Psychometric testing is one of the common assessments used by organizations and individuals alike to determine one's personality and emotional dispositions. This blog dives into the depths of psychometric testing and how it can help you unlock your career potential.
What you will learn -
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- What is meant by Psychometric testing and how it relates to career development and selection
- Understanding the workings behind psychometric testing and decoding the Big 5 Personality model - the most widely accepted personality assessment
- Deconstructing the relationship between one's personality and their career and work life
- How understanding your SELF or self-discovery accelerates your career progress
Psychometrics is the scientific discipline within psychology concerned with the theory and technique of measurement. Psychometric assessment tests objectively measure latent constructs that are not readily observable, such as intelligence, educational achievement, mental afflictions, and character traits. A psychometric test is a predominant tool utilised by employers, psychologists, and career practitioners because it is rooted in the individual's present state of mind and environment.
Human nature and potential remain a mystery even after decades of extensive research. Yet, today we have access to some powerful science-based techniques and frameworks that offer rich insights into human behaviour. Personality and character play a significant role in determining one's disposition towards certain professions or technical abilities when it comes to career and work life. This is why organisations from emerging startups to Fortune 500 companies rely on psychometric tests to identify the perfect candidates for different roles.
What is a psychometric test?
Psychometric assessment tests are designed and created with defined objectives to measure an individual's personality traits and capabilities fit for a specific role or profession. Depending on the type of psychometric test, it can offer you rich research-based insights into your core personality traits, logical reasoning, critical thinking, numerical reasoning, verbal and reading skills, and situational judgment.
Psychometric personality tests such as the Big 5 personality traits or OCEAN profile are also widely acknowledged to test for careers and skill testing. The big 5 personality test deconstructs the 5 broad categories of personality traits that define an individual's character and disposition. Individual personalities vary on a spectrum of high to low on each of the five core traits -
Openness to experience: This trait drives an individual's natural curiosity and creativity, imagination, intellect, insight, artistic curiosity, and the desire to experience new things. People who rate high on openness tend to be adventurous and imaginative.
Conscientiousness: This trait is characterised by impulse control, thoughtfulness, orientation to goals, and planning skills.
Extraversion: Sociability, talkative nature, excitability, and high emotional expressiveness constitute this dimension of personality. If you are outgoing, a conversation starter, or assertive in social situations, you will probably rate high in extraversion.
Agreeableness: This trait includes pro-social behaviours and interpersonal tendencies such as altruism, kindness, affection, and trust. People who rate high on agreeableness tend to be more cooperative and community-oriented.
Neuroticism or Emotional Stability: This dimension reads your capacity to react to different situations, including stressful circumstances. Those who rate low on neuroticism tend to exhibit emotional resilience and stability.
The traits that come together to make these five dimensions of personality define the unique characters we embody in our professional and personal lives. Each of the five dimensions represents a continuum. Studies have now established that the big 5 dimensions also have a genetic influence. These 5 dimensions of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness exhibit high degrees of genetic heritability, estimated at 41%, 53%, 61%, 41%, and 44%, respectively.
How does personality affect our career?
According to Business Insider, the average person spends more than 90,000 hours of their lifetime at work. That's a major chunk of our time on this planet, which makes it essential for us to identify our ideal career choices at the earliest. Research has established that almost all of our personality traits have some degree of genetic influence.
Incidentally, many personality traits are associated with natural inclinations and affinities towards certain vocations, career paths, or knowledge streams. Research suggests that new sales personnel with an optimistic outlook sell 37% more life insurance than pessimists in their first two years. A study conducted on 496 employees from diverse occupations discovered that extroverted employees had greater salaries, promotions, and overall career satisfaction. Employees who rated high on neuroticism experienced less satisfaction with their careers. Those who rated high on agreeableness tended to experience lower levels of career satisfaction.
The interesting inference from the research is that personality change or personal growth can help people find more satisfaction in their career and professional choices. Taking a deeper look at our personality through tools such as psychometric tests can open new doorways to potent information about our natural dispositions and how we can use them to find the right profession. It can also help us look at our SELF objectively and employ research-based techniques to improve our skills.
Self-discovery is the key to career success
Self-discovery, or the long-term process of decoding one's strengths, gifts, shortcomings, motivations, and drives, is the critical step to unlocking exponential career growth in our lives. While self-reflection or mindfulness may help us find new insights into our nature, they remain slow and demand discipline. Modern tools such as psychometric tests for career selection empower individuals with access to profound psychological insights that can fuel transformational changes. Thorough analyses based on scientific frameworks can equip individuals with knowledge about their inherent strengths, talents, and growth areas and kick start their growth journey.
Through a research-based self-discovery test, platforms like Genleap are determined to help individuals discover their natural gifts, acquired and inherited potential, personality traits, and career possibilities. Genleap leverages the power of three knowledge streams - Genomics, Astromancy, and Psychometrics to offer a detailed assessment of your personality, aptitude, mental and emotional states, and inherited skills and talents.
The self-discovery test report also lists the top 99 career possibilities for the participants based on the insights drawn from the three sciences. Equipped with this information and supported by Genleap's rich ecosystem of certified experts and career counsellors, individuals can explore and choose the right professional paths that enable them to realise their true potential.
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