Selecting Suitable Psychometric Tests for Recruitment

It is important to use the correct psychometric tests for staff recruitment; the wrong tests will give you the wrong data. Fermion has access to several test suppliers; however, the company we most commonly use is called “Criteria”. They offer a wide range of recruitment-related psychometric tests that cover general intelligence, emotional intelligence, and personality. There is also a range of skills tests, such as the Office 365 suite, administrative skills, and workplace risk & safety assessments.

The main battery of tests we recommend for most roles is one that covers IQ, EQ, and personality, and these tests are called, respectively, the Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test (CCAT), Emotify, and the Employee Personality Profile (EPP). This battery of tests takes approximately 45 minutes to complete.

CCAT

Measures a candidate’s general mental ability, or general intelligence, and covers problem-solving, logical thinking and verbal reasoning. The test consists of 50 multiple-choice questions that start easy and get progressively more difficult. The candidate answers as many questions as they can in 15 minutes.

Emotify

An ability-based measure of emotional intelligence that assesses a candidate’s ability to accurately perceive, understand, and manage emotions. It features three engaging and interactive assessments, which together take 20 minutes to complete.

EPP

Measures 12 work-related personality traits from 140 questions that are answered on a 5- point scale. The questionnaire is untimed, but most candidates complete it in 10 minutes. From this, a 6-page report is generated that also gives a percentage match to 12 different job categories, such as “Management & Leadership” or “Accounting & Finance”. The report also includes 3 validity scales.

Testing & Feedback

Irrespective of where the testing is used within the selection process, all candidates are spoken to before they receive their test invitation. This is to explain the tests and the process to the candidates and answer any questions they may have. Candidates are usually asked to set their own deadline for test completion. All candidates are asked if they would like to receive their test results, which most do.

Test interpretation and feedback are given in the context of the candidate’s CV and the job description. The feedback is given in written form and followed up with verbal feedback if needed or requested.

Cost (excl. GST): $350 per candidate.l

Christopher Apps is an Organisational Psychologist and owner of Fermion. I enjoy keeping up to date with the latest research in psychology and sharing that information. There are a lot of fads, gimmicks, and clichés in the people & culture field, and I believe it is important to be sceptical of hyperbolic claims about human behaviour and to adopt an evidence-based approach to work.

The focus of Fermion is "Psychometric Testing for Recruitment" and "Recruitment to Retention: How to select good staff and keep them". If you would like to learn how to select good staff and keep them, please feel free to contact us at Fermion.