CSS Forums - Guideline for AD MOD psychometric assessment

I have seen many aspirants for the post of AD at MOD are due to appear in a psychometric assessment test which it to be conducted by NTS. I have appeared in one of the psychometric tests conducted by NTS and by the grace of Almighty went through it quite comfortably. As the testing institution is same, so it is very much probable that the psychometric test for AD MOD will be quite similar to the one I took. So, I believe my experience would be quite handy for all you.
Let’s start with the portions of test.

The test consisted of 4 portions:

1- Personality related MCQs
2- Word Association Test
3- Sentence Completion Test
4- Thematic Appreciation Test
Now let’s discuss each section in detail.

1 – Personality related MCQs

In this portion, there were 80 MCQs, all of them related to the personality of the candidate. Each question had 5 options: Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Don’t Know, Agree, Strongly Agree.
Some of the sample questions are:

i- I start conversation with a stranger at a public place?
ii- I take up multiple tasks at a time?
iii- I would stay in this organisation for whole of your life?
While attempting these questions, you need to keep a couple of very important things in your mind.

Firstly, there is a widespread misconception among many aspirants who take psychometric test that the two of the choices given after each question, “Strongly Disagree” and “Strongly Agree” are the answers that show extreme behaviour and are hence undesirable. Let me state it clearly, it isn’t the case.

What you need to do is to be truthful and honest. If you really feel that the answer of a certain question ought to be “Strongly Disagree” or “Strongly Agree”, you must choose either of the two options. Don’t suppress your response under the fake pretext of extremity. There are such questions, the answers to which must have such a strong response. For instance, if asked “I would always stay loyal to the organisation and committed to my job despite problems?” the fact to the matter is that this question’s answer ought to be “Strongly Agree” than mere “Agree”. So, don’t worry about what psychologist perceives from your answers and be honest and truthful. Just imagine, would the psychologist perceive a ‘good’ image of one if he sees that the candidate has not even marked the outliers as answer for even a single question. Such planted answers are a perfect recipe for destruction.

Secondly, you need to make sure that you give consistent answers. The fact is that this very portion contains such questions that deliver the same meaning. For instance, Q#1 states, “I take up more than one tasks at a time?”, it is more than probable that Q#5 would ask “I enjoy multi tasking or not?”. Now the fact is that both the questions ask the very same thing. The paper setter just wants to analyse your stability and that he will do with examining your answers. You need to read the question carefully, and if the crux of the question has been asked previously, don’t panic and mark the option you chose previously. For instance, if you replied to Q#2 that you ‘Agree’ with the statement, do also ‘Agree’ with the statement in Q#5. Be consistent in your answers and rest assured that you have done the hard part well.

The above mentioned two points are exceedingly important to learn. Most of the ones who are unable to clear the psychometric test are the ones who don’t take care of the above mentioned points. I hope you won’t like to be such an example.

2 – Word Association Test:

15 words were given in this portion of the test, followed by a blank after each word. The candidate was required to give a word that comes in his mind first after reading the word mentioned. For example, the questions could like this:

Sword ____________
Sex ____________
Office ____________
Chair ____________
Rule ____________

The candidate is required to write a relevant word with the word given in the paper. For instance, the word ‘sword’ relates to ‘war’, ‘sex’ relates to ‘male’, office relates to ‘organisation’, ‘chair’ relates to ‘king’, and ‘rule’ relates to ‘reign’.

While writing words, you need to keep in mind that the words you write should have a positive connotation. For instance, if the word given is ‘death’, you need not write ‘misery’, ‘pathetic’ or something like that but ‘martyrdom’. The more you get negative, the more the chances you suffer in the outcome. So, be positive, bold and
upright. Some of the answers I gave are as follows:

Ship CPEC
Rich Content
Dark Chocolate
Finger Chips
Light Shadow
Cut Apple

3- Sentence Completion Test:

In this test, there were some incomplete sentences which needed to be completed by the candidate. The sane and sagacious advice is once again the same. Be righteous, bold, energetic and positive. Some of the sample questions and answers are given below:
Boys are _____________ (arranging files in the office).
Girls are _____________ (preparing for the exam).
My father _____________ (is a reputed businessman of the city).
My biggest weakness is ____________ (that I am less resistant to weather changes).
I failed _____________ (but I tried again and succeeded).
Remember, your answers should always reflect courage, boldness and positivity.

4- Thematic Appreciation Test:

This was the last, yet very important part of the test. The candidate
was shown three pictures and was asked to write a story on each of them.
Now the fact is that you don’t just need to explain the picture, but elaborate the events been occurred in the picture with reference to context. Your story should have a strong plot; it should have a logical and realistic end; it should reflect heroism but not super heroism; most importantly, the story should reflect positive themes such as happiness, reconciliation, negotiation, diligence, courtesy, bravery and patriotism. You need to carve out these terms from the picture and write a story on such a theme no matter how pessimistic the picture appears to you.
For instance, suppose the picture shows an old man hugging a young girl. A possible story on this could be as follows:

Nadia is a scientist who is renowned for his research regarding AIDS all over the world. For the last 30 years, she had been conducting research for devising a possible vaccine for AIDS. Finally, her efforts bore fruit and she developed a vaccine. The vaccine was tested at various laboratories in the world and was then approved and recommended by WHO. Nadia, because of his persistent and miraculous efforts was awarded with a special award and prize money by WHO. On this very joyous occasion, her family and friends were very happy. The picture shows her dad hugging her at her achievement.

Remember; don’t tend to be pessimistic and negative no matter what the conditions are. Stay upright and positive. This is the recipe to go through this easy-but-tricky test.

Lastly, I believe that one can’t clear this test without practice. There is ample material available online which you can make use best of. Do search Google for relevant content and practice the problems such as Word Association Test, Sentence Completion Test and Thematic Appreciation Test. Good luck and keep praying :-)