How Psychometric Testing Can Help Your Child

Do you have any of the following concerns for your child?

"The teacher complains that my child can't concentrate"

"My child is showing learning or behaviour difficulties"

"My child complains of being bored in class"

"The teacher complains that my child is not paying attention"

"My child is struggling with reading and/or maths"

"How do I know if my child is gifted?"

"I think my child is gifted, but he is just showing average results at school"

"My child is just not like my other children. The same rules don't seem to apply to him. He demands more attention than my other children."

A psychometric test will show the nature of your child's difficulties and will equip you with strategies to help your child improve his difficulties, and also help them achieve their full potential. You get a report that shows you the personality style of your child, and how they can be motivated. You will get to know his learning style, and how one should adapt your teaching style to accommodate him.

One parent who used one of our tests did so as a last resort. He literally didn't know where else to turn. His eight year old son, David, was having severe behaviour difficulties in class, and his schoolwork was suffering as a result. Besides that, he was driving his teacher round the bend. He literally couldn't sit still for a minute, and he was always into everything exploring.

The psychometric test revealed that the boy had an adventurer personality, that he learned better by doing than by hearing or seeing, and that he loves to explore. He loves building or making things.

The teacher identified three others with similar interests in her class, and decided to adapt her teaching style to include practical learning methods: she bought toys for the class that stimulated their interest in building things and developed a hand-on approach for maths.

Needless to say David was a much happier boy after this as he could satisfy his need for building and exploring. He was seldom bored after that because he had enough to explore in his classroom. The school also invested in one of those jungle gym's that help kids' learning as they kept physically fit. His parents were happy that their child's problem seems to be sorted.

Apart from helping with your child's problems at school, our test also helps you to communicate more effectively with your child. Understanding each of your children's personal style will help you know how each child is different from you and different from each other. This will help you know how to deal with each child as an individual because what is a punishment for one might not be a punishment for another.

Children are not exactly like us, nor are they exactly the same. In my own children for instance, when the eldest needed time out I used to send him to his room. He would happily stay in his room until he was cooled off or able to face us again. He could stay there for up to three hours or more if he was sufficiently angry with us. On my youngest, this tactic didn't work as he needed to be amongst people. Five minutes in his room was a bigger punishment for him than an hour or more for my eldest. I always used to say to them: "Go to your room until you feel better." (or: "until you can be more pleasant with the rest of us") My youngest always made that decision "to feel better" in five minutes or less, whereas my eldest sometimes took a whole day to "feel better."

Our assessments offer an online test that your child completes that takes around 15-20 minutes. The report is emailed to you immediately so you can take the appropriate action. It might be that the teacher can accommodate him in class. It might be that he/she will learn better one-on-one with a tutor. Whatever the outcome, it will be positive and will help your child find his little place in the sun.

Our assessments can be sold individually or in groups of ten to parents. We also have site licences available for schools or resource and guidance teachers.

If you want that test for your child, click here and click on the appropriate link for parents or teachers.

If you want a tutor for your child, click here

The Future of Recruitment

By Hannah du Plessis

What does the future hold for recruitment? We have seen a tremendous growth in technology over the past ten years. We have also seen a major change in the way businesses market their products or services. Will the same changes be present in the recruitment industry?

As businesses become increasingly process driven, it is a given that hiring will become a business process. Companies that have started doing this already have reported astounding results. This process includes:

Making a job description, where performance expectations are clarified

This ensures that the prospect knows what is expected of them, and which skills and qualifications they need for the job. They know who to report to, the way your company works, and where they fit in the bigger picture. Besides, you cover all the legal issues that might arise if there is a dispute or the recruit doesn’t perform as expected.

The implementation of sourcing programs that are consumer based

With the advent of social bookmarking, you also have another possibility: You can find top people online on the networks you belong to. People will gravitate towards groups with similar interests as theirs and this will be the first place you look when you need to hire as here you will find people who already show that they are interested in the type of work you’re offering, and are the top people in their field.

A solution-based sales and marketing system for recruiting

An effective recruiting process includes marketing and sales principles: In marketing, the most creative advertisement gets the best results. A well trained sales person usually follows up once the marketing has brought in prospects. In order to get the best recruit or the best response, businesses will have to be creative in their advertisements, and be able to sell their job to the best candidate.

Speaking of sales, one could adopt a sales type process and funnel for your prospective recruits. This includes a CRM system to keep in contact with your prospective recruits whose skills and personality match the type of job you are offering. This will enable you to have a database of suitable people ready for when you have a job opening that matches their skills. All you need to do is let them know.

The use of an evidenced-based interviewing process

Psychometric testing takes the guesswork out of the recruitment process, and gives evidence about the behaviour of the candidate. This balances the process that used to stress skills and performance at the interview by turning to facts. More and more businesses are using psychometric testing to ensure that they hire a top quality person that will be happy in that job so that they don’t have to go through the expensive hiring process too often.

One very creative way of finding the best people is to create a platform where their skills are picked up at an early age. My son is into computer programming and was picked up by a company that specialise in programming when he was fourteen. They created a website where kids could program their own games, gave them the tools and the way to start, and then watched them programme. The best were handpicked by them, and offered a scholarship. Obviously they had a job when they graduated.

Another way to find the top people in your industry would be to create a platform where they could shine. Examples are American Idol and its sister programs in other countries, the Next Top Model, and Hell’s Kitchen, to name but a few. You could have similar competitions, or try to think up a creative way not mentioned here.

One thing is certain: The way we hire is changing as dramatically as technology and marketing. Isn’t it exciting?

Are YOU a Great Coach or a Mentor … Or Just a Lousy Sponsor?

by Hannah du Plessis

Most people think that in order to be a coach, you don’t have to know how to do what you are coaching. Many coaches simply listen to their new recruit and tell the recruit they already know what to do and how to do it. As coaches, they simply hold them accountable for their actions.

The idea most people have is that these coaches don’t have to be good sponsors, good presenters, or good leaders. They simply hold the new recruits accountable, and attempt to motivate them into action by talking about their “Why,”

To be a real mentor you should already have the skills your downline or team member seeks to learn. In this case, the team member does not have certain skills and experiences, and seeks the answers from you, the mentor. The mentor is not responsible for motivating or holding the new recruit accountable. The mentor assumes the recruit is already highly motivated and will put the lessons into action.

To be a mentor, you must first master the skills the new recruit seeks. And if you master the skills, the new recruit seeks you.

And what if the team member is not self-motivated? Simple; then the team member won’t be seeking you out for mentoring. They won’t be ready. Have you ever heard the phrase: “When the student is ready, the teacher appears”?

Are you simply a coach that talks a good talk … or are you a coach that motivates your team to take action? Are you a mentor that has mastered skills and can pass them on to self-motivated people … Or, are you simply a lousy sponsor that recruited a new downline distributor and quickly moved on to finding your next new distributor, not caring whether those new recruits are up to the task?

Do You Want to Increase Your Sponsoring Rate?

You need to concentrate on becoming a leader others want to follow. Can this be learned? Yes, it can!

Do you want to sponsor quality people into your team?

You need to learn how to coach your downline so that they become the quality people you need.

Do you want to be able to read your prospect’s mind and know what motivates him?

You can find out his personality style and adapt your selling style accordingly so that your prospect feels comfortable and joins your business.

One recruiter like you in Australia used this method and started selling like crazy. His sponsor rate quadrupled and his team’s business increased by 400%! His company, a US company, asked him what he did to increase his sales so dramatically. His answer completely took them by surprise. They decided that all their new recruits should have this training.

In order to upgrade your business from a hobby to a serious income, you need to become an excellent leader, coach and mentor. You can learn those skills.

Click here and learn those skills today!

How to Retain Your Best Employees

By Hannah du Plessis

I often get asked by team leaders and managers how to deal with employees in a way that will create loyalty and respect to other workers and their superiors, maximize their potential, and cut down on a high staff turnover and negative behaviour in the workplace.

The main reason people leave the workplace is the type of relationship they have with their manager or supervisor. It is therefore of the utmost importance to build good relationships at work. The key here is to understand different personality types, know what motivates them, and to show a keen personal interest in each person. Everyone’s uniqueness need to be recognised and managers need to find ways to allow that uniqueness to be expressed in the workplace.

So, as a manager, you need to have one-on-one meetings with your employees often. Find out their career goals, and how their current job will help them get there. What opportunities do they have to grow in their current job? What do they need in their job in order to grow? Find out what they like and what they dislike doing. Try and give them more opportunities to do what they love doing. Find out their interests and their desires. Always encourage them to learn something new in their field of interest. Provide those opportunities for them to grow.

For those employees that are difficult to motivate or who don’t quite know what their life goals are, you can use psychometric testing. These tests are designed to show their natural talents and gifts, measure the behaviour of the employee and find out what motivates them.

Remember to always give recognition if they achieve a goal, or do a job well. It could be a bonus, or tickets to the movie, or a hamper of some kind. It could even be employee of the month, most innovative idea of the week, or most resourceful employee. You can even set up a mentoring system where they are mentored to achieve their potential.

If an employee feels valued and appreciated, and if they are motivated to give their best, they are more likely to feel loyalty and respect for you and your business. They will then be more likely to stay longer term and less likely to behave negatively towards others.

Anyone Can Sell In a Good Economy: How You Can Ensure You Don't Have a Sales Staff of 'Just Anyone'

By Hannah du Plessis

Firstly, you need to employ Driver Promoters to sell for you. Where it is true that anyone can sell, ensuring you have a sales staff of Driver Promoters will raise your sales by between 40% and 400%, depending on your training and the other tactics discussed below. Driver Promoters are fast paced, active people who enjoy taking control. They are friendly but firm and assertive. They believe strongly in themselves and their ability to succeed. They are prepared to take risks, and they can be described as tenacious, persuasive and persistent. They don’t give up easily and get annoyed if something doesn’t measure up to their standards. They are success driven and focus on results. They prefer to work with others by inspiring them to achieve goals. They don’t like to dominate. They are inspirational, and come up with good ideas. They are true leaders. They enjoy quick results, and enjoy accepting challenges.

If your sales staff is made up of Driver Promoters, they can each work individually, or as leaders to lead a team of salespeople to success.

Your salespeople will have to employ the following tactics to get even better results:

Select better prospects: Make sure you ask the right questions of prospects to qualify them first so that you do not waste your time with people who can’t or won’t buy.

Don’t lower your prices: You need to find new and innovative ways to lower the risk in the customer’s mind. Make it an easy entry, add value by adding bonuses and a better customer experience will result.

Focus on the customer: You need to ask a lot of questions so that you can determine a need the customer has. You can use this need in your sales presentation to close the sale. The customer will feel you understand him and his needs, and will trust you.

Go on the offensive. Don’t get defensive. Make sure you are in charge of every aspect of the sales process. Set aggressive goals. Do aggressive marketing.

Improve every aspect of the sales process: You can’t sell by using the same techniques that you used last year and the year before. You need to improve your processes, your training, your people, your presentation, your skills and your technology.

Having the right personality styles working for you together with the right training you can have a winning sales force in any economy.

Why Are You So Stressed At Work?

By Hannah du Plessis

Think of a rubber band. If you stretch it, no matter how much or how far you stretch it, it always goes back to its original shape. If you let go quickly, it will snap back into its original shape so fast it could hurt you.

It is the same with you. If you are better working in a team, and you find yourself working alone in a challenging environment full of deadlines, you are going to snap sooner or later. If you are a person who is better suited to challenges that include working creatively, being a leader or working on your own and meeting deadlines and you find yourself working in a team, you are also going to snap eventually. You cannot do for long what goes against your nature.

Unfortunately, most of us get advised by our parents about what career we should choose. Parents mean well, but they are often blinded by their own desires for their children. Or they made a mistake and would like to have chosen something else, but never had the chance; Sort of like living through their children. Or you were presented with a large choice of careers at school and you just chose something just to end the confusion. Or you felt you had to choose but you were not yet ready. Whatever the reason why you are where you are, if you are stressed by the end of the day, and need to take time out often, it is more than likely because you are the wrong personality type for the job. You could be doing something that goes against your natural talents and gifts.

The best thing to do if you are stressed after a day’s work would be to find out who you are and what your natural talents and gifts are. Find out what you are naturally good at, what you enjoy and what motivates you. Find your purpose in life. Find out what job would fit you like a glove.

It has been proven that people who do what they love and what they are good at, don’t feel like they’re working because they are having too much fun. Imagine being so happy at work that stress just isn’t a factor. Imagine being busy with stressful tasks which just doesn’t affect you.

Find out where you should be. Never again work a day in your life!

You Are Totally Unique

By Hannah du Plessis

That’s right; there is no one else like you on this planet. You are totally unique.

Have you ever met anyone that is just like you? I mean exactly like you: Your hopes and dreams, your likes and dislikes, your physical appearance: eye colour, hair colour. No, even identical twins are not 100% similar. If you ask them, they will tell you how they are different. There will be something somewhere; a preference, a mark, a slight variation in colour.

If you look even further, we have different fingerprints, different retina patterns, different DNA, our talents and what motivates us. Each of us an individual masterpiece created totally unique by the Creator.

If you look at psychometric testing: Each test gives different results: Each one gives different preferences, shows how we are motivated, shows different talents and gifts, each one unique, each one a masterpiece.

Is it surprising then that we want different jobs, and even if the job is the same, like a nurse or a teacher, we do it in a different way. No two exactly the same. Your best friend may be excellent at doing admin work. You may be better at working with your hands. I know I thrive on challenges, so I am excellent at sales and marketing. But my best friend is different; she likes to have a job where she is creative in a quiet, peaceful way. No two people have exactly the same preferences or do things exactly the same way.

Your potential, which is really a combination of your gifts and talents, describes in detail who you are. It is so detailed that it defines precisely how you are unique.

Just ‘think: How many people have the talent to be able to do a heart operation, or build a rocket that works from scratch? How many people have the talents to be able to find the cure for a disease?

This is only one gift or talent. However, most people have more than two things they are excellent at. If you have any unique gift, that gift puts you in the top 1% of the population for that gift, and when you speak about odds like that, when you add more of your talents or gifts the odds of others having the same can increase to one in ten billion. There aren’t even that many people on earth.

If you want to know exactly what makes you different; what makes you unique, do a psychometric test. This will show your potential. Knowing your strengths, your preferences and what makes you you is the first step to finding the perfect job that fits you like a glove.

Disadvantaged Pupils and the Psychometric Test Context

By Hannah du Plessis

Study:

The following is an excerpt from an article by
Moshe Zeidner 1, * and Moshe Zaki 2
1 University of Haifa, Israel and 2 Tirat Ha-Carmel, Israel

Correspondence to *School of Education, Haifa University, Mt. Carmel, Israel

“The major goal of this study was to investigate the commonly-held assumption in the literature that the relatively poor mean performance of disadvantaged students on psychometric ability tests is due, in part, to unfavourable test attitudes and dispositions, systematically disadvantageous to their test performance. A sample of 233 disadvantaged elementary school children was given feedback inventories, designed to gauge examinees’ attitudes and motivational dispositions towards conventional psychometric testing, immediately following standardised group testing procedures. On the whole, disadvantaged students expressed favourable test attitudes and evidenced positive affective dispositions towards varying facets of the test situation (e.g. atmosphere, instructions, time limits, etc.). In addition, the relationship between test scores and test dispositions was consistently of modest magnitude. Thus, our data lend little support to the situational bias hypothesis claiming, among other things, that the poor mean performance of disadvantaged children on standardised ability tests may be partially attributed to poor test dispositions and motivational tendencies, adversely affecting their level of test attainment.”

Psychometric testing is therefore just as beneficial to underprivileged students as to affluent students. My recent results at a South Auckland school suggest that it may be even more beneficial. Psychometric testing helps students get a focus or purpose for their lives where they may have been floundering before and not knowing who they were and what they wanted out of life.

Psychometric testing works and it is the one way you can help your students achieve their full potential. Imagine your job satisfaction knowing that you helped a student who was destined for a life of crime get a purpose in life.

Click here and request more information on MyCareerMatch today!