If you’re a student trying to decide on a career path or an adult looking to change careers, you may find yourself taking free career quizzes on the internet. I’ve been having a look through some of them and in the last few days I’ve been told, amongst other less glamorous careers, that I could be an astronaut and a rockstar. For some reason, I get the feeling that these free quizzes do not go into anywhere near enough depth for one of the biggest decisions you will make in your life.
Free career quizzes often claim that they will direct you to a career that fits your personality, but more often than not they simply go by the most obvious attributes. Do you really think ten multiple choice questions can provide any real insights into who you are and what career you are best suited to? What about the less obvious factors that aren’t so easy to measure? It’s these elements that are so crucial to determining whether a job is suitable for your unique combination of traits and interests. This is where cutting edge psychometric tools come into play. In recent years research and technology development in the field has advanced to the point that we can predict the likelihood of you enjoying your career and subsequently your chances of being successful.
What Are Psychometric Tests?
Psychometric tests are made up of personality profiles, ability assessments, reasoning tests, and motivation questionnaires. These tests are based on established and well researched psychological principles and try to provide objective data for otherwise subjective measurements.
For example, if you want to determine someone’s attitude, you can ask the person directly, observe the person in action, or gather observations about the person from other people. The problem with these methods is the influence of perspective and the high potential for bias by the interviewer.
By using psychometric tests, you make a more objective and impartial judgement. Since objectivity is key to using these assessments, high quality psychometric tests provide fair and accurate results each time it’s given. Modern psychometric tests have fine tuned this process and can be easily delivered online in as little as 20 minutes. If the online test takes only 3 minutes, it’s probably not digging too deep into your real values and motivations.
What Do Psychometric Tests Measure?
Unlike free career quizzes, psychometric tests are usually based on addressing two key elements of job fit:
Suitability meaning what you want to do in a job which is based on your interests and personality traits.
- Interests – how people differ in their motivation, values, and opinions in relation to their interests.
- Personality – how people differ in their manner or style of doing things, and in the way they interact with their environment and other people.
Eligibility meaning what you can do in a job.
- Aptitude – how people differ in their ability to carry out different tasks (performance).
Advantages of Taking Psychometric Tests
While there are many advantages of taking psychometric tests, we have come up with five of the top advantages:
- Make better decisions – Psychometric tests can help to make career-related assessments more objective, while avoiding the more obvious measures that can be confusing.
- Easy to take – These tests can be completed online. you can take the tests from anywhere, and the results are accurately scored each time.
- Uncover your true career values – Psychometric tests can help you uncover values and motivations that are fundamental to overall career satisfaction. These are the core requirements you must tick off in order to be satisfied in a career.
- Identify hidden traits – Psychometric tests are a good way of getting right to the bottom of objectively assessing people’s “hidden” traits. These may be strengths you hadn’t considered or small behavioural quirks that can affect your interpersonal relationships with colleagues and friends. Other simpler tests are just not enough and need more depth to really provide value.
- Provide insights into Emotional Intelligence – the most advanced tests can provide insights into your behavioural patterns that extend beyond the workplace into your relationships and home life. Paradox Theory can even display how your behaviour can change in when in stressful situations.
Summary
Unlike free career quizzes, psychometric tests are tested and proven to be reliable and valid measures of areas like personality, ability, aptitude, and interest. They go in to much more depth; therefore, providing a more accurate picture of your true self and your likely job fit for a particular career. It’s safe to say that the free career quizzes have very little information of real value to offer you and should probably not be relied upon to help make big life decisions.
Whatever stage of life you’re in, real psychometric tests provide you with an incredible amount of reliable information to assist you in making important career decisions. To learn more about Forsee’s individual career development solutions and access a free trial click here.