The Science of Selection: Psychometrics in Hiring process

Table of contents:

• Brief on psychometric testing
• Applications of psychometric tests
• What do psychometric tests measure in candidates 
• Purpose of psychometric tests in organization

Psychometrics: The Future of Hiring

Psychometrics in hiring process are significant as they provide an objective, efficient, and predictive measure of individuals’ characteristics. They can inform selection and development decisions, provide developmental benefits to individuals, and provide legal defensibility for organizations. The types of psychometric tests can be broadly categorized into the following: Aptitude Tests, Intelligence Tests, Personality Tests, Interest Tests, Achievement Tests, Situational Judgment Tests, and Cognitive Ability Tests. Each of these types of psychometric tests is designed to measure different psychological traits and abilities, and they are commonly used in educational, clinical, and employment settings to evaluate and assess individuals. It’s important to note that there are many different specific tests within each of these categories, and different tests may be more appropriate for different purposes and populations.

Anyone working in the hiring & recruitment department would know the importance of suitable personality traits for jobs. Only experienced personnel can predict with some degree of accuracy, the nature and skills of candidates in a couple of rounds of interviews and even they can’t be right every time. Thus, not only new recruiters, but experienced personnel too opt for tools to get a sense of a candidate’s ability. Psychometric personality tests are one of the most popular options to assess candidates.

Applications of psychometric assessments:

These psychometric assessments are used in any setting where it is important to measure an individual’s abilities,  or other characteristics objectively and accurately. When used appropriately, they can provide valuable insights into an individual’s characteristics and inform decision-making processes. It can also be used in organizations to inform selection, development, performance management, team building, and succession planning decisions.

Psychometric tests can be used in a variety of settings, including:

1. Employment: These tests are commonly used in the employment process to assess the suitability of job candidates for a particular role. They can be used to measure cognitive abilities, personality traits, and other characteristics relevant to the job.
2. Education: These tests can be used in educational settings to measure students’ abilities, such as their cognitive abilities and achievement levels. They can also be used to identify students who may need additional support, such as those with learning disabilities.
3. Clinical psychology: these tests can be used in clinical psychology to assess individuals’ mental health and diagnose psychological disorders. They can be used to measure cognitive abilities, personality traits, and emotional functioning.
4. Research: These tests can be used in research settings to measure a variety of characteristics, such as intelligence, personality traits, and attitudes. They can provide objective and standardized measures of these characteristics, which can be useful in research studies.
5. Career development: These tests can be used in career development settings to help individuals identify their strengths and weaknesses and make informed career decisions. They can be used to measure cognitive abilities, personality traits, and other characteristics relevant to career success.

What do psychometric tests measure in candidates for an organization?

Psychometric tests can measure a range of characteristics in candidates for an organization, depending on the specific tests used. Some common characteristics that may be measured include:

1. Cognitive abilities: These tests can measure an individual’s cognitive abilities, such as their verbal, numerical, and spatial reasoning abilities. These tests may include measures of general intelligence (IQ), specific abilities (such as mathematical or verbal reasoning), or a combination of both.
2. Personality traits: These tests can measure an individual’s personality traits, such as extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. These tests may help assess whether an individual is a good fit for a particular role or team. 
3. Emotional intelligence: These tests can measure an individual’s emotional intelligence, which includes their ability to identify, understand, and regulate their own emotions, as well as their ability to understand and respond to the emotions of others. These tests may be particularly useful for roles that involve working with others or require strong interpersonal skills.
4. Skills and knowledge: These tests can measure an individual’s skills and knowledge in a particular area, such as software development or accounting. These tests may be used to assess whether an individual has the necessary skills and knowledge to perform a particular role. 
5. Work style and preferences: These tests can measure an individual’s work style and preferences, such as their preferred work environment, communication style, or leadership style. These tests may be useful for identifying individuals who are a good fit for a particular role or team.

 It is important for an organization to know what traits of a person the test can measure in order to select the candidate. In our previous blogs, we have mentioned the meaning of psychometric tests. These tests help recruiters understand the ability/ aptitude and personality of candidates. These results help organizations analyze candidate profiles and decide their suitability for job roles. It is important to have a candidate who fits the required traits necessary to execute the job to ensure the organization meets its goals and objectives while working in a peaceful environment within the organization.

Why Psychometric Tests Matter in Organizations?

Psychometric assessments are important in organizations as they provide an objective and efficient way of measuring individual characteristics, predict performance, provide feedback for personal and professional development, and provide legal defensibility for selection and development decisions.

1. No more dependency on interview rounds: We are not saying that interviews are not necessary, but along with the results of psychometric tests, organizations can make a wise choice for the vacant job roles. At times candidates might have skill-sets that match a different position than they applied for. In these scenarios, these tests work like a charm.
2. Time & cost-efficient: Time and cost fall under the umbrella of the most important factors for organizations, in hiring process. These tests save both time and cost. If an employer administers these tests in the initial rounds of the recruitment procedure itself, it saves the manual effort of the HR department along with countless hours of mindless trawling of resumes. With the above mentioned tests, organizations can identify top-notch candidates for the job role out of the mountain of applications.
3. Identify natural instincts of candidates: Almost everyone comes well prepared for the interviews. Neither the candidate nor the employer can predict the direction of the interview. Also, it is hard to identify the traits of a person in one meeting. Psychometric Personality tests are important for organizations to identify natural instincts and traits of candidates.
4. These tests drive a difficult game that results in 80%+ accuracy in the output. They showcase the qualities, strengths, weaknesses, and decision-making abilities of the candidate. This output helps an employer select appropriate candidates.
5. Useful at any stage of the application process: Irrespective of the type of position, psychometric tests are useful at any stage of the application process. While it is suggested to administer the tests in initial rounds, they can be used at any stage as per the size of the company. They can be divided into multiple sections throughout the day. Some organizations verify the results by administering the tests in the initial as well as the final round of the interviews.
6. Sustainability of recruitment procedure: Hiring is a difficult job divided into multiple folds. With psychometric assessments and their output, the initial rounds are secure and effortless. The application of these tests in the interview process removes a few irrelevant factors such as referrals, favoritism, unconscious bias, gender skewness, etc.

Apart from the above-mentioned use-cases, psychometric testing can also help organizations maintain a healthy environment between peers and management. They are not only about the qualification, experience or knowledge of the candidate but also the skills, personality traits and natural instincts of the candidates. Swayam Analytics offers psychometric assessments as tools for hiring new employees and growing an organization. These tests help you create the “perfect profile” for every position by giving you 99% accurate results with 100% confidence. They are constructed utilizing a comprehensive list of 189 qualities plus 16 personality types. Finding an excellent leader among good individuals and good managers is like looking for a needle in a haystack. While leaders may stick out from the crowd, HR or management cannot rely just on gut instinct to identify the true leader. Leaders are a separate tribe. Swayam assists you in your quest to identify the “correct” leader. You can trust the world-class standards used in the development of our scientifically based leadership evaluation assessments.