Psychometric Testing for MBAs: An Introduction

There are many challenges facing recent MBA graduates when looking for the job to start off their career. One of the largest of these obstacles, however, is often overlooked until it is too late. This obstacle is the psychometric testing now used by most MBA employers as a standard measure to filter out job candidates.

Psychometric testing is used by employers in order to sift through large numbers of prospective job seekers. These tests cover many different subjects and are designed to assess the abilities and intelligence levels which recruiters seek in a candidate. When taking a psychometric test you will have a limited amount of time to complete the test in and indeed this time pressure is a major element of the assessment challenge.

Psychometric testing can be extremely difficult and catch many candidates off guard. The type of questions appearing in these assessment tests are completely different from the examinations you’re used to seeing in a study environment.

They come in a variety of forms and can be presented at different stages of the extensive recruitment process. In general though, you need to be aware of the two methods in which companies present you with these tests: Online aptitude tests and assessment centers.

After sending in an application to a specific company, you are likely to receive an email with a number of online aptitude tests to complete. These tests are usually made up of about 20-25 questions each and you will usually be given about 20-25 minutes to complete them. Online aptitude tests are designed to assess certain innate abilities and skills that employers look for in prospective job candidates.

Most businesses rely on third party assessment companies to provide these psychometric assessment services. While the tests created by these companies are usually similar, there are certain distinct differences between the tests provided. For this reason it is very important that you find out which test provider your potential employer makes use of in order to prepare sufficiently.

Companies such as SHL, Kenexa and Saville provide the majority of the tests used on MBA graduates. Other popular assessment companies are Talent Q, Cubiks, Cut-E and Onetest.

It’s highly recommended that you get hold of practice tests to sufficiently prepare for these online tests before facing them for the first time. It’s also important to remember that it is common for companies to ask candidates to retake these tests once they arrive for the interview stage. This is to validate that the online tests were actually taken by the candidate.

Some of the most common online aptitude tests you are likely to face can include numerical reasoning tests, verbal reasoning tests, inductive reasoning tests, and situational judgement tests.