- I've been told I need the Level
B qualification for my job. Is that Intermediate or Full B?
- I'm trained to BPS Intermediate
B standard - can I buy Quintax?
- I'm interested in personality
assessment but I've been told I need to do Level A. Is this
true?
- Does Level A let me purchase
ability tests from every publisher?
- What is B+?
- Can I do distance learning training
at SR&A?
- Can I do 1-to-1 training at
SR&A?
- I am a managing director of
a small company and I need to recruit a new manager. I want
to use some psychometrics, how do I go about it?
- I see that you do on-line testing.
I want to get my applicants assessed on-line, but nobody in
the business is trained in testing. Can I use your system?
- I’m trained to use personality
questionnaires. What do you recommend about the best way to
use personality report software in assessment?
- What are the failure rates
like on SR&A Level A and B courses?
- Do I have to be trained to
use the Discovery Series?
- How can I tell if a test or
questionnaire is worth using?
I've been told I need
the Level B qualification for my job. Is that Intermediate or
Full B?
Most people talking about Level B mean the Intermediate qualification
which allows use and purchase of personality tests. Full B is
unlikely to be a job requirement but represents the highest level
of practitioner qualification for experienced professionals who
have to make strategic decisions about testing.
top
I'm trained to BPS Intermediate
B standard - can I buy Quintax?
Yes. We believe you are sufficiently experienced and knowledgeable
to be able to read and assimilate the Quintax User Guide and to
develop your skills in using the instrument on a systematic and
independent basis. The Registration Pack (priced at £250
+ VAT) contains the User Guide and all you need to try out the
instrument, having both paper and pencil materials in the Reference
Set and units for using Quintax On-line. Despite this, however,
we recommend you attend the FREE optional 1 day Quintax Conversion
course. This is because you can then learn about the measure from
us, the authors, and get a more complete picture of its applications;
in a busy schedule it can also help simply to earmark the day,
away from your workplace, for your own development.
top
I'm interested in
personality assessment but I've been told I need to do Level A.
Is this true?
If you want to use a range of personality measures and collect
the Intermediate Level B certificate, then Level A is an essential
prerequisite. Some publishers (including ourselves) offer 'measure
specific' training as an alternative which covers all you need
to be able to use a particular measure competently. In our case
we offer a 2 day Quintax Qualifying course which qualifies you
as a Quintax and Quintax On-line user but does not guarantee Level
A or B certification, although these can be achieved with additional
training. However, people doing our Level B course after Level
A qualify in Quintax, and they also get purchasing rights in other
Level B measures. The Level A/B route takes longer but gives access
to ability and reasoning tests, as well as interest inventories
along with personality assessment tools.
top
Does Level A let me
purchase ability tests from every publisher?
In virtually every case the answer is 'Yes' as publishers now
generally recognise Level A certification as a basis for registering
as an independent purchaser and user of ability tests (including
aptitude tests, reasoning tests, etc.). Some publishers may ask
you to do a small amount of additional training to be introduced
to their test material, but this will generally not add to your
competence level even though it may give you some additional product
information. However, we can't find any publishers currently who
require even this.
To be on the safe side, if you need specifically to be able to
purchase a particular ability test from a test publisher then
you should ask the publisher concerned if they accept Level A
as a basis for registering to purchase that test. Notice, however,
that various test publishers offer tests in the same category
(e.g. numerical reasoning tests for use in graduate recruitment)
so you should rarely if ever feel tied to purchasing from one
publisher of ability test material. A better range of choice may
come from registering with a variety of publishers following qualification
at Level A.
top
What is B+?
Intermediate B+ is a BPS certificate intended for those people
who have completed Intermediate B successfully, but who want to
be certificated in the use of a second instrument. To get it you
will generally need to go through the Unit 3-5 assessments again
(observed oral feedback, report writing etc.) in your second measure.
To complete Full B, you first need to have attained competence
in the use of at least 2 'sufficiently different' instruments.
The sufficient difference clause is designed to ensure that Full
B qualified people have a broad understanding of different types
of personality measurement - two instruments which are similar
or from the same family would not guarantee this breadth.
top
Can I do distance learning
training at SR&A?
Distance learning elements are incorporated in both Level A and
Level B. They are designed as tailored packages to enable guided
individual learning supporting learning by attendance in a tutorial
environment for parts of the Level A and B training. Whilst distance
learning is an attractive option when time away from the office
or home is difficult to arrange, it can be a challenging route
compared with the support offered by other learners during a more
traditional course. The key is to leave time to complete it before
you have to attend your training programme - it can't always be
done afterwards!
top
Can I do 1-to-1 training
at SR&A?
Yes. We can offer this on all our main training programmes.
Call us for details.
top
I am a managing director
of a small company and I need to recruit a new manager. I want
to use some psychometrics, how do I go about it?
There are three main options. One is to have somebody within your
business trained to use tests, and another is to get a company
such as SR&A involved to carry out testing on your behalf.
The advantage of the first approach is that you retain the skills
in-house and, following the initial investment in the training,
can use the skills repeatedly in other recruitment situations.
Sometimes, however, because the company's needs for these skills
do not happen very often, the second option is more cost-effective.
SR&A are always willing to discuss with you your needs for
help with testing and assessment situations and will give you
advice on the scale and scope of the input that will be required.
A third option with the advent of on-line testing is to use a
'bureau service'. Our Quintax On-line Bureau Service allows us
to enable the assessment of candidates remotely using the Quintax
On-line system, and then to provide feedback via reports and telephone
(or face-to-face) discussion to client companies. In some cases,
this can cost as little as £70 + VAT per candidate! As before,
call us for details and advice on how best to proceed.
top
I see that you do on-line
testing. I want to get my applicants assessed on-line, but nobody
in the business is trained in testing. Can I use your system?
As described above, we do offer a Quintax On-line Bureau Service
that might be helpful. The advantage is that we can organise the
testing to take place in your office via an internet enabled PC,
on our premises, or at some other agreed location. Call us for
details.
top
I’m trained to
use personality questionnaires. What do you recommend about the
best way to use personality report software in assessment?
There are two good points at which personality report software
can be used: as a step before verbal feedback to give yourself
some material you can use to guide your feedback with the candidate,
and/or as a step after feedback in the preparation of a final
report. In any case the written report should accompany rather
than replace verbal feedback, and it should be edited to reflect
any issues, evidence, or qualifications that arise in your evaluation
of the person's profile, for example during feedback. In our view
there are no computer based report writers which are yet intelligent
enough to deal with the literally millions of interpretations
that can be placed upon a collection of scores - hence the need
to validate and edit the report appropriately. As a result we
feel they should generally be treated as "expert's assistant"
tools rather than as full 'expert systems'.
top
What are the failure
rates like on SR&A Level A and B courses?
Most of our delegates pass their assessments on Level A and B
at the first sitting. In the unusual cases where a delegate fails
an end of course test (e.g. in Level A) but completes the in-course
assessments satisfactorily, we can provide a work place exercise
that they can complete in order to demonstrate competence. This
is not easier than the course test, as for one thing it is more
demanding in terms of input, although it does mean that people
who are particularly test anxious have a clear means of completing
the qualification successfully if they happen to under-perform
on the test. On Level B there is no end of course test, so passing
is really just a matter of dealing with the practical in-course
assessments (e.g. in relation to feedback) and finishing off the
portfolio of exercises after the course.
top
Do I have to be trained
to use the Discovery Series?
In order to use the Discovery Series you need to complete a registration
form detailing your previous experience and training in the use
of assessment centre exercises (click here for a copy). If we
believe that your registration form indicates sufficient competence
to use the exercises then you will be given a registration code
so that you can purchase them. Should you need it, we can offer
relevant training.
top
How can I tell if a test or questionnaire
is worth using?
You can consult the BPS Reviews of Level A and B Tests. These
contain reviews written by independent psychologists of most of
the main tests in use in occupational testing in the UK. A test
or questionnaire is only reviewed if it has been offered for review
by its publisher. This may say something about tests which are
marketed aggressively but don't appear in the BPS Reviews! The
reviews contain material written for the intelligent lay reader
that summarises tests' strengths and weaknesses; it also provides
some 'star ratings' out of 5 for different aspects of test design
and use. The reviews are available on-line at www.psychtesting.org.uk
and may be purchased individually, or by subscribing to the review
process. Currently you can purchase individual reviews on-line,
or subscribe for a year’s use at a time. Subscribing means
you can see any review you want to from the entire set without
further charge. You can look anyway at summary evaluations
(eg
www.psychtesting.org.uk/cfm for Quintax link) for free!
top
|
