Personality tests

Psychological tests can roughly be divided into two categories: personality tests and ability tests.

Personality tests, as the name implies, survey your personality traits and behaviours. In recruitment, so-called type tests, in which people are divided into four or more different types, are not used. Instead of dividing personalities into different types, the results show in a continuum whether, for example, you are more of an introvert or an extrovert, or something in between.

In the tests, you are asked questions related to the same personality trait more than once. This may baffle the person who is being tested, as they notice that some of the questions are related to the same issue. However, such a test structure is functional.

If you were only asked one question about, for example, if you would rather work in a team or alone, your answer would be either–or. Meaning that you would either prefer to be alone or work with others. This, of course, does not tell the whole truth. Asking the same thing with slight variations will reveal how strongly you feel about working alone or how much you need other people’s company at work. That is, your answer is set on a continuum

Ability tests

Personality tests do not have just right or wrong answers, but ability tests do. The purpose of ability tests is to survey the ability to learn and solve problems. They can be general ability tests, which are often abstract reasoning tests. Or they can survey linguistic or numeric reasoning ability, for example. Ability tests are used in assessment because studies have shown that they are a good predictor of job performance. If we have a look at individual tests, ability tests are the best predictors. However, they should not be used as the only selection criteria, as the best result can always be achieved with a combination of methods.

Often the reviewer wants to establish your complete ability profile, in which case you will be given a few different ability tests. Sometimes tests that assess the most important abilities in relation to the task are selected. If the position, for example, involves reading complex instructions or written rules, as well as written communication, it may be desirable to see how well you draw logical conclusions from the written material.

Ability tasks are difficult, and hardly anyone can complete them correctly in the allocated time. This is intentional because if, for example, half the people taking the test got everything right, the test would not differentiate very well between those performing better than average.

Several tests are adaptive, meaning that each person taking the test gets a slightly different set of questions. In this case, the tests automatically adjust the difficulty to the required level of competence.

The results of the ability tests are also shown as a continuum. This continuum follows a Gaussian distribution, meaning that the majority of the people taking the test are placed near the mean. Fewer get a clearly better or worse result than the average. An average result is a perfectly good result. A selection is not made based solely on an ability test.

So, don’t worry if you feel like you weren’t at your best in the ability tests. It is very likely that your result is mediocre. The tests are usually considered difficult even if the results are good. If you have dyslexia, eyesight problems, or difficulty conceptualizing, you may want to tell the reviewer.

Reference material

Psychological tests always have reference materials. For each test, several hundred, even thousands of people have been tested, forming a benchmark for each new test result. Your results may, for example, be slightly better than average in comparison to the control group used. Some ability tests use several different control groups consisting of, for example, a group of specialists or managers.

In the personality tests, your answers are compared to how the results of this control group are scattered through the continuum. For example, if you get an average score for conscientiousness, you are as conscientious as the control group is, on average.

Conclusion

Psychological tests must be clearly linked to the position being applied for. Many studies show that the right application and a combination of different methods result in better recruitment results.

However, the key method in the suitability assessment is always the interview. The reviewers have the strongest confidence in this and compare the data obtained from the interview with the results of the test methods. Feel free to ask the reviewer for more information about the assessment methods.