So, how accurate are psychometric tests?

[Niecie]

I am trying to decide what I want to do with the rest of my life and start earning again after being a SAHM for 9 yrs. I have several ideas and plans but don't know which way to go and I am nervous having made a mistake by chosing my original career.

I had a go at the psychometric test that was linked to on Onebatmother's thread last week and the results, I thought, were just like me and gave me a list of possible careers that included several of the things I am already thinking about. Hooray!!

But then I got to wondering whether I had sub-consciously fudged the tests so that I got the results I wanted to see rather than getting to the real 'me' iyswim.

I tried very hard not to cheat and be honest but now I am wondering whether these test are robust and stand up to (subconscious) manipulation.

Does anybody know how reliable they are?

Thanks.

Flyme - I also studied art, as well as engineering. (Art is a lot about problem-solving - engineering is creative as well as technical.)
I have often considered teaching, but am put off by the stress. My best work is done when I have some time to go away and think about things - I am crap on my feet.
Where I shine at work, is when something needs to be really investigated, instead of skimped, and the buck stops with me.
I've never supervised others, partly because its easier for me to get success with things than people.
does any of that ring a bell with you?

Niecie, must point out that MBTI only talks about your preferences not your abilities. Anyone can do anything iyswim. It's use (one of them) is in making you think about work that might suit your temperament. However, the same job can be very different in different organisations as cultures are different. So, to use myself as an example, I am an INTP but have had a 20 year career in HR (and am trained in MBTI). Now, you not necessarily think an introvert would be in HR or a "T" on the face of it, but I worked in the City and the T was very helpful! Anyway, at the risk of rambling, what are you thinking of doing? If you really want a good "test" to help with career guidance, look at Edgar Schein's Career Anchors.

I did a MB type test years ago with a group of graduates before an interview. Everyone got the same profile except me.

The facilitator came up to me afterwards and told me he knew exactly which score and personality type I would get before I took the test. I was surprised until he told me why. "You were the only one that did not read the instructions and just piled in".

I guess that was pretty accurate.

Ha Ha! Are you an EN something P?

yes Nighbynight
I am doing an evening class in life drawing and painting and of course composition is problem solving-'I need something in this part of the picture, what can I put there?'
What Materials would work best for this subject? type of thing. I also love the fact that I am doing it on my own albeit with a tutor to put in some comments.
When I supervised people in an art materials shop I worked in I hated it and most of the staff resented me. I would escape to the stock room and reorganise the shelf labelling and stock. I did enjoy that.
I began by answering the phone and taking orders for advertising companies. That worked well as I was solving problems for customers and at one remove from them- at the other end of a telephone.

I really feel that I should be using my artistic talents.
I am hoping this class will lead to something further but I have no idea what.
It is interesting to know that other people can have a similar personality and be successful and happy in their professional lives. It is finding a niche and I suppose that is where this testing helps.

so, you need a career where you can be a bit creative, and where you get paid $$$$ for doing things, not for arse-licking or networking, or supervising others.... engineering every time

have you considered
user interface design (human computer interaction) - combines art, psychology and technical stuff
web page design
software development
phone support for technical products

Thats where theory and reality clash!
Thank you but those options horrify and scare me. They sound far too technical, need a lot of training for and well they are.....
geeky.

I don't know how to use the full functions of my mobile let alone talking someone else through a technical problem.

wail! I am the mind of an INwhatsit in the body of some housewife.

Flyme, I'll let you into a secret...I cant work my mobile phone either. Yet, I have earned my living for 10 years developing mobile phones, test equipment and other such stuff. I actually know more about what the phone is saying to the network, than about how to use the bloody buttons! And I dont care. And if I want to know how to do someting with my phone, Ill ask a teenager.

HCI isnt geeky, neither is 2nd line support. Software development is, but its the way into a lot of other things that are more interesting. A clue if you would enjoy software development, is if you enjoy letter games, crosswords, languages, codes - stuff like that.

psychometric tests are a snapshot of your mood/views/opinions on that particular day, and are very easy to change outcomes of, depending on your views on why you are answering the questions. So, yes while you might not know what the outcomes would be by answering a certain way, you certainly might be answering questions based on the way you would like to be seen, rather than what the actual truth is, and answers are sometimes more true than others, not either true or false, and the way you answer those questions in particular might depend on your mood, easily.

I would use the tests as an additional tool to help give you suggestions for possible career paths, it does not mean you are not suited to ones not listed, or that you will be great or enjoy the ones listed, it just gives you an idea.

Oh i just saw it was meyers-briggs! . My boss, was, I cant remember what her scores were, but she was so the opposite of what a good manager was meant to 'fit into', she felt quite embarrassed by it, but she is a superb manager!

Mine was true depending on where I am and who I am with. Even in work I would say it was not entirely accurate as, it depends on who I work with as much as what work I do.

Flyme - I have a friend who does graphic design and is now moving towards applying that to website design(she did art A level but a geography degree so she sound like whatever category you are on the face of it). Once you have mastered the software I don't think it is that technical - it is art but using a computer.

DoThisDoThat - it was a slightly different scoring system to standard Myers Briggs but basically it was a slighty weird score according to the facilitator - IITJ.

I got the job anyway.

DoThisDoThat - I think I knew that MB isn't about telling you what you should do, I was using it more for ideas than anything.

What am I thinking of doing? Have you got half an hour?

I did a degree in law and economics, meaning to go to law school afterwards. However, I got side tracked into accountancy which was just not me at all. I remember praying that I had failed my first set of exams and would be kicked out. Sadly I didn't. Not that I ever fully qualified. Anyway, once that is your way of earning a living it is difficult to change. Thinking about it now I don't think law would have been a much better fit but at least it is more about people than accountancy is.

I did it until I had DS1 nearly 9 yrs ago. However, 3 yrs before he was born I started the post grad conversion in psychology with the OU. Unfortunately, just as I finished that, when DS1 was 1, we moved across the country to live and back again and I had DS2 all in the space of 2.5 yrs, so career got put on the back burner. I am now doing a MSc in psychology with the OU but realise I am probably too old to ever get the chance to train as a psychologist now (I am 42) so I have to decide what to do next instead.

I am considering teaching psychology, counselling, or doing something more creative (I would love a wool shop for example) - all on my list of good fit jobs. Or something else whatever that may be - have thought of midwifery (but too squeamish) or doctor (ditto plus not clever enough).

I shall have a look for Edgar Schein's Career Anchors then.

I think that a good MBTI facilitator can place you without the tests pretty much. The one that told me I was an I not an E did it on the basis of how annoyed I was by people talking at the same time - something extroverts are fine with but gets up introverts noses. It is all about what you are comfortable with, not what you can do. I can be very outgoing when I feel the need - it's just that I find it exhausting rather than exhilarating.

Nooka - suppose we can all put on a show when we need to and pretend to be something we aren't but we will revert to type if we stop putting in the effort to be different.

I seem to remember way back in the midst of time, a psychological concept of authenticity i.e. the extent to which one is true to one's own personality, spirit, or character, despite external pressures to behave differently.

I would think MB tries to find the authentic you rather than the one behaving in a way that is putting on a bit of an act to fit in although if you came out as an E rather than an I it would appear that you manage to 'fool' the test iyswim.

I don't suppose any of these things are infallible.

It is all interesting stuff - perhaps I should be a careers counsellor!

I have a really interesting book about just that. It's called Beside Ourselves, and it's all about the hidden personality, and how when we are stressed we can often switch from the type that we are comfortable with (and usually good at) to the opposite. I found it interesting because when I am stressed I can become a very dominant extrovert and really annoy people, which apparently is because I'm not very practiced or comfortable at it (rather like writing with your left hand when you can't use your right).

I am a INFP (borderline J) looking for inner harmony don't you know

Thanks nooka - I have put it on my high priority wishlist on Amazon for my next book splurge. (Amazon would barely notice the recession if I bought all the books I have saved on my wishlist.)

Do you think there is a predominance of I's on MN? Most people on this thread seem to be. I wonder if in fact all the E's are out being extravert somewhere with no time for anonymous on-line chatting.

Niecie, I have often thought the same thing myself about MNers being predominantly I.

If you can get over the squeamish, maybe midwefery would be good, or a doula? I'm planning to train as a midwife when I get back to the UK (will be 45 then) - am chanelling my inner F! What about training with the NCT as a NCT group leader - although you're not an E, that's a small group and you would be the "expert" in it? Do you want to help/advise people? It's just that you mentioned that on the point about law vs accountancy. Anyway, think I am rambling now.

Career Anchors will help you define what you need from a career btw, as opposed to recommending specific types of roles. If you do that in conjunction with thinking about your values and your preferred behaviours, you'll really be getting there.

Thanks DoThis - yes, I do seem to want to do something that helps people. It fits my profile plus I didn't like accountancy because it was all about the money. Don't like the kind of people who are interested in that sort of thing either. That said DH is an accountant although in his defence he is in practice so there is more of an element of working with people than there is in the average finance dept where profit is king.

Probably why I don't like the people on The Apprentice - that sort of money grabbing, back stabbing ambition just doesn't appeal.

I will definitely get the Career Anchors book next time I order from Amazon. I have just had an order this week for books I don't have time to read so it might be a while before I make another order. Or it might not

Actually bookshop owner would appeal very much.

I shall have to draw up a short-list.

Thanks again.