Psychometric Testing – what is it and what is it used for?

What is psychometric testing? A simple definition lies in the word ‘psychometrics’ itself: psycho means to do with the mind, while metrics means to do with measurement. So, we are looking at ways to measure things relating to the mind.

Psychometric testing is generally used to discover how good someone is at a particular skill, such as verbal or numerical reasoning. This is different to the related area of psychometric profiling which is used to “build a picture” of either an individual or a team, such as identifying their values, personality type or occupational interests.

UPDATE 1/3/2012: You can now download our psychometric testing glossary here (PDF)

We have grouped these two types of psychometrics together on our ‘Psychometric testing’ page; you can click the names of the tests or profiles to find out more about the context to apply them in (information pages still to come for some tools).

When we refer to ‘psychometric testing’ or ‘psychometric assessment’ it can mean using tests, profiles or a combination of the two to form a deeper understanding, such as a candidate’s job suitability. Take for example a customer services representative who will need to resolve customer complaints; they’ll need numerical reasoning skills, interpersonal skills, the ability to think quickly and to work accurately. Well designed psychometric assessment would be able to consider an individual’s compatibility with these requirements by considering all these areas, as well as ‘weighting’ them as appropriate.

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So, what are psychometric tests used for?

Psychometrics, and their use for testing, profiling and assessment, are a fact of life in many organisations these days.

- They are used for recruitment and the selection process, alongside other assessment methods to explore the match between the candidate and the role.

- For career guidance such and interests and values inventories

- For assessing suitability for promotion of assignment.

- To identify training and development needs.

- To provide information for use in coaching, such as helping an individual understand their strengths and development areas in order to facilitate personal learning and growth.

- For succession planning, to assess and develop future talent and leadership potential.

- And to profile individuals and teams to assist team selection and development such as self-awareness, understanding and team communication.

For further information also see our psychometrics glossary, main psychometric testing page (include outlines of tools LCP can offer) and don’t hesitate to leave a comment with any questions.

Image credit: Boaz Yiftach

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