How do Psychometric Tests Fail to Predict a Candidate’s Skill Level?

Many companies still believe psychometric tests are beneficial to deciding who to hire, and these tests are gaining popularity, according to a post on RecruitingBlogs. The market for these assessments is projected to rise to $16+ million by 2028.

In actuality, psychometric tests are far less reliable and valid as some recruiters believe. Disability justice advocate Lydia Brown says, “Personality tests are useful for individual people sometimes on journeys of self-discovery. But when they’re used to make decisions by other people affecting someone’s life, they become dangerous tools.”

Personnel Psychology, Vol. 67. 

If a recruiter decides whether someone proceeds to the next stage in the hiring process solely based on how they answer a psychometric test, they may run into trouble. A better indicator of job success (and an employer favorite) is a strong work ethic, which is often characterized by conscientiousness—the tendency to be organized, hard-working, time-conscious, and responsible.

Recruiters who use psychometric tests claim they “reduce risks by revealing a candidate’s character,” says Abercrombie.

She continues, “Despite a century of trial and error and countless tests being given and appraised, there is still no conclusive scientific evidence that psychometric testing works.”

Though some tests are better than others in the sense that they have been designed specifically for the purpose of the candidate’s job performance, many are irrelevant at best, and concerningly discriminatory at worst. There are many alternatives that exist for hiring managers looking to recruit top talent, from structured interviews to skill tests.

Read on to see how a recruiter who still uses psychometric tests watches them constantly fall short of all hiring expectations.

Psychometric Tests are Less Reliable During Interview Pre-Screening

Picture this: A recruiter just got an email from a hiring manager asking her to reopen a position she filled a month ago, as the person she had initially hired had to be let go.

This was the third time that month she was asked to reopen a job position because her hire fell short of the role’s expectations. She knew other members on the recruitment team had this problem as well, so it must’ve been something they were doing wrong across the board. Something had to change in their entire process, now.

In the past three months, she had to ask for five previously filled jobs to be reopened.  The hiring manager explained the candidates she hired were friendly, outgoing, and ambitious. The problem? They lacked the skills outright to do their job properly, or were spending too long asking for clarifications.

The recruiter’s company had been conducting psychometric tests for decades, which had not been updated for years. So, she wondered if there was a better way to evaluate candidates and increase retention rates, with better job fit from the get-go.

The answer is yes.

Pre-Screen Candidates with Skill Testing Software

If the recruiter chooses skills testing software instead of psychometric tests, she’ll be able to consistently hire more employees who’ll excel in their roles, with much higher predictive validity. This reduces the risk of reopening a job position because the employee was a poor fit, skills-wise.

Skills testing software is fully customizable to the position you need to fill. You can ask specific questions relating to one job—and find out exactly what skills each candidate has. The result? Improve the quality of each hire for your company, save time, and resources.

Combine skills testing with competency-based interviews, and watch the quality of your hires soar. As a recruiter, you’re in charge of finding the best talent and seeing how they’d fit into your company’s culture. Your team’s next high performer could be right around the corner, or located on the other side of the world!

Start hiring smarter and faster today through skills-based testing instead of psychometric testing. Boost the predictive validity of your future hires and watch retention rates skyrocket.

Find out what’s available from VidCruiter’s video interview software and sign up for a live demo today to take your recruitment strategy to the next level.