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Psychometric Tests

Unlock the power of psychometric tests for smarter hiring decisions. Learn about the benefits of using psychometric testing in your talent acquisition process. Reduce bias, increase accuracy, and identify top talent with data-driven insights.

Psychometric Test

In today's competitive job market, finding the best candidates for your team and organisation is more challenging than ever, particularly with early careers and graduate roles. But how can you be sure you're making the right hiring decisions? Here's where psychometric tests come in.

These assessments and tests will help you gain valuable insights into a candidate's personality, cognitive abilities, and other essential traits, making it easier to determine whether they're the right fit for your organisation. Here we'll explore the benefits of aptitude and psychometric tests and how they can help you make smarter hiring decisions.

What Are Psychometric Tests?

Psychometric tests are used to evaluate an individual's cognitive abilities, personality traits, behavioural tendencies and skills. These tests are often used in various settings, including schools, clinical settings, and workplaces. In the context of hiring and talent acquisition, they are widely recognised as the best predictor of future performance and identifying which candidates are the best fit for a particular role or employer.

They evaluate an individual's psychological profile through standardised tests and questionnaires. These assessments measure a wide range of factors, including a person's cognitive abilities, emotional intelligence, problem-solving skills, and other key traits that are relevant to job performance. Some of the most common psychometric assessments used in the workplace include aptitude tests or cognitive ability, personality, and situational judgement tests.

Cognitive ability tests assess a candidate's intellectual aptitude and problem-solving skills. These tests measure various aspects of cognitive ability, such as verbal reasoning, numerical ability, spatial reasoning, and abstract reasoning. They don't assess what you know but rather your natural ability or aptitude for solving different types of problems. 

On the other hand, personality assessments evaluate a candidate's personality traits, work style, values, and motivations. Psychometric testing provides insight into how well an individual would fit into a particular team or organisation and how they might respond to certain situations or challenges.

Situational judgement tests (SJT) are another familiar psychometric assessment used to evaluate a candidate's decision-making skills. These tests present candidates with realistic work-related scenarios and typically ask them to choose the best and worst course of action. SJTs can be particularly useful for evaluating candidates for managerial or leadership positions requiring strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.

One of the most important benefits of psychometric assessments is that they provide a standardised and objective way of evaluating candidates. Unlike traditional interview techniques, which can be biased or subjective, psychometric assessments offer a consistent and objective way to assess all candidates, regardless of their background or experience. This can reduce unconscious biases and ensure that candidates are evaluated solely on their skills and abilities.

In conclusion, online psychometric testing is valuable for identifying the best candidates for a particular role or organisation. By providing a standardised and objective way of evaluating candidates, they can reduce biases and ensure that hiring decisions are based on objective data. In the next section, we'll explore some benefits of psychometric testing in hiring.

The benefits of using psychometric testing in recruitment

Psychometric testing offers various benefits for recruitment and talent acquisition professionals. By providing an objective and data-driven approach to assessment and selection, they help you make more informed and effective hiring decisions.

One of the key benefits is that they can help reduce unconscious biases. Traditional hiring methods, such as reviewing application forms and CVs and interviewing candidates, can be influenced by various biases, including gender, race, and socioeconomic status. Using a psychometric test removes many of these biases and focuses on a candidate's skills, values and motivation rather than their background or appearance. This helps create a more diverse and inclusive workplace, which is critical for building a successful team.

Psychometric testing can also increase the consistency and objectivity of your hiring decisions. By providing data on a candidate's personality traits, cognitive abilities, and work style, you will make more informed hiring decisions. This can help to reduce the likelihood of a bad hire, which can be costly in terms of time, money, and productivity. By using personality tests to identify candidates who are the best fit for a particular role, organisations can improve overall retention rates and reduce turnover.

Finally, psychometric testing can provide valuable insights into a candidate's potential for growth and development. By evaluating a candidate's cognitive abilities, personality traits, and work style, organisations can identify areas where the candidate may need additional training or support. This can create a more effective onboarding process and set the candidate up for long-term success.

In conclusion, psychometric testing offers a range of benefits for hiring and talent acquisition professionals. By providing an objective and data-driven approach to hiring, they can help organisations make more informed and effective hiring decisions, reduce unconscious biases, increase accuracy, reduce the risk of fraud or misconduct, and identify the potential for growth and development. In the next section, we'll explore how employers can implement aptitude and personality tests in their hiring process.

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How Tazio includes psychometrics in your recruitment process

Implementing psychometrics in your recruitment process is a great way to improve confidence in your hiring decisions. Here are some practical tips for integrating psychometric tests into your recruitment process:

Define the role requirements: Before selecting an assessment or test, it's essential to define the skills and abilities required for the role clearly. Tazio's qualified team will help you choose a relevant and appropriate assessment tool for the job.

Select the Right Assessment Tool: Tazio offers a comprehensive range of aptitude and psychometric tools, each with its own strengths and limitations. We will guide you through selecting the assessment tools that are reliable, valid, and most relevant to the role you are hiring for. It's also important to ensure that the assessment tools are administered fairly and consistently across all candidates.

Communication with Candidates: It's essential to communicate clearly with candidates about the assessment process and explain the purpose of the assessment. Candidates can access FAQs and online chat support to answer questions and request accommodations or reasonable adjustments. We also obtain informed consent from candidates before they complete their assessment.

Interpreting assessment results: Once a candidate has completed the assessment, you must interpret the results correctly and consistently. Tazio's Customer Success Managers are qualified to analyse psychometric and aptitude test results and can advise recruiters and hiring managers how to interpret results correctly. This may include comparing candidates' scores to appropriate benchmarks or norm groups. It's also vital to ensure that the results are viewed in the context of the job requirements and the candidate's overall fit for the role.

Use results to inform hiring decisions: The results of these assessments and tests should be used in conjunction with other evaluation methods, such as CVs, interviews and references, to make an informed hiring decision. It's important to ensure that the assessment results are considered objectively across all candidates.

Providing feedback to candidates: Candidates are given detailed feedback on their assessment results, including areas where they performed well and where they may need additional development. This can help candidates improve their skills and abilities, even if they are not hired for the role.

Including psychometric assessments and aptitude tests in your hiring process is a proven way to improve the consistency and objectivity of your hiring decisions. Tazio helps you select the correct assessment tool(s), communicate with candidates, interpret assessment results, and provide feedback, so you make better-informed and data-driven hiring decisions that benefit both the candidate and the organisation.

Benefits of psychometric testing

Objective evaluation: One of the primary advantages of psychometric assessments is that they provide a standardised and objective method of evaluating candidates. Psychometrics use data-driven insights to remove biases and ensure that candidates are considered solely on their skills and abilities.

Improved precision: Psychometrics can assist organisations in making more informed and precise hiring decisions. Organisations can make more informed hiring decisions and reduce the likelihood of a bad hire by providing data on a candidate's personality traits, cognitive abilities, and work style.

Reduced bias: Traditional hiring methods, such as CVs and interviews, can be influenced by gender, race, and socioeconomic status biases. By using psychometric assessments, organisations can reduce some of these biases and focus on a candidate's skills and abilities.

Increased retention: By using psychometric assessments to identify candidates who are the best fit for a particular role, organisations can improve overall retention rates and reduce turnover. This can lead to a more stable and productive workforce.

Personalised development: Psychometric assessments can provide valuable insights into a candidate's potential for growth and development. By evaluating a candidate's cognitive abilities, personality traits, and work style, organisations can identify areas where the candidate may need additional training or support, creating a more effective onboarding process and setting the candidate up for long-term success.

Features of psychometric testing

Standardised format: Psychometric assessments follow a standardised format ensuring all candidates are evaluated using the same criteria. This helps to reduce bias and ensures greater fairness in the hiring process.

Objective data: Psychometric assessments provide objective data on a candidate's cognitive abilities, personality traits, and work style. This helps employers make more informed and data-driven hiring decisions.

Validity and reliability: Psychometric assessments are rigorously tested to ensure they provide a valid and reliable measure of an individual's abilities and personality traits. This means that the assessments have been found to accurately measure what they are designed to measure.

Flexibility: A comprehensive range of psychometric assessments is available, each designed to measure different abilities and personality traits. This means that employers can choose an assessment closely aligned with the specific needs of the role or organisation.

Easy administration: Psychometric assessments can be administered online within the Tazio platform, making them easy for recruiters and hiring managers to use. Most psychometric assessments can also be completed relatively quickly, typically in less than 30 minutes, reducing the burden on candidates and making the hiring process more efficient.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are psychometric tests? 

These standardised tests and questionnaires are like a portal to the depths of an individual's cognitive abilities, personality traits, behavioural tendencies, and skills. By revealing an individual's psychological profile, these enigmatic assessments offer a unique glimpse into what makes them tick.

Why should employers care about psychometric testing? 

The answer lies in their data-driven insights. These assessments provide an objective, almost otherworldly view of a candidate's skills, abilities, and personality traits. In other words, they can help to cut through the fog of unconscious biases and make hiring decisions that are more accurate and informed. Read more about the benefits of psychometric tests

Are psychometric assessments biased? Or unfair to certain groups?

These tools were designed to be fair and unbiased. They offer a standardised, consistent way to evaluate all candidates, no matter who they are or where they come from.

Can candidates cheat on psychometric tests? 

Ah, the eternal question. But here's the catch - these assessments are designed to measure cognitive abilities and personality traits that are almost impossible to fake. And with built-in mechanisms to detect inconsistent or contradictory responses, cheating is a fruitless endeavour.

How long does it take to complete a psychometric test? 

Well, the answer depends on the type of test and the number of questions involved.  A cognitive ability test might take you anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, while personality assessments can take as little as just 7 minutes, but most will take between 30 to 45 minutes.

Can psychometric testing really reduce bias in the hiring process?

Absolutely! Providing a standardised and objective evaluation can help reduce unconscious biases and create a level playing field for all candidates. It's like a force field against discrimination!

How much do psychometric tests cost?

The cost of these assessments depends on many factors, such as the type of assessment, the number of candidates, and the employer's specific needs. Off-the-shelf aptitude tests start from less than £10 per candidate for a single aptitude, verbal reasoning, for example. Personality assessments are a little more. Expect to pay between £25 and £75 per candidate, depending on the type of report. Creating your own bespoke assessment can be more cost-effective if you are assessing very high numbers of candidates. 


Ready to find out more about psychometric testing?

For all HR and talent acquisition professionals out there, it's time to take your recruitment process to the next level! Whether you're looking to reduce bias, improve objectivity, or identify top talent, psychometric assessments can help you get there. So, if you're ready to unlock the power of psychometric assessments, get in touch with our team of experts today. Let us help you navigate the labyrinth of these assessments and take your recruitment process to new heights. Contact us now to learn more and start your journey!

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