leeds. The interview was for a job in nearby Bradford. I was presented with a sheet of paper, each side containing identical lists of adjectives that could be used to describe attitudes. I was asked to circle those adjectives (as many as I wanted) that I would use to describe myself, then turn over the sheet of paper and circle those adjectives (again, as many as I wanted) that I thought other people would use to describe me. All this was strictly time-limited, such that I was not expected to pause to think.
I objected to the time limitation, but was told that the test would not produce the right results without the time limit. I refused to do the test and was then told that nobody else had ever refused. So we carried on with the rest of the interview, but I figured that having refused to do the test, I had no chance of securing the job. I was right, though I don't remember anything about the interview except the psychometric test. Then again, if I had taken the test and circled "cynical", would I have got the job, even if the rest of the interview had gone brilliantly?
The "personality" test
The other interview that I particularly remember for the use of a psychometric test came during The nineties job quest. When I arrived for the interview, I was required to wait for a while and I was given a newspaper to read. On some days, this might have been a good thing, helping to set my mind at ease. The front page story that day was the conviction of Tracie Andrews, who stabbed her boyfriend to death. Although the case interested me (because it involved a violent woman and a defenceless man), it wasn't the best story to read while waiting to be interviewed for a job.
Getting back to the psychometric test, it presented a long list of questions with multiple-choice answer options. To each question, I was expected to circle the option that best described me. There was a time limit but it was a fair limit, allowing time to think. For some questions, none of the options were close. For others, more than one option was valid. In all cases, I had to choose just one option. I did that, but I could make no sense of what the answers were supposed to prove.
As I was unemployed, I asked if I could have a blank copy of the questions to take home and study. I was granted this and eventually took the list to a career advisor, who told me that the sets of answers in each column corresponded to a particular stereotype. Anybody who mostly circled the options in column A fitted the stereotype that the employer had identified for that column. Columns B, C and D corresponded to other stereotypes. My answers had been in no particular column, but I hadn't remembered if I had tended to circle some columns more than others. Although I kept the list for a while, I eventually discarded it after I secured a job. I now regret doing that.
One option particularly bugged me - "likes classical music". I asked what this had to do with personality and was given an unflattering answer. Now, although I dabble in classical music, I mostly listen to the crossover stuff so I'm not a classical music fan in the true sense of the word and I selected a different (long forgotten) option to that question. But my advice to any classical music fan would be not to declare it on a CV unless a love of classical music is relevant to the job on offer.
Don't over-rate career advisors
Incidentally, the career advisor who answered my questions about the psychometric test was, like all the others I've been to see, absolutely useless at helping to steer me in the direction of alternative careers. As I explained in my page about Career advice, they can help with the process of applying for jobs, including how to present a CV, but they can't offer genuine advice about possible careers.
My 100% failure rate
I have never secured any job or contract in which I was required to take one or more tests on personality, attitudes and belief. I haven't yet had to take one since my last redundancy, though I took plenty of them during the eighties and nineties. I remain to be convinced of their effectiveness and not just because of my own conspicuous failure. As I pointed out in my page on Employer attitudes, personality is only one factor in determining a candidate's suitability for a job. People who don't have an outgoing personality can still do an effective job, and sometimes do it better than those who do have an outgoing personality.
3 comments:
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Very inspirational to hear about someone pursuing their dream and becoming successful instead of following the traditional path.
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