Often teens who are close to leaving high school will take an aptitude test to determine their suitability to the career choices they have made; or in cases where no choice has been made, to gain some idea of what they would be good at doing. This will save them from choosing a line of work they are attracted to due to the glamour that they perceive it holds, but for which they are eminently unsuited.
Not everyone knows what they want to do when they leave school and this makes it difficult to choose what course to do at university. But without the qualifications that they gain from this higher education they are unlikely to get any kind of job that pays a decent salary - or anything that they can really put their heart and soul into.
When the time comes for them to apply for a job and go for an interview, they are also likely to be given such a test. It is to their potential employer’s best interests to only employ those people that are considered a good fit for the job. A person can have all the qualifications necessary and yet be totally unsuited to the job due to some other reason.
Many large businesses have a graduate recruitment program that helps them to choose the best graduates for the line of work that is available. They need to have young people come into the company who will quickly learn what is required and provide value to the company. They want people who can make quick decisions and take responsibility for them; who can settle in fast and be good communicators with other staff and with management.
To ensure they get the right people, they may require them to undergo psychometric testing to basically measure their strengths and weaknesses. It takes time and effort to hire staff and if the wrong people are hired it will cost even more. So what does the above-mentioned testing evaluate?
It is not only their cognitive abilities but their behavioural and personality style that is under review. A person may be brilliant at their work, but if they cannot get along with their peers then they could cause more problems than they are worth. There are many different types of psychometric tests including verbal, numerical, spatial, mechanical, emotional and conceptual/abstract. Once the graduate has gone through these tests it will easily be seen whether they are a good fit for the company.
