Stuck in the Middle: I've done two similar psych tests but got very different personality results. Are these tests a waste of time?

Psychometric assessments: Are they worth it? Do they add value?

Who knows. What I can tell you is that they seem to be hated by the majority of the workforce, yet HR panels force us to endure them. I recently undertook three of these tests for the first time in several years and the results were interesting to say the least.

The only one I'd done before that was in the UK. Back then a friend who worked at HSBC told me: "You can't study for them. Try to be as accurate as possible and don't worry about speed." Needless to say, I got about two thirds through each section (having gone in blind with no practice) and didn't make the next interview stage.

Speed matters

I have subsequently been told (by a firm who hosts these tests) that speed is essential - indeed the number you get right out of the total is the key determinant of your result.

Make sure you know what level of test it is and how it is scored. Do plenty of practice exams to familiarise youself with the format and question types. Having done three tests, I know that practice most definitely improves results. Tests are measured on both accuracy and speed.

It is often said you can't improve your performance on psychometric tests. I disagree: You most definitely can. My scores have improved across three segments (numerical, verbal and spatial/abstract) simply because I have trained my brain to think in a certain way and quickly interpret the questions.

My split personalities

However, where I have recently come unstuck is in personality profiling. A couple of years ago I went for a role with an investment bank as an analyst. My IQ results were fine, but my personality results suggested I was too passive and lacked ambition - clearly not what the firm wanted. In hindsight, I probably answered too conservatively for the type of company I was applying to.

I have recently interviewed for two roles almost concurrently, and bizarrely received completely different feedback about my personality.

Employer 1: "We were really happy with your results, and your personality profile suggests you would be a good fit with the business. We'd like to proceed to the next stage of the interview process."

Employer 2: "Your IQ results were fine, however, based on your personality results, we will not be taking this interview process any further."

Because I had undertaken the tests just three weeks apart (via the same testing company!), you'd think my results would be similar. Upon investigation, I discovered that the profiling is actually written by a consultant, who interprets the results which come out of the system.

The two different consultants emphasised different elements of my personality in their report.

One stated: "He has a strong work ethic, has attributes of a team leader, however, he can sometimes lack awareness of others feelings".

The second said: "He has a strong work ethic, however, he could be described as arrogant and he lacks empathy for others".

I was staggered: How can two personality profiles come back so different? I completely understand why employer two threw my application in the trash after that sort of feedback.

Know thy enemy

After the event, I had a long hard chat with the employers who undertook my assessment, and indicated my disappointment at what I perceived was a result that didn't really represent my personality. But I will admit that after my IB experience, I probably tried to answer the personality questions a bit more aggressively.

What I can take out of the whole thing is that it may not be worth trying to alter your answers in any way. It probably just ends up skewing the results. However, it's also worth noting that although some companies like bullish responses, some really dislike them. In my case this was very relevant.

So know your potential employer. Is it looking for a team player or does it want someone who is going to take the world be the horns and drive the company's success?

At the end of the day, I don't really know the answer to this. What I can tell you is that a friend of mine didn't get a job at an IB several years ago on the back of his test results. He then secured a role at another IB, without having any psych tests. Fifteen years down the track and he's is an MD in his division and a highly respected banker.

I doubt we can avoid doing these tests altogether, but I would like to see more decisions made from face-to-face meetings, rather than from computer results. What happened to the days when you met a person and could actually tell if he or she were the right fit based on gut feel? Maybe we've all lost our backbone and don't trust our own instincts anymore.