HR Professionals - what do you think of psychometric tests?

[circlesquare]

DH recently applied for a new job. Part of the selection process was a psychometric test, the results of which were startlingly wide of the mark. Without going into too much detail, he didn't get the job, and it seems that these tests carried a lot of weight.

It's all done and dusted now, nothing further to be done, but it's got me thinking. Surely these tests are just a tool, and some are better than others? They can only be as good as the people who design them, and they can't all be perfect, can they? It's not a crystal ball.

So I just thought I'd ask the view of people who work with them a lot - how much weight do you generally give to these tests? Is it something that's debated in the profession at all?

Curiosity, really.

Bump

Exactly what you said really. They are a tool, some are better than others. Some companies use them all the time and put a lot of weight on them, some use them occasionally and use them for additional information rather than a criteria for selection.

I've only ever done the latter - I've never worked anywhere where they were used all the time and the selection process depended on getting a certain result. I don't think I've come across a test that I would like to give that much weight to myself.

Hi

I'm not a HR professional but have been involved in a fair bit of recruitment. We (my organisation) has used psychometric tests on and off as part of the assessment centre process. Personally, I wouldn't set a great deal of store by them - they're useful as additional or supporting information but not as a 'pass' or 'fail' test. Eg we might say 'candidate x's test seems to indicate they have a lack of empathy, what did you find at interview?' [or, 'you might want to probe this at interview']. Actual performance on the day would always be given greater weight than the test results.

It seems different organisations have different views. My organisation, for example, deliberately seeks a diversity of personality types, but others may have a more defined view of the sort of person they want and presumably may use psychometric tests for this purpose, but I don't know.

I certainly wouldn't be happy with HR proposing to me they wanted to use such tests as part of the sifting process.

We have used

I have used them for recruitment
The ones we used involved a feedback interview that gave the candidate the opportunity to explain or challenge the results of the test

Some companies test their employees and then only look to recruit people that have similar 'personalities', to 'fit in'.

IMO it is narrowminded and shortsighted as a varied staff is more adaptable and flexible.

Your DH hasn't failed the test, his test just didn't show him to have the personality type they were looking for (or that more acurately he didn't answer the questions in a way that a person they think they are looking for might do).

Also, ask your DH to get more feedback. I think it is only a lazy HR dept that would just put it all down to the test.

We looked at them during my degree course. Came to the conclusion that they were pretty crap and that companies shouldn't really rely on them.

Thank you for your responses - I posted and then got bogged down in other things.

I don't know about DH failing the test - it's just that the results didn't reflect his personality accurately at all. He challenged them in the subsequent interview, but was told he was just failing to address the results. The feedback report he was given referred to the results of the test, and said that the personality traits raised, even though he didn't display them at all on the day of the interviews, meant that he was just "internalising" them.

I think this is probably an instance of an organisation looking for some sort of objective measure and so over-relying on the tests, but I am reassured to know that in HR in general they aren't taken as gospel truth.

Still, he'll live to go for another job!

The concept of internalising stuff is a wonderful get-out for being wrong, isn't it? Idiots. Do tell us the company, then we can avoid them

Good luck to your dh.

I use them extensively, though less in recruitment than in personal development/teambuilding/conflict resolution. Some are better than others; all rely on the skill and sensitivity with which they are applied. Personally I prefer not to use them in recruitment.