Preparing for Psychometric Tests - Melbourne Careers

Preparing for
Psychometric Tests
Diana Edwards
Careers Consultant
Melbourne Careers Centre
http://careers.unimelb.edu.au/
Session objectives
This session will enable you to:
• Understand how and why recruiters use these tests
in selection
• Become familiar with the types of tests used and
strategies for tackling
• Understand what you can do to prepare
What are psychometric tests?
• Tests which measure psychological factors eg
intelligence, aptitude, personality in a standardised
way
• And produce objective scores so participants can
be compared with others eg those doing the test at
a point in time, or larger pools of general
population
• Main types used in recruitment: aptitude tests and
personality questionnaires
How widespread are their use?
Organisations using testing for Graduate
Program recruitment (2015):
• Aptitude Testing
73.63%
• Personality Questionnaires
41.76%
• Gamified Assessments
6.59%
Gamification in recruitment
Games require participants to demonstrate a range
of aptitudes, skills and qualities to be successful
Either:
Non-specific content eg Revelian’s Theme Park Hero
eg Australian Tax Office
http://www.revelian.com/themeparkhero/
Content specific to the organisations eg PWC,
Deloitte and KPMG
Why are they used in recruitment?
• Measure aptitudes relevant to the role or qualities
which ‘fit’ with the organisation
• Provide an objective standardised result so students
can be compared and ranked (considered to be
more ‘fair’ - seen as independent of studies or other
experiences)
• Efficient way to ‘cull’ applications when large
numbers of applicants
The 64 million dollar question
Can you ‘prepare’ for psychometric
testing?
What CAN make a difference
• Being familiar with types of questions and how they
are presented
• Having an approach to tackling questions
• Practising questions under timed conditions to find
a speed-accuracy balance
• Organising your test space so you have what you
need and no distractions
Aptitude Testing
Aptitude tests deal with broad ability areas and
measure general capacity eg numerical reasoning rather than learned skills eg accounting
Three main types used in recruitment:
• Verbal Reasoning
• Numerical Reasoning
• Abstract Reasoning
Measure of capacity is based on accuracy and speed
Verbal Reasoning
• At graduate level – usually testing ability to comprehend,
analyse and interpret complex written information
• In essence - being able to see what is relevant/critical, filter
out the irrelevant and reach conclusions based on
information presented
• Most common set-up – a short passage followed by written
statements and asked to evaluate the truthfulness of each
statement, in the answer format True/False/Cannot Say
Example - Verbal Reasoning
• Soy- and rice- based diets are very popular in Third World
countries. The soy bean has a higher phytate content than
any other grain or legume that has been studied. Phytate is
an organic acid, present in the bran or hulls of all seeds,
which blocks the uptake of essential minerals – calcium,
magnesium, iron and especially zinc – in the intestinal tract.
• Soy beans seem to be highly resistant to many phytatereducing techniques such as long, slow cooking. Only a long
period of fermentation will significantly reduce the phytate
content of soy beans. Thus, fermented products such as
tempeh and miso provide nourishment that is easily
assimilated. When precipitated soy products are consumed
with meat, the mineral-blocking effects of the phytates are
reduced.
Question 1
Food made from soy beans is unhealthy
 True
 False
 Can’t Say
Question 1 - Answer
The correct answer is: False
How to solve this question?
The passage states that the phytate content of the soybean
blocks the uptake of essential minerals in the body. This does
not necessarily imply that soy foods are unhealthy in
themselves, even though the consumption of untreated
soybean does affect the uptake of minerals. Phytate can be
reduced by some techniques, and when precipitated soy
products are consumed with meat, the mineral-blocking
effects of phytate are reduced. The statement is not
supported by the evidence, and the answer is “False”.
Question 2
Legumes contain phytate
 True
 False
 Can’t Say
Question 2 - Answer
The correct answer is: True
How to solve this question?
The information given in the passage is that soybean has a
higher phytate content than any other legume that has been
studied; soybean, therefore, is a legume. Because it contains
phytate and is a legume, the response to the statement is
“True”.
Question 3
Fermented products have high levels of
calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc
 True
 False
 Can’t Say
Question 3 - Answer
The correct answer is: Can’t say
How to solve this question?
Even though phytate blocks the uptake of these minerals,
there is no evidence given that people in third-world
countries have low levels of these compounds. The passage
says that soy- and rice-based diets are very popular in these
countries, but it does not go far enough to be able to say
definitively that persons are deficient in these essentials.
Even if the statement is true, it is not supported by the
information in the passage, and the response is “Can’t say”.
Numerical Reasoning
• At graduate level – most commonly testing ability to
comprehend, analyse and interpret numerical or statistical
information
• In essence - being able to see what is relevant/critical,
filter out the irrelevant and reach conclusions based on
information presented
• Most common set-up – you are given a graph or a table
and asked to reach a conclusion
• At graduate level not mainly about arithmetic skills, but
whether you can use data to make reasoned decisions
Example – Numerical Reasoning
Institute of Psychometric Coaching
Answer
Abstract Reasoning
• Sometimes referred to as ‘conceptual reasoning’
• In essence – your ability to identify relationships and
patterns, and infer the rules operating within the data
• Seen as an indicator of ‘fluid’ intelligence, capacity to think
strategically, develop conceptual frameworks – by analysing
information where relationships not known, by making
sense of ambiguity/ partial information
• Most common set-up – Revan Test – given a sequence of
shapes with multiple elements and asked to work out the
next one in the sequence
Example – Abstract Reasoning
Institute of Psychometric Coaching
Answer
Testing process
• Email invitation to take online testing and date by
which test needs to be done
• Test provider usually indicated
• Practice examples are usually provided (though often
easier than the actual test questions)
• Time limits given – tests are designed so few people
are able to complete them in the time given
• Questions get harder as the test goes on
• Retests may be carried out at Assessment Centres
Tips from successful grads: Naomi
• Practice, practice, practice – you do get better
• Practice initially in untimed conditions to work out
how to answer the questions, then practice in timed
conditions to find a balance between speed and
accuracy (resist urge to race through because of time
limits)
• For numerical – reacquaint with basic calculations,
especially percentages
Tips from successful grads: Sam
• Lots of practice eg 20 mins a day every second day
for two weeks
• Abstract Reasoning – need to work out how to
approach (had assumed just visual/holistic
approach but really about identifying how the
multiple elements change)
• Numerical reasoning – maths isn’t too difficult –
key is understanding what is being asked – study
the question carefully; worth going over basic
calculations eg %, ratios, area/circumference …
Practice Sites
• Institute of Psychometric Coaching:
http://www.psychometricinstitute.com.au/
• CEB - SHL https://www.cebglobal.com/shldirect/en/practice-tests/
• Aptitude test.com: http://www.aptitude-test.com/
• Psychometric Success:
http://www.psychometric-success.com/downloads/download-practicetests.htm
• Revelian/OneTest :
https://www.jobtestprep.co.uk/freeaptitude.aspx
• Practice Aptitude Tests:
http://www.practiceaptitudetests.com/psychometric-tests/
Personality Questionnaires
Two main types of questions for recruitment:
• Personal style (how you ‘operate’)
• Values (what’s important to you)
Used to get an idea of your ‘fit’ with the organisation
or role– either in terms of values, or style
Best advice
• Be authentic – but be thoughtful in your
responses
• Establishing a good ‘match’ works in your
interests as well as the organisation’s
• Some organisations are looking for range of
personalities
• Test results not always used for ‘selection’ but
simply to provide information for staff planning
Example – Personality
Department of Social Services
Which of the following most closely resembles your
behaviour at work:
 I feel confident about making presentations and public
speaking
 I enjoy expressing opinions, information and key points of
an argument
 I feel nervous making presentations and public speaking
 I prefer to keep my opinions to myself
Questions?
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