In India, most parents play a major role in the choice of studies and career path of their children. This idea goes either way: sometimes it works and produces the best possible results, whereas it also leaves some individuals at crossroads. In the latter case, they become unsure about what to do next.

To avoid the latter situation, it is imperative to choose the courses and career in a planned way. The best way to do it is to align the choice of studies and career with the personality traits of an individual. This is precisely where a psychometric career test plays an important role.

Read on to find out what it is all about, its importance, the manner of conducting it and how it helps students in choosing the right career path.

Psychometric career test: what does it mean?

A psychometric career test can be defined as a career assessment involving questions that relate to the aptitude, the personality traits of an individual, and other aspects. The rationale behind conducting it is to better understand an individual’s personality, behavioural aspects, and their cognitive abilities.

A psychometric test for students involves a wide range of questions that test the reasoning abilities of individuals. In addition, it also consists of questions based on different scenarios. In most cases, this form of test yields unbiased results. As a result, one gets to know about the different aspects of the personality of students without any form of personal prejudice.

Why is it important for students to take a psychometric test? Psychometric tests serve as a useful tool for the selection of students in various institutions. While the critical thinking ability of students is what the test highlights, institutions can also use it to assess the other aspects of student’s mind.

Some of the common forms of tests used in the psychometric analysis of students include the following:

• Critical thinking tests
• Career orientation tests
• Personality tests
• English language tests
• General Knowledge tests

Different schools have different criteria for the selection of students for admissions based on the scores they obtain in the test.

Besides, psychometric tests also prove to be useful in supporting the curriculum of students. Personality tests, in conjunction with language and emotional intelligence tests act as one of the best means to identify the strengths and weaknesses of students.

While it helps strengthen the strong points further, it enables teachers to find out the areas on which they need to work to better prepare their pupils in doing well in the examination as well as help them choose the right professional career after the completion of their studies.

Some B-schools consider administering career counselling test at the end of their study program. The rationale behind it is to boost their confidence and help them in being organized. These two attributes help them to transition into the corporate world with ease and start their career with a bang.

Because these tests help them select a career path based on the liking, it paves way for their successful career wherein they neither feel the need to look back or change their course after choosing a career.

What are the benefits of psychometric tests?

If administered properly, the psychometric test results in the following benefits for students:

• It helps in the identity profiling of students: John Holland - a popular psychologist from Holland - says that an individual can have any one of the six personality traits. These include social, realistic, investigative, enterprising, conventional, and artistic. For maximum engagement and productivity of those who take the test, both as a student and a future employee, a psychometric test for career counselling helps match aptitude with the personalities of students.
• Helps identify the strengths and weaknesses of students: Whether it is about choosing a course or a profession, both demands a candidate to have certain criteria. The overall abilities of a candidate must be compatible with the requirements for both. A candidate may or may not have the requisite abilities to fit into the scheme of things of a job or a course. An online psychometric test helps in the identification of both the strong and weak points in them. Knowing the weaknesses puts one in a better position to work and improve on them.
• Psychometric tests are reliable and help extract the personality traits of students like nothing else: As a standard rule, no one should judge a book by its cover. What appears on the surface may not be the actual personality of an individual. Psychometric tests serve as a valuable tool to help assessors extract the key and accurate information about the personality traits of a student without any bias. More importantly, the results are accurate in most cases.
• It is cost-effective: Psychometric tests ask unbiased and to-the-point questions. As a result, assessors get to know about a number of things related to the abilities and personality of students without the need for any further test or the implementation of other processes. It not only saves on cost but also saves the time of an institution or an organization that administers it to assess the suitability of candidates.

What is the standard procedure for conducting a psychometric test?

A psychometric test involves questions divided into various categories in the form of a questionnaire. Participants who take the test answer the questions on their computer systems. This mostly happens in online tests.

Sometimes these tests are also conducted in written form, depending on the needs of the institution that conducts and supervises it. Interestingly, the method of conducting the test does not have any bearing on the final result. This is because both the forms of the test involve a similar set of questions.

Candidates get a score depending on how they answer the questions. They are required to answer all the questions within an allotted time slot. An examiner takes the overall score of a student into consideration to segregate them into different categories for the choice of courses and career options.

What time should a student take a psychometric test?

While the majority of the parents of children are aware of the positive effects of taking a career counselling test for the latter, they wonder what is the right age and time for taking it.  It is imperative that students take the test when they are mentally stable to make decisions based on critical thinking.

There is no hard-and-fast rule when it comes to deciding on the time of taking a career assessment test. However, it is best to administer this test when a student needs help with either choosing a stream or a career option. Also, students should take a career assessment test when they feel the need to make a decision of pursuing post-graduation or other specialization.

Taking this into consideration, it can be said that there are various stages at which students may feel the need to take career assessment tests. Broadly, it can be placed into the following categories:

• Class 8-10: The best time for it is when a student studies between standard 8 and 10. This is the time when they face the dilemma of choosing the right stream and course as soon as they complete their board examination. One of the major benefits of taking the test at this time is that they get a clear idea about the subject combinations they should go with. Plus, they also get to relate the combination of subjects with regard to their career ambitions.
• Class 10-12: At this stage, students are mostly confused about choosing the right career. They want to make sure they select a career and adhere to it in order to advance their career goals. A psychometric test for class 12th can be of great help to students in this regard. By virtue of it, they will be able to better understand their primary and secondary career options.
• At the undergraduate level: Following college education, especially graduation, most students get into confusion regarding whether they should carry on their studies or start looking for the right job options. A good career assessment, in conjunction with the right kind of counselling, can work wonders in guiding them through to the right path. As a result, they will be able to take a path that will steer them through to their destination.

How psychometric tests help students with making a right career choices

An online psychometric test focuses more on the temperament of students. Also, known as the emotional quotient (EQ), it serves as the benchmark for the volatility in their temperament with regard to the situations concerning them.

Among other things, a psychometric test gives a clear picture of a student’s EQ.

Depending on a student’s score, it becomes clear as to which field is compatible with their temperament.

Be it the selection of a course or a career path or a specialization, a student is likely to do well when they make a choice that coincides with their emotional quotient (EQ). More importantly, such a choice helps them prevent distressful situations wherein they feel the urge to change their decision and choose another course or career option. This way, psychometric tests help students choose the right career choice.

FAQs

1. What is an online psychometric test?

An online psychometric test is an online test involving questions that test the personality of an individual along with their cognitive ability. Those who take it are required to submit their answers within a specific duration.

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a psychometric test?

There are several pros and cons to taking a psychometric test. Among the positives involved in it, the prominent ones include its appropriateness and accuracy, its cost-effectiveness, and unbiased approach. The downsides of taking the test include its incompatibility with some individuals, its tendency to make them feel nervous, and the vulnerability of it not been foolproof.

3. How do I prepare for the psychometric test?

While doing well in a psychometric test is challenging, you make things simple and easy for yourself by following the rules in a systematic way. You can expect desirable results if you adopt the following approaches:

• Try to understand the requirements of an employer.
• Learn the techniques that can help you do well in a psychometric test.
• Ensure that your body and mind are in good shape to take the test; your best bet to make it certain is to take timely breaks in between the tests so that both your body and mind gets enough rest to recuperate.
• Try getting an insight into the type of questions you need to practice in order to do well in a psychometric test.
• Manage your time well and set realistic targets that you can achieve.
• Widen your vocabulary as much as you can.
• Be consistent with your answers to be sincere and genuine in the eye of an assessor.

Conclusion

An online psychometric test for school students in India is of paramount importance for helping students in choosing the right career option. It lays emphasis on emotional quotient which is one of the best ways to weigh the compatibility of a career option with regard to their temperament. While there are several advantages of conducting the test, it is also important to make sure that students are properly briefed about its methodology beforehand to prevent the possibility of them becoming nervous. It can also help in further improving the accuracy of the score a student gets after taking the test.