Psychometric Assessment Experience: Reasoning Ability - Essay Example

This study looks into a personal experience on psychometric test with the aim of finding out whether the stereotype threat of missing a job position does exist or not. In most cases, three tests are provided with a requirement to comprehend every aspect in the set of questions given. The first two tests are structured from a behavioral and psychometric origin and largely have multiple-choice answers. The third question is structured from a cognitive and sociohistorical scenario with constructed answers to complex problems (Shavelson 2010, p. 186). My experience in the job field has been characterized by several aptitude tests seeking to identify my reasoning and problem-solving skills.

As a banker, I am required to have clear and articulate analytical skills that can be used to critically analyze statistical data for predicting future performances in the market. Before I landed my job in banking, I had done close to three different aptitude tests of which I did not pass any. My research in psychometric tests gives an elaborate to why I did not manage to pass my first three tests. Paul Seabright looks into the stereotypical conclusion that tall people perform better in basketball, making their economic futures better.

In this study, he says, "Because talent and economic outcomes are both complex, multidimensional variables, that is not a straightforward exercise. It would require a ruling out two possible causes of the correlation between test scores and economic outcomes." (Seabright 2012, p. 95).. 95). This implies that psychometric tests require more of mental ability, unlike physical ability. Different professions require different skills calling for sound analysis of psychometric tests. Looking at my previous example, my tests to join banking were obviously different from the basketball player’s whereby in both cases, assessors required different types of our mental analysis.

The questions in the aptitude test required the use of the sense of sight to spot distinctions in a set of diagrammatic shapes. This question was structured in a way that I was to pick the next shape after the last one. In as much as this section required the ability to utilize sight, my mental ability was equally at play here. I had to internalize previous shapes and critically predict the next shape in the sequence, which according to my employer would signify my ability to see future opportunities in the market by looking at the past and present trends.

As Newman and Jodhka write,"These multiple choice personality assessments are considered scientific instruments that will assist employers in matching the needs of the firm with the intrinsic qualities of applicants." (Newman and Jodhka 2010, p. 231). This test connected my sense of vision and mental abilities, which are not taught in schools. The second test involved basic calculations of exchange rates in different conversion currencies. Banking deals with money and considering a multi-cultural environment, the knowledge of conversion rates is paramount.

The test required that I purchase named commodities from my country and sell in a different country and in return purchase a similar cheaper commodity in the foreign country and sell it