In recent years, utilising the psychometric test in the recruitment process is getting increasingly popular in Australia. More and more companies are asking the potential candidates to complete the psychometric test before scheduling an interview. If you wish to find a job right now, you have to be well-prepared for the psychometric test. Understanding your concern, we have put together this comprehensive guide that covers all of the information that you need to know to ace the psychometric test.
What are Psychometric Tests?
Psychometric tests are activities or standard tests that assess the candidates in terms of skills, knowledge, capabilities, attitudes, behavioral traits, personality traits and tendencies. The employers will decide which specific areas they want to test the candidates with the psychometric test. Psychometric tests are usually considered a fairly accurate indicator of the candidates’ future performance at the position they are applying for. Using psychometric tests can make the recruitment process more efficient and help companies save a substantial amount of HR costs.
Types of Psychometric Tests
The three most common types of psychometric tests are numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning test. Numerical reasoning test is used to assess the candidates’ mathematical knowledge and reasoning. Verbal reasoning test involves texts or passages. The candidates will read the materials and answer multiple choice questions based on what they read. The non-verbal reasoning test aims at testing the candidates’ visual reasoning ability, asking them to identify the relationships or the similarities between shapes or patterns.
Psychometric Tests Providers
Companies in Australia usually uses psychometric tests provided by one of the top three providers: Revelian, SHL and Saville.
Revelian Cognitive Ability Test (RCAT)
Revelian is a famous psychometric assessment company based in Australia. The Revelian Cognitive Ability Test (RCAT), formerly known as OneTest, is widely used around the world by major companies. RCAT has very limited time constraint. The test consists of 51 questions and it takes about 20 minutes to complete. One reason behind RCAT’s popularity is how comprehensive it is. Unlike other psychometric tests in which one test focuses on one area, RCAT is a combination of multiple reasoning tests. RCAT aims at testing multiple reasoning abilities at once. The employers can save a lot of time and resources with RCAT. On top of that, one government study has pointed out a strong correlation between RCAT score and overall job performance. Hence, it’s not surprising that most Australian government agencies are relying heavily on RCAT in their recruitment process. Some examples of major companies using RCAT are Deloitte, Pepsi, BMW, Energy Australia and Thiess.
Practise Sample Revelian Tests Here
SHL
SHL is the largest screening test providers in the world with many big clients such as Coca-Cola, Danone, Microsoft and Target. In terms of reasoning abilities, they have tests for numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning, inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning. In terms of personality and behaviour, they have tests for situational judgement and work behaviour. SHL also has the General Ability Test, which is a comprehensive test that assesses multiple cognitive concepts at once. The General Ability Test is usually persevered for positions that require graduate education or higher. Each kind of test has a different amount of questions and time constraint. The SHL tests are difficult and they were built to be that way. The pass rate for the SHL test is also very low, in which only 20% of the test takers make the cut. If you get good score on your SHL test, your chance to secure the job you’re applying for will significantly increase.
Saville
Saville is another leading assessment and consulting company. Saville’s Tests are used by global corporations such as L’oreal, Nestle, Unilever and Johnson & Johnson. Saville’s Tests fall under 2 categories: Single Aptitude Test and Swift Aptitude Test. The Single Aptitude Test is the full version of the Saville’s Test. It takes more than 30 minutes to complete. Meanwhile, Swift Aptitude Tests are the shorter version that can be taken online and each test takes under 30 minutes complete. Saville offers tests that cover different topics and cognitive concepts. Based on the capabilities of the candidates and the position they are applying for, the employers will choose the suitable test level. The test levels are Executive aptitudes (for managers and directors), Analysis aptitudes (for managers, directors and professionals), Comprehension aptitudes (for administrative, customer service and operational staffs) and Work aptitudes (for interns, trainees, staffs, senior staffs, team leaders, and supervisors).
Mockup Saville Assessment Test
What to Expect in a Psychometric Test?
Typically, a psychometric test consists of a series of multiple-choice questions with a time limit. If you take the test online, you may be required to complete one question in a given amount of time before advancing to the next question. Once you move to the next question, you can’t go back to the previous question to check or change your answers. The questions are closely related to the cognitive concept you are being tested in. For numerical reasoning test, you will have to work with number, graphs and statistics. For verbal reasoning test, you will deal with word-based questions. If the test you take is comprehensive, you will encounter questions related to different topics in one test.
How to Ace the Psychometric Test
Now, let’s get to the topic we are all waiting for, which is how to ace a psychometric test. Here is some advice we have for you:
Practise, Practise and Practise
The key is practise as much as you can. You can find sample tests online and most of the time, you will receive the correct answers right after completing the sample test. You should take time to study the questions you got wrong in order to avoid making the same mistake in the future. You should ask the HR department for more details about the test you will take. You need to know at least the name of the test (RCAT, Saville’s Test, SHL’s Test or others) so that you can learn about the test format and do some practice.
The most common types of psychometric testing are numerical reasoning and verbal reasoning. Therefore, if you are feeling rusty on your math skill or reading comprehension skill, it’s time to do some revision. You can practise with general math questions or English questions from high school. You don’t need to limit yourself to practising with only sample psychometric tests.
Practise Sample Revelian Tests Here
Mockup Saville Assessment Test
Master Time Management
Time management is extremely important. As we said, for online tests, you may not be able to go back to a question if you did not answer it in time. You must practise working under pressure and solving the questions within the time limit. If the test you take allows you to go back to questions you skipped, you still need to practice distributing your time efficiently. You should learn and remember the shortcuts and the tricks to beat the time limit.
Stimulate Your Brain
During preparation for the test, you can try different activities to stimulate your brain and force yourself to think on your feet. By doing those things, you can get yourself ready for the test and the time constraint that comes with it. We recommend doing crosswords, puzzles; playing word games, brainteasers, Sudoku or playing games that involve logic, calculation and math.
What You Should Do on the Day of Testing
During the test, you need to remember the following tips:
– Read the instructions carefully and watch out for trick questions.
– Never leave a blank answer. Your score won’t be deducted if you give a wrong answer. So, if you can’t solve a question, just guess the answer.
– Don’t spend too much time on any one question. Don’t focus too much on one question because you will run out of time for other easy ones. If you face a difficult question, move on to the next one and come back to it later.
– If you finish early, go back and check your answers.
– Calm yourselves down and don’t let your nerves get the best of you. If you face difficult questions, don’t freak out. You have to remain calm and focused to do the best on your test.
We hope that with all of the information we provided, you have gained a comprehensive understanding of psychometric testing and know exactly what you need to do to prepare for the test. We know taking a psychometric test is very nerve-wracking. Therefore, we hope that you can stay strong, stay calm and keep pushing forward. If you are applying for a job and about to take a psychometric test, we wish you the best of luck with your test and your future career.
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