Course: Recruitment and Selection

Class Day: Saturday-Sunday

Semester: Summer 2015
Date:26/7/2015

Psychometric Tests
Psychometric tests are structured exercises used for measuring a persons aptitude, competence, skill,
sensitivity, memory, intelligence and personality.
Some employers may use these tests as part of their recruitment and selection methods. Individuals may
also use a test to help with career decision-making. There are two main types of test:

Aptitude tests, which assess your abilities

Personality questionnaires, which give a profile of your personality.

These tests may be used at various points in the selection process. Some employers use them early on,
perhaps interviewing only those who achieve a certain score in an aptitude test. Others use them later,
towards the final stages of the process.

Personality Test:
A personality test is a questionnaire or other standardized instrument designed to reveal aspects
of an individual's character or psychological makeup.
The first personality tests were developed in the 1920s and were intended to ease the process of
personnel selection, particularly in the armed forces. Since these early efforts, a wide variety of
personality tests have been developed, notably the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI),
the MMPI, and a number of tests based on the Five Factor Model of personality, such as
the Revised NEO Personality Inventory.
Personality tests are used in a range of contexts, including but not limited to, individual
and relationship counseling, career counseling, employment testing, occupational health and
safety and customer interaction management

Occupational Personality Questionnaire

Employers are interested in different personality traits as indicators of job-relevant behaviors.
The Occupational Personality Questionnaires, OPQ or OPQ32, are widely used
occupational personality questionnaires. The authors were Saville et al., including Roger
Holdsworth, Gill Nyfield, Lisa Cramp and Bill Mabey, and they were launched by Saville and
Holdsworth Ltd. in 1984.The series included the first commercially available Big
Five instrument. Distribution is done today by CEB SHL Talent Management. The most recent
version of the OPQ, called the OPQ32r.
OPQ32 provides an indication of an individuals preferred behavioral style at work; to help
employers gauge how a candidate will fit into certain work environments, how they will work
with other people and how they will cope with different job requirements. The OPQ measures 32
different personality traits that are relevant to occupational settings. Ultimately the test measures
traits with the purpose of determining your behavioural style at work. The OPQ32 is used in
selection, development, team building, succession planning and organizational change.
OPQ32 is now available in more than 30 languages and uses item response theory to shorten the
questionnaire down to less than 30 minutes. Has both a normative version 230 questions and an
ipsative version with 104 questions. When undertaking the OPQ, you are asked to make forced
choice responses (otherwise referred to as an ipsative approach). For instance, each question in
the OPQ has 4 statements or adjectives such as friendly, leader, team player and confident. You
are required to rate which is the most and least like you out of the 4 statements/adjectives, rather
than rating each individual statement or adjective on a scale. Thus your final score is likely to
indicate your relative strengths and weaknesses. It is therefore important to prepare for such tests
through online practice psychometric tests so that you are confident that you are demonstrating
your strengths to your potential employer when you undertake your real psychometric test.

Classification
Content Domains:

Personality Trait
Intended or main area(s) of Use:

Work and Occupational

Counselling, Advice, Guidance, and Career Choice

Intended mode of use (conditions under which the instrument was standardised
and validated):

Controlled unsupervised administration. Control over conditions (timing etc) and some
control of identify of the test taker (e.g. tests administered over the Internet but only to
known individuals password restricted access)

Supervised and controlled administration. Test administration under the control of a

qualified administrator or proctor

Description of the populations for which the test is intended:

As a broadspectrum test of personality it can be used with most working adult populations. Its
primarily use is likely to be for managers, professional workers and graduates. Designed with the
international market in mind, versions are available in a range of languages with specific country
and occupational group norm data.

Number of scales and brief description of the variable or variables measured by the
test:

There are 32 trait scales which fall into 3 main clusters: relationships with people; thinking
style; feelings and emotions. The scales related to relationships with people are: persuasive;
controlling; outspoken; independent minded; outgoing; affiliative; socially confident; modest;
democratic; caring. The OPQ also includes a social desirability measure to detect faking
responses.
The scales related to thinking style are: data rational; evaluative; behavioural; conventional;
conceptual; innovative; variety seeking; adaptable; forward thinking; detail conscious;
conscientious; rule following. The scales related to feelings and emotions are: relaxed; worrying;
tough minded; optimistic; trusting; emotionally controlled; vigorous; competitive; achieving;
decisive. The normative version (OPQn) contains an additional social desirability scale and the
ipsative version (OPQi) contains an additional consistency scale.
Items format:

Likert ratings
Forced choice, mixed scale alternatives (ipsative)
Number of test items:

The normative version has 230 questions where respondents indicate an agreement on a 15
Likert scale. Each scale is based on an average of 7 items.
The ipsative test has 104 blocks of four choices where the candidate chooses the statements most
and least like them. In each tetrad a respondent indicates the most appropriate and the least
appropriate statement.
Administration modes:

Supervised Group administration

Computerized locallyinstalled application supervised/proctored
Computerized locallyinstalled application unsupervised/selfassessment
Computerized Webbased application unsupervised/selfassessment

 Computerized Webbased application supervised/proctored

Response mode:
Paper and pencil
Computerized
Time:

Preparation: 5 minutes
Administration: 35 45 minutes
Scoring: 5 10 minutes
Analysis: 20 minutes
Feedback: 1 hour

Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ32) Scales

Low score description

High score description

Relationships with People

rarely pressures others to change

their views, dislikes selling, less
comfortable using negotiation

Persuasive

enjoys selling, comfortable using

negotiation, likes to change other
peoples view

happy to let others take charge,

dislikes telling people what to do,
unlikely to take the lead

Controlling

likes to be in charge, takes the lead,

tells others what to do, takes
control

holds back from criticizing

others, may not express own
views, unprepared to put forward
own opinions

Outspoken

freely expresses opinions, makes

disagreement clear, prepared to
criticize others

accepts majority decisions,

prepared to follow the consensus

Independent
Minded

prefers to follow own approach,

prepared to disregard majority
decisions

quiet and reserved in groups,

dislikes being centre of attention

Outgoing

lively and animated in groups,

talkative, enjoys attention

comfortable spending time away

from people, values time spent
alone, seldom misses the
company of others

Affiliative

enjoys others company, likes to be

around people, can miss the
company of others

feels more comfortable in less Socially Confident feels comfortable when first
formal situations, can feel
meeting people, at ease in formal
awkward when first meeting
situations
people

makes
strengths
and
achievements known, talks about
personal success

Modest

dislikes discussing achievements,

keeps quiet about personal success

prepared to make decisions

without consultation, prefers to

Democratic

consults widely, involves others in

decision making, less likely to

make decisions alone

selective with sympathy and

support, remains detached from
others personal problems

make decisions alone

Caring

sympathetic
and
considerate
towards others, helpful and
supportive, gets involved in others
problems

Thinking Style

prefers dealing with opinions and

feelings rather than facts and
figures, likely to avoid using
statistics

Data Rational

likes working with numbers,

enjoys
analyzing
statistical
information, bases decisions on
facts and figures

does not focus on potential

limitations, dislikes critically
analyzing information, rarely
looks for errors or mistakes

Evaluative

critically evaluates information,

looks for potential limitations,
focuses upon errors

does not question the reasons for

peoples behavior, tends not to
analyze people

Behavioral

tries to understand motives and

behaviors, enjoys analyzing people

favors changes to work methods,

prefers new approaches, less
conventional

Conventional

prefers to deal with practical

rather than theoretical issues,
dislikes dealing with abstract
concepts

Conceptual

prefers well established methods,

favors a more conventional
approach

interested in theories, enjoys

discussing abstract concepts

more likely to build on than

generate ideas, less inclined to be
creative and inventive

Innovative

prefers routine, is prepared to do

repetitive work, does not seek
variety

Variety Seeking

behaves
consistently
across
situations, unlikely to behave
differently with different people

Adaptable

generates new ideas, enjoys being

creative, thinks of original
solutions

prefers variety, tries out new

things, likes changes to regular
routine, can become bored by
repetitive work

changes behavior to suit the

situation, adapts approach to
different people

more likely to focus upon Forward Thinking takes a long-term view, sets goals
immediate than long-term issues,
for the future, more likely to take a
less likely to take a strategic
strategic perspective
perspective

unlikely to become preoccupied

with detail, less organized and
systematic,
dislikes
tasks
involving detail

Detail Conscious

sees deadlines as flexible,

prepared to leave some tasks
unfinished

Conscientious

not restricted by rules and

procedures, prepared to break
rules, tends to dislike bureaucracy

Rule Following

focuses on detail, likes to be

methodical, organized and
systematic, may become
preoccupied with detail

focuses on getting things finished,

persists until the job is done

follows rules and regulations,

prefers clear guidelines, finds it
difficult to break rules

Feelings and Emotions

tends to feel tense, finds it

difficult to relax, can find it hard
to unwind after work

feels calm before important

occasions, less affected by key
events, free from worry

sensitive, easily hurt by criticism,

upset by unfair comments or
insults

concerned about the future,

expects things to go wrong,
focuses on negative aspects of a
situation

Relaxed

finds it easy to relax, rarely feels

tense,
generally
calm
and
untroubled

Worrying

feels nervous before important

occasions, worries about things
going wrong

Tough minded

not easily offended, can ignore

insults, may be insensitive to
personal criticism

Optimistic

expects things will turn out well,

looks to the positive aspects of a
situation, has an optimistic view of
the future

wary of others intentions, finds it

difficult to trust others, unlikely
to be fooled by people

Trusting

trusts people, sees others as

reliable and honest, believes what
others say

openly expresses feelings, finds it

difficult to conceal feelings,
displays emotion clearly

Emotionally
Controlled

can conceal feelings from others,

rarely displays emotion

likes to take things at a steady

pace, dislikes excessive work
demands

Vigorous

thrives on activity, likes to keep

busy, enjoys having a lot to do

dislikes competing with others,

feels that taking part is more
important than winning

Competitive

has a need to win, enjoys

competitive activities, dislikes
losing

sees career progression as less

important, looks for achievable
rather than highly ambitious
targets

Achieving

ambitious and career-centered,

likes to work to demanding goals
and targets

tends to be cautious when making

decisions, likes to take time to
reach conclusions

Decisive

makes fast decisions, reaches

conclusions quickly, less cautious

Benefits:
The OPQ helps organizations:
Identify the best-fit applicants for a given role
Improve interview hit rates
Identify future leaders
Redeploy talent across the business
Evaluate the talent pool following a merger /acquisition/ restructure
Create winning project teams
Manage the transformation of a technical specialist to an effective people manager

There is a range of user-friendly, business relevant reports available based on the OPQ32. OPQ
reports are designed to ensure that results can be meaningfully interpreted and understood in
business contexts.
Designed for use in businesses by managers or trained HR professionals
Targeted, user-friendly and professional formats
Clear, concise language with easy to understand graphical summaries
In-depth, insightful information to use across a wide range of contexts. The report range
includes reports designed for use by HR professionals, line managers and candidates for a
variety of purposes including recruitment, development, team building and career
guidance.