How Reliable are Psychometric Tests in the Hiring Process?

Introduction

When looking to hire employees, companies often face difficulty in choosing the best candidates for the job. The ideal candidate should have the required technical skills and should also mix well with the current employees. However, interviews alone can’t always determine who the right candidate is. In today’s highly competitive world, the selection process now needs to comprise various tests to weed out the strong candidates from the weak.

The recruitment process can be rigorous and may even require extra hands on deck to ensure that the best candidates are selected. For this purpose, psychometric tests are now growing in popularity.

What is a Psychometric Test?

Psychometric tests for employees are aptitude tests designed for the purposes of hiring high-potential candidates. These tests showcase the candidate’s cognitive abilities and also help recruiters in charting their growth in the company. These are online tests that can be outsourced to other professionals to be conducted. There are various stages of conducting a psychometric test as these span across all employment criterion. This includes judging the candidate’s mechanical, numerical, verbal, logical and communicational abilities.

Psychometric test scores prove to be useful when recruiters are confused about whom to call in for a follow-up interview. Interviews are important as well as the highest test scorer needs to be judged in real time.

How Reliable are Psychometric Assessments?

Incorrect hiring decisions can be taxing for a company. Businesses can’t spend their time hiring and firing employees as this consumes time as well as resources. This is why psychometric assessments are crucial. These tests are highly reliable and can provide great insight into a candidate’s personality. However, they work best when combined with other modes of assessment, such as interviews and group discussions. No employer should hire candidates solely on the basis of the test scores received.

Psychometric tests are essentially conducted for the purposes of a candidate’s psychological assessment. The test basically helps recruiters in shortlisting candidates and has proven helpful time and again in doing so.

How Psychometric Tests for Recruitment Can Give an Insight into Many Aspects of a Candidate

As aforementioned, the numerous types of psychometric tests available can help recruiters in shortlisting candidates with the highest potential. Psychometric tests come in the form of personality, leadership, sales and human resources tests. All of these determine the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses.

There are also no geographical constraints to these tests as they are conducted online. As the world faces an unprecedented pandemic, working from home has become the new norm. But that does not mean companies are unable to hire more employees. This is an additional reason why these tests are growing in popularity. It is difficult to assess someone over a video call or via email, so these tests make it convenient for recruiters to find the right candidates.

These tests find the right candidates suitable for specific job functions. Psychometric tests are effective in not only the hiring process and campus recruitment, but also in workforce development.

When to Use a Psychometric Test for Recruitment

Psychometric assessments are now becoming a standardized part of the recruitment process. First and foremost, the tests are useful when hiring a large volume of employees or entry level candidates. Human resources departments cannot interview every single candidate, which is why these tests are useful in the shortlisting process.

The tests can also be tailored according to the job roles available. For highly specialized positions and senior management or executive roles, psychometric evaluation acts as an effective screening process.

Why These Tests Should be Used

• Save time and resources: Aptitude tests can quicken the recruitment process since they screen candidates who are or aren’t fit for the job. Recruiters can therefore save time and money by conducting pre-hire online tests.
• Overall assessment: Conducting these tests means that recruiters don’t have to rely solely on interviews as candidates should not be judged based on a few hours alone. Psychometric tests paint the true picture of candidates by measuring all their skills and abilities.
• Fair process: These tests offer a level playing field to all candidates as there are no pre-existing biases. These tests encourage consistency in recruitment and help obtain standardized information easily.
• Workplace culture: Conducting regular psychometric tests can enlighten companies of the shortcomings in their employee base. Companies can then analyse the test scores and make the necessary changes to boost organizational growth and cultivate a positive work environment.

Conclusion

Outsourcing psychometric evaluations to MeritTrac can ease the burden off businesses’ shoulders. MeritTrac creates tests according to your requirements, conducts the tests, assesses them and sends you the results in time. With MeritTrac, companies can choose between two platforms to suit their requirements.

With straightforward designs and accessibility, MeritTrac is your one stop shop for all recruitment needs!