What This Ink Blot Says About

Sun Herald

Sunday March 24, 2002

Hannah Edwards

Employers are putting potential new employees to the test with a series of psychological quizzes, Hannah Edwards reports.

WHAT is the first thing that comes to your mind after considering this ink blot? If your answer is ``the sun" then, according to David Cohen, author of How To Succeed In Psychometric Tests (Wrightbooks, 2001), you have picked ``the most obvious and safest answer". If you answered ``a bagpipe" then it means you have a slightly odd sense of humour. But if you are trying to sound smart and learned, your answer was hopefully something like ``a cell with dendrites".

Although there are no right or wrong answers, such a question is typical of those found in the Rorschach test, Cohen said. And it's just one of many types of quizzes job seekers are increasingly finding themselves asked to complete by potential employers desperately in search of the perfect employee. ``More and more companies are no longer relying on

interviews alone for recruitment," Cohen writes. ``The basic reason employers use tests is clear: tests claim to be scientific and objective."

Kathy Kolbe, designer of one such test, the Kolbe Index, says the process can be beneficial to both employer and candidate.

The tests allow employers to work out whether someone probably will or won't succeed in the role in question, Kolbe said.

``That's a win-win because nobody wants a job where they are likely to fail," she said. Results from the Kolbe Index were ``always positive information. It's a way of finding out someone's strengths. It's like uncovering a mystery".

She attributes the increase in popularity of psychometric testing to employers wanting to minimise unnecessary costs.

``Employers are saying it's too expensive to take on an employee who is not going to be productive."

Kolbes's father, an industrial psychologist, developed the ground-breaking Wonderlic personnel test in the 1930s but Kolbe is the first to admit it had problems.

``[My father] was very interested in the issue of IQ and mental ability and its impact on learning," she said. ``His test was the first used in selection in the workplace. As a kid I would help my dad do basic statistical analysis. But, over the years, I kept debating with him as to whether intelligence equalled success."

So when Kolbe found out that one company was using the Wonderlic test to exclude minorities from gaining promotion, it was a turning point that inspired her to develop her own method.

``Intelligence is biased and personality isn't consistent," she said. So she asked herself what else was it about human beings that could predict success. ``I discovered that the missing element was human instincts. This area had been totally neglected. I did a tremendous amount of work comparing what people did in terms of problem solving. It became my life's work."

Many people who devise these tests claim there are no right or wrong answers. But there are some tips you can follow that will help you prepare and reduce pre-test jitters.

If you are confronted with an odd-looking inky blob during one of these tests (like the one on the cover), the best advice is to take it seriously. ``Find a plausible but quite serious response," Cohen writes. And be on the lookout for trick questions.

``Be very careful if a follow-up question asks if you have never done anything wrong or are always committed to getting to work on time . . . `never' and `always' are dangerous answers," Cohen writes.

``Be particularly wary of giving the impression that you will sacrifice anything for work. This looks `too good' and may not be believed."

For many employers, a potential employee must have the right attitude to technology and this, or your computer skills, may be examined in the test.

Sample questions may include, ``How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements: I want to get more knowledge of computers; I am not motivated to try hard to improve my computer skills."

Cohen's tip is simply to try to overcome any nerves you may have about new technology as it is likely to be perceived as a disadvantage.

Your work style is also a critical factor that employers will attempt to decipher before giving you a job.

Look out for questions such as: ``How do you feel about statements like: I hate to work under day-to-day supervision."

``The safest approach is to emphasise your co-operative tendencies and to play down a little of your competitive streak," Cohen writes.

TESTING TIMES

IQ test sample questions:

1.Komala Monoharam means `a lovely lotus' in Sanskrit. `The lotus is in the pond' is, in Sanskrit, Tadage Vartati Komala.

* What is the Sanskrit for lotus?

* What is the Sanskrit for lovely?

(Answer: Lotus = Komala; Lovely = Monoharam).

2.If tomorrow were Monday, yesterday would be Sunday. Is this true, false, can't tell?

(Answer: True)