By ASHRAF FARID
“A psychometric assessment can come in handy as a powerful persuasive factor to show prospective employers what you have to offer.”
Anyone who’s taken a creative writing course will be familiar with the concept of ‘show, don’t tell’.
It basically means using words that allow the reader to experience and discover the story through actions, feelings, and senses, rather than simply spelling it out for them. What might this look like in practice?
You’re going to read a couple of sentences. Both convey the same message, but I’d like you to consider how this information is presented.
Telling: Sarah was extremely happy as she walked down the street.
Showing: Sarah walked down the street with a spring in her step as she sang her favourite pop songs at the top of her lungs.
The first sentence tells readers Sarah is happy and expects them to trust it. The second sentence shows a scenario and lets readers decide what it means, forcing them to interpret and analyse the text. When this happens, readers are far more likely to trust the fact that Sarah is indeed happy because it is their own conclusion.
Interviewers and hiring managers are no different when reading resumes. They’d much rather be presented with evidence of a candidate’s achievements and personality and then form their own opinion. The issue with many fresh graduates who sit down to write their resumes is that there is often not a lot to tell, and even less to show.
It’s an unfortunate reality that without prior work experience to use as evidence of your strengths and capabilities, your resume will look a lot more empty than you’d like. You know you have what it takes, you just need to convince one company out there to give you a shot.
That’s where psychometric assessments can come in handy as a powerful persuasive factor to show prospective employers what you have to offer.
It makes you stand out and gives employers reassurance
No employer expects fresh graduates to have a resume filled with work experience. As long as the candidate has a relevant academic background (and decent grades) they’re a potential hire. What employers are more concerned about is hiring someone with the right mindset, personality, and aptitude for the job and company culture.
The thing is, having a ‘relevant academic background’ applies to thousands of other hopeful applicants besides you. What will set you apart from others are your strengths and aptitudes, and therefore this is what you should emphasise. The question is how to do it without appearing ‘fluffly’ or disingenuous.
By including a psychometric assessment in your resume, you present employers with an objective evaluation of the likelihood of your success in the company. Interviewers expect candidates to tell them ‘all the right things’, but when a respected third-party opinion backs-up what they say, it proves that the candidate was not exaggerating just to get the job. Show, don’t tell.
You can be seen for who you are
As far back as 2019, a survey reported that 75% of Fortune 500 companies were already using psychometric assessments as part of their hiring, promotion, and termination processes. It removes much of the perceived bias that can come with human-collected data.
“For various reasons interviewers and employers may make bad judgments of character.”
For various reasons, interviewers and employers may make bad judgments of character. Factors like bad first impressions, the halo effect, or just being too damn good looking can unfairly affect how interviewers see you. Companies are aware of this, and by using objective data-collection tools combined with human intuition, they obtain a more holistic and trustworthy evaluation.
Knowing this, if the specific company you are applying for doesn’t use psychometric testing, don’t let that stop you from taking the initiative and sitting for one yourself.
You may be surprised by what you learn about yourself
“People can get trapped in unfulfilling jobs for years because they are unaware that their roles run contrary to who they really are. It’s not all about hard skills.”
When answered completely truthfully (and it’s not worth lying anyways) psychometric assessments accurately predict your true, innermost preferences, strengths and cognitive abilities. People can get trapped in unfulfilling jobs for years because they are unaware that their roles run contrary to who they really are. It’s not all about hard skills.
Sometimes, we want to believe that we have certain traits. Environmental conditioning can play a huge factor. We may see these traits portrayed by our role models and want to be like them. Society may idolise certain personality traits, and we may secretly crave a slice of that adoration. Either way, it’s probably a good idea to get an unbiased second opinion of yourself. Answer with an open mind, and you will save yourself years of job dissatisfaction.
Not every psychometric assessment is created equal
If, for some reason, this article has managed to convince you to get yourself a psychometric assessment, do remember to be a bit selective of which test to sit for. Here’s a simple checklist you can use to find the ideal assessment.
1. Credibility: A credible test will base its questions and assessment criteria around a widely regarded behavioural model like The Big Five. This lends some scientific validity to the results, and employers are more likely to trust it.
2. Versatility: Some assessments measure aptitude, which includes competence, intelligence and critical thinking. Some assessments measure personality, which includes behaviour, opinions, motivation and values. Some measure both aptitude and personality.
3. Feedback: A good assessment should provide candidates with some sort of post-test report that clearly outlines whatever values the test was intended to measure. Some reports even suggest suitable careers based on the results.
Before making your choice, consider asking around on public forums to get as much information as you can. You might also want to check out our personal favourite test, ABA Traits by Aston Assessment. Do we think it’s the best bang for your buck psychometric assessment out there? Forgive our lack of modesty when we say…..kinda.
Editor’s note: If a psychometric test sounds like something you’d be interested in including in your resume, give our Client Engagement Head Nick a call at 017-2299288 or visit our site for more information.
This article was first published on Leaderonomics.com. Leave us your thoughts on the comment sections below. Head over to Jobstore.com and unveil your next job opportunity.
Ashraf Farid had been happily teaching English until one day a student challenged him to ‘get a real job and prove he could make it outside the classroom’. He is currently a part of the Leaderonomics Editorial Team. His passion includes singing in the shower and fighting neighbourhood cats. During his free time he writes wicked bass lines he secretly knows are ripped off from Muse songs.