• Jul 14, 2020

10 Most Common Psychometric Test Mistakes

There are so many potential pitfalls when it comes to taking psychometric tests. Being aware of them can ensure you don't make them. So, here are our top 10 psychometric test mistakes you can and absolutely must avoid.

Below we share with you some of the most common mistakes candidates make when preparing for their psychometric tests. Avoiding them is easy provided you’re aware of what these pitfalls are.

1)Inadequate question practice
Question practice is the number one way to improve your psychometric test performance. Invest sufficient time practicing psychometric test questions prior to sitting your real assessment. You must get used to working quickly and carefully under time pressure. Once you’ve reminded yourself of the GCSE level Maths and English skill the difference between a pass and fail is largely exam technique.

2) Not sticking to timings
A key part of your exam technique must be time management. Get used to working out at the start of an assessment how long you have to answer the questions and then try to stick to your timings. Spending too long on one question is not good exam technique. Remember psychometric test questions are not always in order of difficulty you may find that easier questions follow harder ones. If you get stuck move on.

3) Getting friends to help you
Companies often re-test candidates at their assessment centre days. It’s simply not a good idea to get friends to help you pass your psychometric tests.

4) Not using your own calculator
Give yourself the best chance of passing by mastering the tools that are available to you on the day of your psychometric test. If you’re sitting a numerical test get used to using a scientific calculator that has a brackets function and get used to working on rough paper. Allow yourself plenty of space on the rough paper.

5) Getting insufficient sleep the night before
It’s difficult to cram for psychometric tests, which is one of the reasons they are so popular with employers. Make sure you plan your time effectively. You should ideally practice for at least 3 weeks prior to sitting your real assessment. Make sure you get a good night’s sleep prior to your assessment. Being hydrated has also been shown to improve your brain’s performance.

6) Not reading the question properly
It’s essential that you read each test question carefully prior to answering it. Misreading a question and rushing into answering it is a mistake that you can avoid by investing plenty of time in question practice prior to sitting your real psychometric tests. If you need to re-read a question because it didn’t make sense to you the first time definitely do this.

7) Failing to focus your revision time on your weakest areas
We all like doing what we’re god at but you must focus on your weakest areas because these are the areas that will let you down in your real assessment. Numerical reasoning tests are often candidate’s least favorite topic but you must invest sufficient preparation time so that during practice you are able to consistently achieve respectable test scores.

8) Failing to read the instructions carefully
Test publishers will always provide you with a set of instructions before each psychometric test. These instructions provide you with invaluable clues, which can be utilised to pass your psychometric test. Look for how many questions you’re going to be asked to answer and what the time limit is. Get used to working out how long you’re going to have to answer each question. Don’t skip through the example questions, analysing these example questions carefully will show you what format the test questions are going to be in and whether the test is multiple choice.

9) Being over confident
Don’t let yourself down by being overconfident. Even if you’re doing a Maths degree you still need to invest time refining your exam technique and getting used to answering multiple choice questions.

10) Failing to practice using good quality psychometric test questions
The real psychometric tests developed by test publishers are developed by qualified chartered occupational psychologists. There are lots of companies offering psychometric tests but make sure that the questions you are practicing with have been developed with chartered occupational psychologists. You have limited revision time make the most of it.