What are Psychometric Tests?

Psychometric tests are structured online exercises that are used to measure various aspects of aptitude, competence, skill, sensitivity, memory, intelligence and personality.

Although taking these tests may sometimes feel stressful, the more you practice them the better you will get at them. Working through practice tests will also help to highlight any areas you need to brush up on before the real thing. Royal Holloway Careers Service offers a full range of free psychometric tests through the Careers Moodle see below for details of how to access them.

Tips

• Take your time and read through the instructions very carefully and make sure you understand what you are being asked to do. You will be given some practice questions to complete before you start on the real thing.
• Be aware of the time and make sure you know how long you have for the overall test and each question.
• Avoid interruptions. Make sure you are in a quiet room and will not be disturbed.
• Sit in a comfortable chair with a well-positioned table and adopt a relaxed posture.
• Try to stay calm by breathing slowly and deeply remember you are not expected to get 100%
• It is also very important to make sure your computer connection is reliable.
• Work quickly and if you're unsure of the answer, make a decision and move on.
• Try to stay calm by breathing slowly and deeply remember you are not expected to get 100%
• Use the practice tests on the careers Moodle to increase your confidence for the real thing.

Practice Tests

The Careers Service offers a full, free range of practice psychometric tests, accessible through Graduate First via the Careers Moodle (look for the "Psychometric/employer tests" section).

Verbal Reasoning

Verbal reasoning tests are designed to assess your ability to understand, interpret and use written information. You usually have a short passage of text to read before answering questions which assess your comprehension. No prior knowledge of the subject is required as you base your answers purely on the written piece you are presented with. Top tips:

• Practice reading complicated texts about subjects you do not understand.
• Try extracting the main points from passages of information and summarising their meaning.
• Use the practice tests on the careers Moodle to increase your confidence for the real thing.

Numerical Reasoning

Numerical reasoning (or "numerical") tests are designed to assess your numerical capability and your interpretation of charts, graphs, data or statistics. They may also challenge your knowledge of rates, ratios, percentages and currency conversions.

• Brush up on your mental arithmetic
• Go over your times tables.
• Remind yourself of some fundamental calculations such as percentages and fractions.
• Check that you can do long multiplication.
• Practise estimating answers; even with a calculator this can help make sure you are on the right track.
• Questions are often based on your ability to interpret data presented in tables - get hold of a copy of the Financial Times, or a similar journal, and spend time becoming familiar with reading tables of information.
• Do not worry about more advanced maths such as algebra or equations. These will not be tested unless the employer tells you explicitly that this is the case.
• Use the practice tests on the careers Moodle to increase your confidence for the real thing.

Situational Judgement

These tests give you a hypothetical work–related situation and ask you to choose a preferred course of action from a list of options. Make sure you read the instructions carefully.

It can be difficult to answer these especially if they are talking about an unfamiliar situation. Practice these using the test questions on the careers Moodle. Make sure you read the feedback on any of the answers that you didn’t score correctly. Keep practicing these until you understand how to choose the right option.

Personality Tests

Personality tests are occasionally used to help an employer understand what kind of personality you have and how that might match with the organisation’s culture. Remember:

• Be yourself and be authentic. There are no 'right or wrong' answers with personality tests.
• Don't attempt to guess the "right" answer
• Use the practice tests on the careers Moodle to increase your confidence for the real thing.

What next?

Use the practice online psychometric tests and e-tray exercises available in the “Psychometric/employer tests” section of the Careers  Moodle 

Read the psychometric tests help sheet on Moodle