PsyAsia International is pleased to announce a  free, 10-week mini-course in psychometric testing. The course will be mainly text based and introduce the basics of psychometrics in 10 weekly articles. You’ll learn about what psychometrics is, where it came from, how it is useful, discrimination, reliability, validity, error and more. PsyAsia is Asia’s leading independent provider of psychometric tests and psychometric training. The course however will be invaluable to readers anywhere. It will be interesting for those in HRM or consulting roles using or considering psychometric tests as well as for those about to undergo testing.

To ensure you don’t miss a single instalment, we suggest you follow-us on twitter as each new post will be announced there.

Interested in learning more about psychometric testing for HRM? Keep reading – your first free session is only a week away! You may also like to join our face-to-face psychometric training courses in Singapore or Hong Kong - these range from simple introductory courses through to Certification Courses such as the BPS Level A and BPS Level B Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing. Not in Singapore or Hong Kong? No problem – we also offer both recorded and live online training in psychometrics! For full details please see here or email us.

Your results always remain strictly confidential in accordance with the Hong Kong Privacy Law, UK, Australian Data Protection Acts and similar international legislation. If you are completing an internet-based assessment, your data will initially be stored in a secure database maintained by a UK or Australian Internet Service Provider and thereafter the responses will be forwarded directly to the trained person who has commissioned your assessment. Unless specific arrangements have been made, the data will thereafter be stored securely by the test publisher for six months, after which, it will be anonymised, i.e. all reference to the original source will be removed. This allows the developers to continually monitor the quality of the assessments. If you are completing a non-internet based assessment, the Internet Service Provider and publisher are still involved in the process as your responses will be added manually to the system. We do arrange data-sharing with some organisations, again to allow us to monitor the quality of our assessments. Where this happens, you will be duly informed and have the right to request that we do not hold your data. Again, any data held will be anonymised after six months. The person who commissioned your assessment will be able to provide you with further details on that particular organization’s data-protection policy. All policies should conform to the legislation mentioned above.

After the session, your responses are analysed and a report produced. You should receive feedback on your results soon after the session and should have received an explanation about this prior to your test session. Your feedback will be in a non-technical form that you can understand. If there is anything that you do not understand, then ask the person providing feedback to clarify. Usually, an interpretation of your results will be given to the person or group of people that have/has asked for testing to be carried out. You will be aware of who these individuals are because you gave permission for them to see your results prior to test administration. Your results will not be seen by anybody that you have not given permission to view. Finally, your test results will be considered alongside all other sources of information that we have about you before making any final decision on selection or development. Test results alone are never used for decision-making.

Some of our tests may be taken at home and others must be administered in more controlled environments. Your administrator will be aware of the conditions and have made an informed decision as to where your test should be completed. If you were not provided with the option of testing at home, then you should assume this option is not available for your particular test. If you have been provided with the option of home-based testing, please ensure that you know exactly what is required of you prior to the testing session and that you will have an ample amount of time free from distraction of any kind.

Yes, wherever possible. It is important that you inform your test administrator in good time of your requirements in order that s/he may try to satisfy them.

If you are sent practice materials, you should complete these as detailed in the instructions. If you get questions wrong, you should try to work out why. Your test administrator should send you some details about the test(s) that you are going to complete. Ensure that you read and understand all of the information you are given. Make sure you know where the testing session will be held (how to log-in if you are using on-line testing), the time the session commences and the time required to complete the tests. Make sure to bring any necessary aids with you such as reading glasses etc. If you are uncertain about any aspect of your testing session, please contact your test administrator as far in advance of testing as possible.

Depending on which test you are completing, you may be provided with a few questions that represent those found in the actual test. However, you will not be provided with a copy of the test prior to your testing session under any circumstance. This is because it is important to keep test materials securely locked away in order to prevent reducing the utility (reliability and validity) of our tests. Also, we wish to know your current level of performance or your preferred way of approaching the world. Providing you with a copy of the test would provide you with a learning advantage and therefore your results would not be reflective of the real you. This may lead to you being selected for an inappropriate job, unnecessarily rejected for a job, short-listed for inappropriate training and development or not put forward for required training and development.

In the United Kingdom, the British Psychological Society maintain a database of individuals qualified to administer tests (Test Administration Certificate). PsyAsia is very particular about ensuring that individuals using our tests are appropriately qualified, thus, usually, this would have been ascertained prior to providing the individual with test materials and online access. The British Psychological Society also maintain a register of individuals qualified to administer, score, interpret and provide feedback on ability (Level A Certificate) and personality (Level B Certificate) tests.

There are various forms of test administration available. Research suggests that the form of administration does not have a detrimental effect on test outcome. You may be asked to complete a test in paper format, simply reading questions from a question booklet and marking your response on the answer sheet provided. Alternatively, you may be asked to log-in to a secure website and complete an assessment. Irrespective of the style of administration, all candidates are provided with clear, standardised instructions and ample opportunity to ask questions and clarify ambiguities. During the actual testing session, talking/asking questions is not permitted, this is in order to maintain a quality working environment for all involved. If you are taking the test on your own, possibly at home or in your office, please keep to this code by ensuring that you commence your test when you do not expect interruptions, remembering to silence the telephone and other similar distractions.

The British Psychological Society offer a review of UK-published psychometric tests. The review is fairly technical and requires some expert knowledge in order to fully understand it. Many tests provide information online at dedicated websites. Additionally, you may always ask the person that has asked you to complete the test for further information.