Psychometric tests are used by organisations, consultants and counsellors in making workplace decisions. They can help answer questions such as:
- Which recruits should be shortlisted for interview?
- Who would make the most effective supervisor for this department?
- What occupations best align with my client’s skills and interests?
Tests can offer a consistent, efficient and effective means to process thousands of candidates at early stages of recruitment. Alternately, they make possible the type of in-depth evaluation of traits, motives and skills that is essential to employee development. Hundreds of occupational tests are now published, and more are being developed continually.
So with so much to offer and so many to choose from, why do restrictions limit access to tests? Why can’t anyone who wants to take advantage of their benefits freely order and use psychometric tests?
One reason access to psychometric tests is controlled is to help ensure that tests are conducted as intended. To help guarantee fair, accurate measurement, circumstances surrounding test administration, scoring and interpretation must be consistently maintained. Persons with qualifications such as the British Psychological Society’s Occupational Test User have successfully demonstrated their ability to maintain objective testing standards. They are able to evaluate the psychometric qualities of instruments, including reliability and validity. Test Users demonstrate that they can interpret test scores based on typical performance by comparison groups so they can draw meaningful predictions for selection and placement in organisations.
It’s also considered beneficial to limit access to the content of test questions – and of course the answers! Developing effective and useful occupational tests is time consuming and resource-intensive. If questions from a particular test become widely available, anyone could practice those questions and gain an unfair advantage: Their scores would reflect familiarity with questions, rather than the ability or quality that’s really of interest. A test that’s been publically circulated can no longer be validly used for this reason.
Qualification requirements help to ensure that psychometric tests are administered, interpreted and maintained as intended. Ultimately, these qualifications help to ensure that psychometric tests may be used to make accurate, meaningful and fair contributions to workplace decisions.
One of the key benefits for those who enrol in Selection by Design’s psychometric test training is access to and use of occupational tests. The sooner you complete our Occupational Test User training courses, the sooner you’ll gain access to the host of practical benefits these qualifications provide.
