I am often asked what a psychometric assessment comprises of and how one can prepare for it. Often candidates are advised that they will be assessed as part of a company’s final interviewing process, which can cause a great deal of anxiety and stress when not knowing what to expect. My advice to anyone preparing to complete an assessment of this nature is quite simple – a psychometric assessment is not a test but an evaluation of one’s ability, personality and interest so therefore, you cannot prepare for it. The assessment is aimed to evoke a certain amount of pressure, therefore the ability sections are mostly timed. The idea is to complete as many questions as you can and not get stuck on one, wasting valuable time. Generally, the ability section will measure the speed and accuracy in your ability to work with words, numbers and shapes (spatial reasoning). Don’t get flustered if you don’t complete these sections – the assessment is not designed for you to get to the end, but rather measures the number of correct responses. Of course, the more you get right, the better your score. As far as the personality and interest sections go, these are generally not timed and will provide you with questions relating to your overall interests and how you react to certain situations. Psychometric assessments vary in length – the Prevue and Prevue for Careers assessments, distributed by Assessments Online are both 1 hour in length and are administered either online or using a paper and pencil method. The insight gained by being assessed will be both beneficial for the individual as well as the company as an objective recruitment decision can be made based on: can the person do the job at hand; will they fit the company culture; and will they get along with the manager but equally in importance, the assessment will provide valuable information regarding training needs analysis and succession planning for the future.