Psychometric assessment helps to bring out an individual’s aptitude, interest, and personality in the forefront and the analysis of these help the counsellor guide the student to choose the best career path for him/her.

What is psychometric assessment and what are its implications in career guidance?

Before we address psychometric assessment, we need to understand the concept of career. The Oxford English Dictionary (1961) defines career as a “person’s course or progress throughout his/her pre-occupational, occupational and post-occupational life”.
An individual’s career is the end result of the right guidance and counselling provided to him/her at different stages in his/her life. The varied roles an individual takes up in his/her life time i.e. as a child, sibling, spouse, parent, etc; as a social being i.e. student, friend, part of society, citizen, etc; as a professional i.e. worker, manager, etc. and at the personal front i.e. self-identity, self-expression, self- realization, etc. all constitute the concept of career.
Psychometric assessment tool helps to bring out an individual’s aptitude, interest, and personality in the forefront and the analysis of these help the counsellor guide the student to choose the best career path for him/her. The relationship between counsellor and student is ‘student centric’ as the counsellor helps the student clarify his/her needs, feelings or motivations so that he/she can make the appropriate decision for him/herself.
The counsellor then exposes the student to the vast world of career options suitable to his/her needs and potentials and guides him/her to overcome the dilemmas, conflicts, uncertainties and take a decision. Counselling is a special ingredient required at every stage of career guidance i.e. which school to go to, which subjects to choose, whether to take coaching, which competitive exams to give, which college to join, etc.

When a student chooses a career that best fits his/her aptitude, interest and  personality, he/she increase their chances of being successful in future. Moreover, the sense of fulfilment enhances the individual’s self- esteem, self- confidence and leads him/her to self- actualization.