Disadvantages Of Psychometric Tests

'A psychological test is any procedure on the basis of which inferences are made concerning a

person 's capacity, propensity or liability to act, react, experience, or to structure or order thought or

behaviour in particular ways ' (The British Psychological Society). The psychometric tests which

companies make use of when selecting among job applicants have the potential to provide us with

information about the kind of skills which employers are really looking for and they do provide

additional information to that available in skill surveys. Psychometric tests are most likely to be used

for managerial and graduate vacancies, and are seldom used for manual vacancies. The costs of

these tests are substantial. This implies that

Some people argue that the cons of psychometric testing outweigh its pros. In

many cases, top-notch applicants are ruled out of a job because psychometrics are used as a default

barometer, with all subsequent decisions based on it. One of the biggest problems is that

psychometric tests frequently contain biases that work against applicants from different cultural

backgrounds, who face language barriers or even just simple anxiety about testing. They might

sometimes be the best person for the job, but are automatically eliminated because of the process.

Besides, the standard psychometric tests are already well known and easily accessed. Applicants can

practise taking them, and even be coached on them to get a better score. When candidates

complete a recruitment questionnaire, their answers can be influenced by what is quaintly known as

“motivational distortion”. Consciously or subconsciously they may recognise the types of behaviours

that the organisation is looking for and their answers reflect that perception rather than their own

personality. When this happens, the results of the questionnaire may be unreliable or even

misleading.

Good recruitment questionnaires contain faking scale, which help identify the extent to