Hiring a person for the job is difficult nowadays. Recruitment is to be done according to the requirement available in the company. Recruitment is basically finding the right person at the right time and the right place. This recruitment is done through internal as well as external sources. Internal sources mean to hire the employees who are already working in the organization. These present employees are moved to other posts are any other place as per the requirement of the company. It basically includes the transfer, promotions etc. Om the other hand external recruitment means to hire employees from outside the organization. It includes various sources like employment exchange, gate hiring, campus placement, contractual basis etc. both these sources can be taken into consideration according to the vacancy in the organization.

So recruitment is done to search for the applicants for the vacancy. But the main process of selection
starts after this. From the applied candidates, few candidates are short listed as per the job requirement of the vacancy. Then these shortlisted candidates are shifted to the further test from which their intelligence and attitude towards work are seen. Whenever there is hiring, it is very important to know something about the candidate that is to be hired. Hiring nowadays does not depend upon the qualification or grades that you have achieved. But the candidates are hired according to their
personality, their hidden talents that can add on some value to the organization. This information is
gathered through psychometric testing tools. These tests basically help to know someone’s attitude, his ability to do some work, and motivation level, etc. these test helps to take more impartial as well as more accurate judgement about the candidate.

Since these tests are very much useful in providing fair result. So, these tests must have these three necessary criteria that should be followed:

• Standardization: The test should have some set standards and every time it is performed, should be in the same way. As it will reduce test biasness and even it will help in comparing the results with anyone with similar characteristics.


• Reliability: The test must be very reliable and should not get influenced by outside factors. Tests with more reliability will produce accurate and fair results.


• Validity: the most important component of these tests are that their quality. The test should be designed in such a way that it can be easy to apply. Even it must clearly demonstrate what the
  test is actually going to measure.

Having all the components the psychometric testing tools includes the following tests:

• Interest test: In this they help to know the candidate’s opinions on various things, his motivation for doing any work and his values. This helps to fifer the people accordingly and will help to select the best candidate.

• Personality tests: here in this test it measures how people differ in the manner or the style of performing any task, the way they interact with their subordinates and the way of tackling any problem.


• Aptitude test: In this type of test they measure how people differ in the ability of performing any task and his intelligence through numerical, logical or abstract testing.

From all the above test you will come to know about the real position of the candidates that will truly
help to identify the best out of the group. So these tests are very much important in organizations now a
day. Their advantages are discussed as follows:

• All size companies can go for these tests: Not only the larger scale companies can recruit the employees through these test but small as well as medium scale companies can also use these test to find out the best candidate for their vacancy.


• Saves employers time and money: if these test are used from the starting of the process of recruitment, it can save a lot of time and money of the both applicant and recruitment staff. As they will help to find out the best fit for the company through their abilities and personality.


• Provides a true image of the candidates: These tests give the overall true image of the candidate as the candidate has gone through personality test, aptitude test and interest test that will help to analyse the candidates all strong and weak points.


• It measures skills and ability not the education: in this competitive world, hiring is not done on the basis of the education a candidate is having, but it is actually done on the personal skills and abilities that can make him different from other candidates.


• Maintains consistency in recruitment: these tests help in the consistency in the recruitment wok. Ass all the candidates undergo the same procedure of selection. Standards are set whenever there is the process of recruitment.

Everything in this world have some of the loopholes in it. So the disadvantages of the psychometric test are as follows:

• Method can make the employee nervous: it does happen that sometimes a person who might be good at everything, but the fear that he is going to appear in test can make him nervous. His nervousness can result in fumble which can be in the starting of test that can give a wrong impression.


• Test applicable on small population: yes, these tests are more conveniently applicable on the small population of candidates. It will become difficult for the observer to make observation on each and every candidate from large population.


• False answers: sometimes it happens that some candidates give false answer in order to get the job. They try to present themselves in a positive manner. So there may be inaccuracy of the data that is collected about the candidate.

Apart from all the disadvantages, still these psychometric tests have great importance in choosing the best candidate for the organization. Since today is the time when you are paid for your skills and not for the education, these tests help to explore the talent inside the candidate that will benefit the organization in future. As it is rightly said by Skill is better than Strength. To identify these skills, psychometric tests are important.