Psychometric Tests Psychometric test is the systematic and standardized procedures for evoking a sample of responses from a person

for assessment of one or more of general human attributes (psychological characteristics) by comparing the results with those of a representative sample of an appropriate population. Psychometric tests will help to measure attributes like intelligence, aptitude and personality of the procurement officer (PO). It provides an insight into how well the PO can work with other people; handle stress; and whether the PO will be able to cope with the intellectual demands of the job. The psychometric test will be divided into three sections i.e. Ability Tests mental and manual, Personality Test and Interest and Motivation Test. Ability Test The ability test will be used to measure some form of knowledge of the candidates and their potentials to learn the skills needed for a new job or to cope with the demands of a training course. It will measure the mental, mechanical, clerical, and physical abilities of the candidates. The mental ability test will be suitable for the job of procurement Officer considering the job description provided for the PO. The mental ability test is relevant for the job as it will help to measure the candidates verbal, mathematical, memory and reasoning abilities which are vital for the performance of the PO. The mental ability test questionnaires are designed to estimate applicants' potential to use mental processes to solve work-related problems or to acquire new job knowledge. The mechanical ability test is not applicable for the job of PO as the job does not require the person to interact with the machines or equipment. The physical ability test is also not applicable as the job is not manual or physically demanding jobs. The job of PO is a table work with some field visits to suppliers. So, it is not necessary to test the physical strength of the candidates. The clerical ability test is applicable for the job of PO to measure perceptual speed and accuracy in processing verbal and numerical data. The PO has to know a variety of different standard office skills such as basic data entry, word processing and other written communication skills. They need to have some basic decision making/problem solving skills. So, the clerical ability of the candidates needs to be tested as in some way they have to do some clerical work. The questionnaire to test the ability of the PO is provided in Appendix. Administering Ability Test This step takes place after the screening has been done form WAB so the total of 15 numbers of applicants will be selected for this test. For this test, a small introduction about how the test takes place and what are the general rules to be followed in the tests will be stated by the invigilator. The questionnaire consists of 24 questions which are mainly related to test the mathematical ability as well as the word puzzle will be included. Through this whether the

PO will be able to solve the hidden facts form the small set of information provided in the future will be judged. This is not the standardized form of questionnaire as the questionnaire has been formed by the panel of judges based on different sources. The test will be taken as: Format of the test: Written form Type of test: Paper and Pencil Test Time Allotted: 30 minutes Objects to be used: Pencil/ pen and eraser Objects prohibited during test: Cell phones, calculator, and any type of audio device Basic Rules of the test Candidate should enter into the exam hall within the given time period as late entry will not be allowed Candidates cannot make unnecessary notice or disturb the other candidates No talking or asking questions with other candidates is allowed No extra time will be given beyond the stated time frame Cost: this includes the cost of preparing questionnaire in printed form, making extra copies of the questionnaire, allowance for the invigilator, so the estimated cost will Rs 3000. Now in regards to the reliability of the selection measures, the paper and pencil test can be regarded as a reliable source because it shows the consistency in the results of the applicants as this test generally measures the aptitude and ability of an individual so as to know how well she/ he can be able to perform the particular type of job. However, the judgment of the scorer has not any affect on the score of an applicant. In terms of validity of paper and pencil tests, paper and pencil test can be regarded as having highly valid measure because paper and pencil tests can be helpful in assessing job-related knowledge and ability or skill qualifications i.e. whether the questions in the test is related to the KSAs or not. So this test can be termed as valid as it incorporates many of the elements of KSAs such as it consists of several questions related to IT, Procurement knowledge and so on. The possible range of qualifications which can be assessed using paper-and-pencil tests is quite broad. So for this the same questions can be given to the employees of similar post of RTR so that the test can be validated. The candidate is judged based on ordinal scale as the one who scores the maximum number will be ranked as one and the others as 2nd, third and so forth. The result will be announced after two days of the test and the result will be published in the web site of RTR and the newspaper in which the advertisement was given.

Personality Tests Personality tests are used to determine the type of personality, values, interests and skills of an applicant. They can be used to simply assess what type of person an applicant is or, more specifically, to determine his/her aptitude for a certain type of occupation or career. Personality Tests are the tests usually involving a standardized series of questions or tasks, used to describe or evaluate a subject's personality characteristics. They are a variety of standardized tests used in the evaluation of various facets of personality structure, emotional status, and behavioral traits. Personality tests and other psychological tests measure the applicants personal characteristics, emotional makeup and stability. They are often used by trained career counselors as a tool in the self-assessment part of the career planning process. Most of the personality tests are conducted so as to make a match between the type of job and the nature of an individual. If the personality traits of an individual fits with the nature of the job then such applicant can be chosen as an appropriate candidate for the job else it can be concluded that the individual does not fit for the particular type of job. So this test has been found to be more frequently used during the time of selection. Personality Measurement Methods There are three different methods for measuring the personality of an individual and this can be classified as: Personality inventories: These include questionnaires that is scored to yield a profile of the particular traits or characteristics that make up the applicants personality. They are also called objective tests, are standardized and can be administered to a number of people at the same time. A psychologist need not be present when the test is given, and the answers can usually be scored by a computer. Scores are obtained by comparison with norms for each category on the test. A personality inventory may measure one factor, such as anxiety level, or it may measure a number of different personality traits at the same time. The different types of self questionnaire tests are as follows: o The Big Five model o The MBTI o The 16 PF o The California Psychological Inventory Based on the job analysis of the Procurement Officer, we have found the Big Five model to have incorporated the required traits needed for the Procurement Officer. Moreover most of the Big Five model factors have been found suitable for most of the jobs. The Big five factors are openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The neuroticism factor is sometimes referred by its low pole "emotional stability". The Big Five Model was also found to be related to organizational areas for personal selection, job performance and training.

The number of questions is forty one and the applicants are required to fill in the relevant questions. So based on the job characteristics of Procurement Officer the reason for choosing big five models can be explained as: i. Extraversion: This trait includes characteristics such as excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness and high amounts of emotional expressiveness. The post of PO, the requirement is that he/she has to travel to different places of the country and deal with various vendors, NGO Partners so for such only an extrovert person can be able to complete the task fully competently. So based on the result of the big five model, the applicant having high degree of extrovertness will be more preferable. ii. Agreeableness: This personality dimension includes attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection, and other pro-social behaviors. So for the post of PO, the requirement is that the applicant has to be social as he/she needs to deal with diverse people while performing his/ her tasks effectively so the applicant scoring high on this dimension is more preferable. iii. Conscientiousness: Common features of this dimension include high levels of thoughtfulness, with good impulse control and goal-directed behaviors. Those high in conscientiousness tend to be organized and mindful of details. Under the requirement for the job of PO, the applicant has to have this feature as the tasks of the PO includes updating the procurement policies as per the necessity and discussing it with the Regional Officer from time to time regarding this policy so it is must for him her to be goal directed as he/ she has to be able to focus the plan related to meeting the goals of RTR. iv. Neuroticism: Individuals high in this trait tend to experience emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness, irritability, and sadness. So the applicant has to score low on this as per the requirement of the job as of PO, the person needs to be of stable emotions rather than fluctuating ones as the nature of the job is very dynamic. The person has to deal not only with the outsiders but also be involved in desk job functions so it important for the applicant to make a balance in his/ her respective tasks. v. Openness: This trait features characteristics such as imagination and insight, and those high in this trait also tend to have a broad range of interests. The person has to have the traits of being explorative and understanding about the different environments. The person has to deal with different vendors while working so he/she should be openness to the environment so the individual scoring high on this trait is found to be more preferable for this job. So the test has been attached on the appendix so the scores preferable can be listed as: Openness to experience: High Conscientiousness: High Extroversion: High Agreeableness: High Emotional instability or Neuroticism: Low

However, it is important to note that each of the five personality factors represents a range between two extremes. For example, extraversion represents a continuum between extreme extraversion and extreme introversion. In the real world, most people lie somewhere in between the two polar ends of each dimension. Administering Personality Test This step takes place after the ability test has been conducted. For this test, a small introduction about how the test takes place and what are the general rules to be followed in the tests will be stated by the invigilator. The questionnaire consists of 45 questions which are mainly based on the personality traits of the individual. This takes the form of standardized questionnaire of Big- Five Model. Through this test it can be determined whether the PO has high or low personality traits. The test will be taken as: Format of the test: Computer Based Type of test: Personality Test Time Allotted: 30 minutes Objects to be used: Keyboard and mouse Objects prohibited during test: Cell phones, calculator, and any type of audio device Basic Rules of the test Candidate should enter into the exam hall within the given time period as late entry will not be allowed Candidates cannot make unnecessary notice or disturb the other candidates No talking or asking questions with other candidates is allowed No extra time will be given beyond the stated time frame Cost: This test can be given online without paying any kind of charge so it does not cost much for incorporating this sort of examination. The test can be giving by visiting the web site www.outofservice.com/bigfive. The only cost is for the invigilator s o the total cost will be of Rs 1000. Now in regards to the reliability of the selection measures, this test has the same measures in terms of validity and reliability as that of ability test. The candidate will be judged on the basis of whether the traits possessed by him/ her is high or low so for this there will be the use of interval scale. The result will be announced immediately as after the completion of the test the computer will display the results automatically and the test result will be saved by the invigilator for future reference.

Motivation and interest test Motivation and interest of the candidate plays a critical role in achievement of the objective when he/she is in work. It is also the determining factor that decides the quality and efficiency of the output that the candidate produces. Research have found that motivation and interest of the candidate is very significant in achieving goals and business objectives and is equally as important for companies that work in a team-based environment or in a workplace comprised of workers who work independently. Making sure each employee's workplace goals and values are aligned with the organization's mission and vision is important for creating and maintaining a high level of motivation and interest of the candidate. That can lead to higher productivity, improved work quality and high team output. Employees with a high level of motivation and interest typically work harder and can overcome common workplace challenges with ease; this helps the organization reach its objectives and improve operations overall. Thus it can be concluded that helping the employees maintain a high level of motivation and interest to their job can help keep employees committed to working hard and contributing as much value as possible to the organization significantly increasing the organizational citizenship. The post of Procurement Officer (PO) is a very critical one that determines the procurement activities of Room-to-Read Nepal because procurement is a very essential factor that defines the success of any organization or a project. Thus is necessary that the PO thus selected should be highly motivated and interested to perform his job. For this purpose a short motivational and interest test is to be conducted which reveals the motivational and interest level of the candidate and thus a more distinct difference between the candidates can be visualized. Interest test In the first phase of the test, the candidates will be asked with direct questions about their interest and their preference in the leisure time (The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory). Some questions will also be asked to reveal the interest of the candidate over other people or group of people. Later some activities that can somehow be related to the real work of PO will be asked and his response will be noted. The next few questions will be developed based on the Kuder OccuPOtional Interest Survey which focuses on measuring the person's broad areas of interest on various issues like Outdoor, Mechanical, Clerical, Computational, Scientific, Literary, Social Service, Persuasive, Artistic, and Musical. Next, SavilleHoldsworth Managerial Interest Inventory will be placed that Allows clients to rate their liking for activities relevant to jobs at a managerial and professional level. Motivational Tests Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) consists of showing various pictures to the candidate and asking them to say what is there in the images. This method can be a very useful to know what is occupied inside the candidates brain. However this type of test seem to be very costly and time consuming because we have to provide enough time to the candidates to think

and a specialist maybe required top analyze their responses. Thus TAT is excluded from the motivational test. Rotters External-Internal Locus of Control: Few questions will be asked in the test giving situation and asking if that is considered as a fate or mistake by the candidate? And what could have been done to avoid the mistake. Candidates with excess external or internal locus of control will be deemed to be rejected than other candidates. This is because candidates with high external locus of control will always find excuse and blame others whereas the opposite will be a bit pessimist type of person who will then be less motivated to perform the job. The Questionnaire The design of the questionnaire is such that it reveals the following dimensions of motivation and interest of the candidate i. Compensatory effort: willingness to expend extra effort in order to avoid failing at a work task. Candidates with high score can be expected to be better prepared and efficient working technique. Competitiveness: desire to win and be better and faster than others. People who score high on this dimension love to compete with others and compare their accomplishments to others. Winning motivates these individuals to expend even more effort. Confidence in success: Confidence in achieving success even when there are obstacles to overcome. People who score high on this dimension anticipate that their efforts will lead to success. Their confidence stems from a faith in their knowledge, skills, and abilities as opposed to a belief in luck or fate. Dominance: Tendency to exercise power and influence over others. People who score high on this dimension are likely to take initiative and take leadership roles. Eagerness to learn: Desire and willingness to spend a lot of time enlarging ones knowledge for knowledge sake. People who score high on this dimension have a thirst for knowledge and will strive to learn new things, even in the absence of any external rewards. Engagement: Desire to be regularly engaged in an activity, usually work related. People who are highly engaged place a high priority on work and are uncomfortable when they have nothing to do. Fearlessness: Lack of fear of failing at difficult tasks. People who score high on this dimension are not nervous about performing in public or under time-pressure. These individuals could be characterized as emotionally stableminor setbacks will not have lasting effects.

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iv. v.

vi.

vii.

viii.

Flexibility: Willingness to accept changes and the enjoyment of challenging new tasks. People who score high on this dimension tend to be open-minded and interested in many things. They can easily adapt to new work situations and exhibit a readiness for change. Flow: Ability to concentrate on something for a long time without being distracted by situational influences. People scoring high are motivated to complete the task they are assigned first neglecting other factors. Goal setting: Tendency to set goals and to make long term plans for achieving these goals. People who score high on this dimension are future-oriented and have high standards for what they want to achieve. Preference for Difficult Tasks: Tendency to seek out challenging rather than easy tasks, and the desire to seek greater challenges once one has already completed a difficult task. People who score high on this dimension prefer to take on difficult tasks with a high risk of failure to easy tasks with a low risk of failure. Status orientation: Desire to attain high status in ones personal life and to progress professionally. People who score high on this dimension attempt to achieve an important position in life and to be admired for their achievements.

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Administering Motivation and Interest Test This step takes place after completion of personality and ability test. This is the last phase of test to be taken. The test does not follow any standardized format as the test has been designed by the panel of three member judges. For this test, a small introduction about how the test takes place and what are the general rules to be followed in the tests will be stated by the invigilator. The questionnaire consists of 23 questions which are mainly related to test motivation and interest level of the candidates will be included. The test will be taken as:

Scoring for the test: 1= false for me 2= somewhat false for me 3= moderate for me 4= somewhat true for me 5= true for me Format of the test: Written form Type of test: Paper and Pencil Test Time Allotted: 10 minutes

Objects to be used: Pencil/ pen and eraser Objects prohibited during test: Cell phones, calculator, and any type of audio device Basic Rules of the test Candidate should enter into the exam hall within the given time period as late entry will not be allowed Candidates cannot make unnecessary notice or disturb the other candidates No talking or asking questions with other candidates is allowed No extra time will be given beyond the stated time frame Cost: this includes the cost of preparing questionnaire in printed form, making extra copies of the questionnaire, and allowance for the invigilator, so the estimated cost will Rs 2000. Now in regards to the reliability and validity of the test, it is same as that of personality and ability test. The candidate is judged based on interval scale on the basis of the answer given to the questions asked in the scale of 1 to 5. The result will be announced after two days of the test and the result will be published in the web site of RTR and the newspaper in which the advertisement was given. Choosing tests, Construction of tests and Administration of tests: Required KSAs of the job of Procurement Officer: Job Requirements 1. Knowledge of procurement policy and laws related to procurement of Nepal 2. Knowledge about organizations procurement strategy and policy 3. Skills in using large scale (with many variables) comparison sheet using Excel 4. Skills in Negotiation with vendors/suppliers 5. Skills in preparing approval reports for Global Office in English 6. Ability to independently analyze and interpret data and information from a wide range of sources using appropriate analytical tools Choosing tests: The cost and the time factor As mentioned above, the required KSAs for the position of Procurement Officer is mainly related to knowledge of procurement policy and laws, skills in using computer software to compare the activities, negotiating with vendors and good report writing skills in English. Another important job requirement is the ability to analyze data using different analytical tools. So the effort will need to be made in choosing the psychometric tests which will be able to test the required KSAs.

There are many benefits to choosing psychometric tests as predictors in the selection process. Few of them are mentioned below1: maximizing an organizations performance by improving accuracy of selection; improving employee retention by better matching individuals to jobs; avoiding the financial and personal costs Officered, on both sides, with poor recruitment decisions; optimizing the use of peoples capacities by helping focus development activity; Achieving better career management by matching individual aspirations to the organizations opportunities.

Why test? Among other reasons, to find people who are more compatible with other employees, to achieve more productivity, to find employees who are conscious of quality and safety, more self-disciplined, happier on the job and faster learners. These are just some of the reasons we test. In addition, employers are held responsible for their hiring practices. 2So keeping in mind of points mentioned above; ability, personality and interest & motivation test were designed for the position of PO of Room to Read Nepal. Besides developing these tests, we can also think of outsourcing the developing of such tests as they can be custom designed by the experts. But for small organization like RTR, it might be expensive to outsource the design. But personality tests MBTI, Big Five etc. are also available on line for purchase. One of the considerations that need to be made is the cost related factor of such tests. But for the position of PO, psychometric tests have been developed refereeing to the avail resources on line and also referring to the related books. The validity and the reliability of such tests can be questioned, so the developed tests will be reviewed by the Panel of certified experts to overcome such factors regarding the validity and the reliability. Training to administer all the tests will be given to the administrator/ interview Panels to avoid any confusion related to the administration and marking of tests. As this will be new tests for the interview Panel, it is suggested that RTR invests in a longitudinal training to its HR Manager so s/he can prepare the pool of administers within the organization. It is suggested at least 3 days of training be conducted by the HR manager to prepare the administrators. A video and also a live test will be conducted to ensure that interview Panel is confident to carry out the tests. Along with the training, a proper and simple manual will be developed so the administrators of the tests are competent to administer the tests. Time and cost is a big factor in such tests. So it is suggested that the psychometric tests only be conducted to the final three candidates. This will have some implication in terms of the validity and the reliability factor as the predictors. But looking at the time and the cost factor this decision will need to be made for a small organization like Room to Read Nepal. Construction of Tests:

http://peyk.iribu.ir/download/book/Assessment%20Methods%20in%20Recruitment,%20Selection%20and%20 Performance.pdf 2 http://www.nsightsuccess.com/nsight2/psychometricproperties.html

The position of PO is quite important for the organization. RTR NP does large volume of procurement so the keeping this important factor, the specifics of the tests, types of questions have been chosen and assembled them according to the importance of the tests related to the KSAs. After the development of tests, all three tests; ability, personality and interest and motivation tests have been tested with 10 employees of Officer Level in the organization. The main reason for doing this is to carry out the item analysis. After the analysis the final proposed items were selected. The different dimension related to the psychometric properties were compared with the KSAs of the position and analyzed accordingly before finalizing the questionnaires. Administration aspect of Tests: After analyzing the time and the cost factor, it has been decided that the psychometric predictor will only be used to the final 3 candidates. Though the research shows psychometric tests as a very good predictor for selection process, for a small organization like Room to Read Nepal and for the position of PO, it is suggested that the tests are only conducted with the final 3 candidates. Choosing this as a main predictor for selection will be expensive as well as training the administrators will be a time taking task.

Test administration It is important that the information about the tests is given to the candidates beforehand so the candidates can prepare for such tests. Hence once 3 final candidates have been selected, a letter indicating the psychometric tests will be sent at least 4 days before such tests. This will provide opportunity for the candidates to prepare for such tests. This will show the fairness of the organization towards the candidates. The HR manager will go through a longitudinal training so s/he can prepare the administrators to administer the tests. Besides, preparing the administrators and venue to conduct the tests is equally important. Hence an effort will be made to ensure that the candidates are comfortable while giving such the tests. If the candidates are not comfortable during these tests, the results could be misleading. It is important that the candidates are provided with clear instruction about the tests and how to take them. Hence at least 30 minutes will be set aside for instruction and Q&A session with the candidates. HR Manager along with the administrators of the test will be available during these 30 minutes to provide support to the selected candidates of PO. Structured marking sheets along with the test profiles of these 3 candidates will be developed to avoid any confusion in the future. The marking sheets and the test profiles will help during the evaluation of each candidate.