Project Report on Psychometric

Tests
Definition
Psychometric tests are standard tools to identify cognitive abilities and personality traits in
applications that may be helpful or unsuitable to the environment or position.-(i)
Psychometric tests are a series of questions, problems or practical tasks that provide a measurement
of aspects of somebody's personality, knowledge, ability, or experience. -(ii)

Usage in organizations
Psychometric tests provide the employers with unique information about an applicants jobrelevant strengths and weaknesses that are otherwise unobtainable via traditional methods of
recruitment. This information can then be used in the recruitment process to:
Screen out unqualified applicants at the initial stages of selection (to reduce costs).
Categorize prospective employees according to probability of success on the job.
Rank a group of candidates according to merit. (i)
Psychometric tests are used as a tool to measure the endurance capacity, personality and abilities
of an individual for an organization.
To provide information and thereby make an individual understand his/her strengths and
development areas.
To assess and develop future talent and leadership potential. (iii)

Common biases faced by psychometric tests

Influence of administrators personal preference.-(i)

Construction Error: The proper construction of tests and questionnaires is of paramount

importance. The development and application of such instruments by the enthusiastic and
unqualied person can at best be counter-productive and at worst be totally misleading and
probably lead to the company and the individual responsible ending up in court.

Untrue opinions given by some candidates. It will not support to conduct a successful test to
identify their true & potential skills.

The use of personality questionnaires try to assess a persons ability or skill in a particular
area. But this does not mean that he or she will actually possess a high level of identified
skills. (Ex. Leadership ). (iv)

Project Report on Psychometric

Tests

Inaccurate interpretation: there is also a risk that inexpert users may make inaccurate
interpretations of test results, which does a disservice to the user, the test taker and the
organization, and also damages the credibility of the use of tests.

Discriminatory usage: among other pitfalls are the use of tests that (usually inadvertently)
discriminate unfairly against some test-takers. For example, some job applicants might be
disadvantaged because of cultural differences, sight problems or English language skills
factors which may be irrelevant to suitability for a particular role.-(v).

Interpretation in Isolation: If the elements of information are interpreted in isolation from the
other human attributes it may make the usage of the test counterproductive.- (vi)

A test should be both valid (it should measure what it says it measures) and reliable (it should give
consistent scores). However, no test can ever be 100% accurate, and should be viewed more as a
useful indicator than a definitive verdict on a person's skills or potential.

References
(i)Psychometric testing in the selection process- by Annika Demasi, Managing Consultant, Beilby Consulting
(ii)Bloomsbury Business Library - Business & Management Dictionary. 2007, p6055-6055. 1p.
(iii)lcp.org.uk/index.php/2011/07/what-is-psychometric-testing-definition/
(iv) http://modernhrm.blogspot.in/2011/10/advantages-disadvantages-of.html
(v) http://lcp.org.uk/index.php/2011/07/disadvantages-psychometric-testing/
(vi)Psychometric Testing Can it add value to HR? - By Catherine Corcoran. Published in Accountancy Ireland.
August,2005.Volume No.37.

Group members
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Shreyansh Jain
Barison Ghosh
Nishant Singh
Deepak Bokaria