Ikari
07-26-2008, 01:21 PM
I know there has been a proliferation of threads relating to the Psychometric testing phase though I thought future candidates might benefit from my experience of the testing :)
The format of the psychometric testing is as follows:
(In chronological order)
1. Wonderlic test- basically 50qs in 12 mins. The test itself comprises mathematics, interpretation qs, synonyms, pattern recognition, problem solving and becomes progressively harder. The key to tackling this test is not to concern yourself with answering as many qs as possible (which is realistically an impossibility anyway) but rather focus on the qs you definitely have a shot of answering. Finally, make sure you READ THE QUESTION I stuffed up at least one by misreading the wording :P
2. Writing task- 200 word response to a question along the lines of 'Explain your motivations for becoming a police officer with the QPS?'. Just a note with this task, the Recruiting Section psychologist explained to us that we weren't actually graded on the writing test- it primarily serves as an indicator of literacy for the purposes of identifying those candidates who will require extra support at the Academy i.e. those recruits who will need to undertake remedial literacy
3 & 4. Psychological questions- all told around 600 qs relating to all aspects of your mental/physical/social health. Needless to say they are looking for honest responses as there are inbuilt scales to detect inconsistency. Again, read each q :)
And that's it for the psychometric testing! On a matter that may interest some of you, we were advised by the Recruiting Psychologist and the police officers in attendance that the recruitment process is now highly competitive and as a result is merit-based. For each aspect of the process (i.e. integrity screening, psychometric testing, PCT and interview) you are graded between A-E. They recommended striving for an A, B standard to ensure your application remained competitive in the potential candidate pool- example: with the beep test you're best to aim for an A or B grade to give your overall application a more attractive boost because the Selection Committee will only seriously consider those candidates with a majority of As and/or Bs.
The format of the psychometric testing is as follows:
(In chronological order)
1. Wonderlic test- basically 50qs in 12 mins. The test itself comprises mathematics, interpretation qs, synonyms, pattern recognition, problem solving and becomes progressively harder. The key to tackling this test is not to concern yourself with answering as many qs as possible (which is realistically an impossibility anyway) but rather focus on the qs you definitely have a shot of answering. Finally, make sure you READ THE QUESTION I stuffed up at least one by misreading the wording :P
2. Writing task- 200 word response to a question along the lines of 'Explain your motivations for becoming a police officer with the QPS?'. Just a note with this task, the Recruiting Section psychologist explained to us that we weren't actually graded on the writing test- it primarily serves as an indicator of literacy for the purposes of identifying those candidates who will require extra support at the Academy i.e. those recruits who will need to undertake remedial literacy
3 & 4. Psychological questions- all told around 600 qs relating to all aspects of your mental/physical/social health. Needless to say they are looking for honest responses as there are inbuilt scales to detect inconsistency. Again, read each q :)
And that's it for the psychometric testing! On a matter that may interest some of you, we were advised by the Recruiting Psychologist and the police officers in attendance that the recruitment process is now highly competitive and as a result is merit-based. For each aspect of the process (i.e. integrity screening, psychometric testing, PCT and interview) you are graded between A-E. They recommended striving for an A, B standard to ensure your application remained competitive in the potential candidate pool- example: with the beep test you're best to aim for an A or B grade to give your overall application a more attractive boost because the Selection Committee will only seriously consider those candidates with a majority of As and/or Bs.