Employers use psychometric tests (sometimes referred to as aptitude tests) to try and measure aspects of your abilities and skills, and/or personality.

You won’t face psychometric tests every time you apply for a job, but psychometric tests are often used as part of the recruitment process for roles that may be competitive or attract a high number of applicants (for example graduate schemes and internships).

For Disabled candidates, there may be multiple challenges when completing a psychometric test. This could mean that, without adjustments, you are unable to complete these tests to the best of your ability. Read more about reasonable adjustments on the LSE Careers website.

Daniel from Peoplewise told us that adjustments you can request for psychometric tests typically fall into the following four categories:

• Time – for example, asking for extra time to complete the test (employers are usually quite familiar with this adjustment).
• Format – for instance, having a paper version of the test instead of taking it online.
• Display – this can include things like zooming in to make the page larger, changing the colour, background, font type or size (this might be something you can do yourself in the web browser).
• Technology – for example using the narrator functionality to read out or describe the questions to you (again, this might be something you are able to do without needing the employer or test provider to do this for you).

Here are Daniel’s top tips for when you’re asked to complete a psychometric test:

• Do your research on the types of assessments you’re being asked to complete. When the employer contacts you inviting you to take a psychometric test, sometimes they will include information on what those tests are specifically. If not, you could ask them for more information so you know whether you might need to request adjustments.
• Take some sample tests (see Graduates First on the LSE Careers Online tools page).
• Ask the employer what adjustments are available (or if you know what adjustments you need, communicate this to the employer).

He also flagged that sometimes the practice question at the beginning of tests is more straightforward than the rest of the test. This means that you shouldn’t take that question as an indication of whether you are going to need adjustments.

It’s also important to remember:

• Extra time is a common adjustment offered to Disabled students, but that might not be right for you, so you may need a different change to be made.
• You might feel that you don’t need any adjustments making at all, or that you need them for some tests but not others. You might also be able to make the adjustment yourself as we learned earlier with changes to the display.
• Adjustments aren’t about being treated more favourably than other candidates. They are there to ensure all applicants taking part in the recruitment process can do so in a fair and accessible way.

If you would like to know more about example adjustments for psychometric tests, there is a guide on the LSE Careers Online tools page called Psychometric tests – a guide for Disabled candidates

Visit the LSE Careers website to find out how to book a one-to-one, 45-minute Disabled students’ appointment with a specialist careers consultant. You can use this appointment to discuss any questions or concerns you might have.