What is psychometric recruitment?

Psychometric recruitment involves utilising a tool to measure an individual’s capabilities and behaviours during the recruitment process. Incorporating such assessments into the hiring method helps to give recruitment managers a better understanding about a candidate’s skills and attributes and whether they are suited to the position they are applying for.

The tests, known as psychometric assessments, are scientifically designed to measure mental ability, personality and more recently; soft skills. Traditionally, they are made up of two sections, one measuring aptitude, which assesses logical reasoning and critical thinking through a series of questions, and the other a personality questionnaire. Together these two sections aim to measure a person’s capabilities and behaviours. While psychometric assessments still have the same principles at their core the way that they are delivered is changing and future tools could provide recruiters with even more benefits.

Why should I be using psychometric assessment?

Did you know it’s estimated that more than nine out of ten FTSE 100 firms use psychometric tools? That finding should prove that your business could benefit from including a psychometric assessment within your recruitment process. Using psychometric testing can give you measurable results, data to back up decisions, improve consistency and can save you time.

Of course, you shouldn’t just rely on information from psychometric assessment but use it to complement other areas of hiring, such as the initial application and interview stage.

What’s the future of psychometric recruitment?

Modern psychometric tools aim to offer an even deeper insight into a candidate’s abilities and personality, arming recruiters with even more information they need to make the right hiring choice. One innovative and cutting edge way the industry is doing this is through gamification. Through creating a more immersive experience, "gamifying" the assessments aims to generate results that are more accurate.

When scenarios and answers are written out and candidates simply need to click on the response; it gives them more opportunity to think about what the company wants to hear. Being part of an engaging experience that’s part of a wider storyline can reduce the chances of this happening. While some may argue that candidates will take a game psychometric assessment less seriously this can mean that the results are more honest and result in more accurate outcomes.

Some game psychometric recruitment tools can encourage your candidates to think creatively and glean information when they’re not thinking about it. For example, before beginning the game do they take the time to read the instructions or plunge in and use instinct? Depending on the role, one of these methods could be preferred and give you and insight into what it would be like to work with them.

Tags: psychometric recruitment, psychometric assessment, hiring process