This article was originally published JULY 2017, in the WorldWide Coaching Magazine.
By Lyn Christian MCC, CFCC, CCMBIT COACH
When I started out as a coach, I resisted using assessments of any sort. The resistance didn’t last long. I quickly realized, while these sorts of tests have their drawbacks, their benefits outweigh the negatives. This is especially true when a skilled coach is able to “see” and coach a person versus coaching to the assessment.
As a point of inquiry, this edition of the Coaching Toolkit zeros in on three “assessment oriented” targets:
The first is an Australian website called Institute of Psychometric Coaching. I found it to be quite informative in an investigative way. The IPC prepares job seekers to do well on aptitude, personality, and psychometric testing while seeking employment from such companies as Ernst & Young, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and more. What intrigued me most about this site is what one can find while clicking through the Psychometric Test Guide tab.
I unearthed useful tips to offer clients who are taking psychometric tests. I also discovered a nice amount of information regarding the specifics of psychometric testing. For example, the Personality Test Guide offered details on:
- What personality tests measure
- Personality test question examples
- What personality tests expose about you
- Preparation for personality tests, and
- Practice personality tests and courses.
Thousands of coaches have little knowledge of the varied options within the world of psychometric testing. I found this website to be a great resource for one-stop tutorials on:
- Aptitude tests,
- Verbal Reasoning tests,
- Numerical Reasoning tests,
- Abstract Reasoning tests,
- Pre-employment tests,
- Mechanical Reasoning tests, and
- Much, much more.
Secondly, I’d like to introduce some of you to the Well quiz. I discovered this test while reading a New York Times article about Google’s quest to build the perfect team. People who scored above average on this assessment proved to be more successful at working in teams. I highly recommend you take it and see how well you can detect when someone is feeling upset, left out, frustrated, etc. While I’m at it, let me share the New York Times article on Google’s aforementioned data collection and research.
And finally, I’d like to add that test results are among some of the most sensitive and confidential data we curate with clients. It’s important I share a resource that might prove useful as a reminder for guidelines regarding the ethical use of tests.