Psychometric Assessment
Types of Psychometric Tests
1.) Personality Tests
Personality psychometric tests are designed to test your behaviour to show how well you will fit into a role and the company culture.
​
Make sure you:
-
Understand what competencies the company are looking for
-
Whilst analytical ability is key for a role in finance, consulting firms may focus more on interpersonal skills
-
Make sure your answers reflect the corporate values which are usually listed on the companies website
-
-
Take your time and read the questions carefully
2.) Verbal Reasoning Tests
Aim's to test your core verbal skills such as your spelling, grammar and understanding of detailed explanations. You will normally face a passage of text which you must answer questions on. It is often important to only consider the information the text provides and disregard any external knowledge which you may have.
3.) Numerical Reasoning Tests
Numerical reasoning tests are normally a multiple-choice timed assessment designed to test your mathematical abilities. They often use only six basic maths skills:
-
Addition
-
Subtraction
-
Division
-
Multiplication
-
Percentages
-
Ratios
​
It is incredibly important to manage your own time during these tests as well as taking your own calculator. With numerical reasoning tests more unique than other psychometric tests, it is incredibly important to practice them! The University of Nottingham currently has made practice tests free with Graduates First, which we will link at the end of this article, so make sure you register using your University email address now.
4.) Logical Reasoning Tests
These tests measure your ability to spot patterns and work out the correct solution. Each test offers you a chance to exhibit your problem-solving abilities. The test normally involves elements - such as a line or a shape - which will rotate, increase in size or multiply as you progress through a series of images. Your job is to identify the pattern and fill in the next step in the sequences from a series of potential answers. For a good example of this, click here to see the Bright Network's article on how to answer abstract reasoning questions.
5.) Situational Judgement Tests
The most popular of all psychometric tests evaluate how you go about solving a variety of hypothetical work-related situations. Usually, you will be given a scenario you may face as a graduate along with a number of potential decisions you could make. It is your job to rank the options according to what you would most or least likely do. Most of the time there is no clear right answer, so it is important you consider the companies values - which can usually be found online - when ranking the options.