Psychometric testing is one of the individual assessments for employment. Patten (2020) notes that psychometric tests will play a key role as competition for jobs increases. This type of assessment of the characteristics of applicants has many advantages. According to Anderson (2012), the benefits of psychometric testing are their low threat, individualization, involvement in self-knowledge, the study of personality characteristics over time, and the exploration of areas previously unknown to oneself.
An essential advantage of tests is the ability to quickly collect extensive, diverse, and not always externally displayed information about the competencies and individual psychological characteristics of a candidate within a relatively short time. Moreover, using this tool, it can be assessed how the candidate’s values correlate with the company’s corporate standards. All this allows for making a reasonably balanced decision, whether or not to invite a candidate to work in the organization.
As with any assessment method, psychometric testing, in addition to the indicated advantages, has several disadvantages. Halvorson and Higgins (2013) affirm that a problem with many assessment tools is that they do not predict performance. These tests tell recruiters about attributes, such as the degree of introversion or extraversion of the candidate or their dependence on thinking versus feeling. However, these aspects only indicate what the person likes to do, but they say very little about how good the candidate is at it.
Anderson (2012) highlights aspects of psychometric testing as disadvantages such that people can seek the correct answer, it can encourage relativism instead of confrontation, its fear of being exposed, and it can be overwhelming. Indeed, even if applicants are unfamiliar with a particular test, they intuitively understand how a successful candidate should respond in order to demonstrate truthfulness, sociability, self-confidence, and a positive attitude.
Therefore, in this case, the likelihood of insincerity is very high. In turn, the disadvantages of psychometric testing include the fact that their results are primarily influenced by the subject’s state at the time of testing, which distorts the assessment. For example, the results of job seekers may be lower than their actual capabilities if they are worried. Moreover, it is necessary to take into account the shortage of good psychometric tests and competent psychologists and ignorance of the rules for using psychological instruments. Many specialists do not know how to apply tests and, most importantly, draw correct conclusions from the results obtained.