Caliper Test and Assessment Tips

The Caliper test is an assessment used by employers to gain a better understanding of a candidate’s personality traits, cognitive abilities and motivations.

The Caliper test is used to help employers predict a candidate's suitability for a role.

In this article, we'll take a detailed look at what the Caliper test is and how it is scored.

We’ll also share some tips on how you can perform at your best when taking your Caliper assessment test.

What Is a Caliper Assessment Test?

Developed over 50 years ago by the talent-management company Caliper, the Caliper test – also known as the Caliper Profile test or PSI Caliper assessment – is a popular recruitment tool used by employers in certain industries, such as sales, for particular jobs, such as management-level roles.

For these skilled professional, graduate and management-level positions, employers want to ensure that the candidates they hire demonstrate the necessary skills, abilities and personality traits to succeed in a role.

The Caliper test is an unbiased, objective measure of whether a candidate is a good fit for the role and organization they have applied for.

It provides information about someone’s personality, characteristics, motivations and ability to learn when working on the job.

The test also assesses candidates’ cognitive abilities, in other words, their capacity to:

• Learn
• Memorize
• Demonstrate logical reasoning
• Focus on tasks

Why Do Employers Use the Caliper Test?

For an employer, a significant benefit of using the Caliper test as part of the recruitment process is that a candidate's Caliper assessment answers uncover their personality traits and behavioral preferences at work.

From the Caliper assessment results and information gained from other parts of the recruitment process, employers can see where a person’s strengths lie, their motivations and behaviors in the workplace, and whether they are suitable for the role.

For organizations that value cultural fit as highly as abilities, a candidate's Caliper profile gives employers additional objective information, helping them distinguish between those with similar abilities and experiences when making hiring decisions.

Caliper Assessment Format: Questions & Answers

The Caliper assessment can be administered in two formats:

• Paper-based
• Online

The format candidates complete will depend on the employer's recruitment process format.

The online and paper-based Caliper tests are untimed and have 180 questions.

All questions are multiple-choice, and each must be completed before the test can be scored. Candidates usually find that the Caliper test takes two to three hours to complete.

The Caliper test is split into two sections:

• Caliper Personality Test
• Caliper Cognitive Test

Within these sections, candidates are assessed in seven areas:

• Decision-making – How well you adapt and come up with new ideas
• Problem-solving – Your aptitude in dealing with complex situations and your detail orientation when solving problems
• Self-management – How well you can focus on the duties and responsibilities of your role
• Process management – Your focus on the tasks you have been given and following the correct procedures when completing these
• Interpersonal dynamics – How you form working relationships, get along with people, trust others and work together to contribute to a positive working environment
• Leadership – Your empathy when dealing with others, whether you are true to your principles and what you believe is right, whether you exercise caution and risk when taking on new projects
• Communication – How well you communicate when working with others, your empathy and communication style in challenging situations

The format and structure of the questions vary across the test, depending on the area being assessed.

For example, some questions may be in text format, others numerical, with some problem-solving or puzzle-based questions.

Personality Section of the Caliper Assessment

For the personality and behavioral questions of the Caliper test, there are no right or wrong answers.

The test assesses 21 different behavioral preferences and traits. These determine your characteristics, motivations, strengths and limitations when working on the job.

There are typically three different types of questions in this section:

• Least and most questions
• Rating questions

While there are no right or wrong answers to these questions, it is worth considering the type of role you’re applying for when answering them.

'Least and Most' Questions

Caliper tests begin with questions that assess a candidate’s personality.

In this Caliper personality test section, you are presented with questions in the form of statements.

You are asked which of the statements best describes you or is most reflective of the way you prefer to behave and which one least describes you or the way you choose to behave.

Rating Questions

These questions require you to read the statements and then rate each statement using a 1–7 scale on whether you agree or disagree.

Cognitive Ability Section of the Caliper Test

The cognitive ability section of the Caliper assessment looks at a person’s ability when solving problems.

That is, whether they use abstract reasoning, demonstrate logical reasoning and can learn new information and skills relevant to the role they have applied for.

All questions in each section must be completed before the test can be scored and a candidate's Caliper profile generated.

Questions in this section are presented in different formats as follows:

Visual Analogy

Visual analogy questions are presented in the form of shapes or diagrams.

You need to determine the relationship between shapes, patterns, or pairs of shapes or patterns, then use this rule to select which of the multiple-choice answers fits or comes next according to the pattern you've identified.

Number Series

In this type of question, you are presented with a series of numbers. Your task is to select the missing number in the series from the list of numbers given.

Matrix Completion

These questions are presented as a matrix of nine boxes.

In eight of the boxes, there is an image or shape; in one box, there is a question mark.

Your task is to decipher the pattern that links these shapes and select which of the shapes given as multiple-choice answers is the correct one to insert into the matrix.

Series Completion

This type of question is similar to the number series type, but it uses shapes instead of numbers.

Questions are presented as a sequence of shapes. You need to determine the relationship between the shapes in the series by considering both the elements and the shape.

The missing shape may be at the end or in the middle of the sequence. Using the pattern you have identified, determine the missing shape.

How Is the Caliper Assessment Scored?

The Caliper test is a well-established assessment tool used by many employers to determine a candidate’s abilities, behaviors, traits and general fit for a role.

When scoring the test, the Caliper assessment answers are reviewed against a specific job model that aligns with the role you have applied for:

• Management roles – Director, team leader, or senior positions such as head of a specific specialism
• Sales roles – Account development, account managers or recruiters
• Service-based roles – Customer service
• Technical roles – Programmers, developers, data security, analysts
• Other roles – Nursing, teaching

The Caliper profile reveals a candidate's traits, behaviors and competencies in the context of the job model.

The Caliper assessment scores cover 21 different traits. These traits are used to determine your preferences and your attitude at work.

The behaviors determine how you act in a working environment, while the competency results reveal your abilities and are used to predict how you will perform in the role.

Candidates are awarded an overall score on a scale of 1–99, known as a ‘job-fit score’.

You can’t fail a Caliper test, but the scores are compared against the test scores of those who are successful in the role (a norm group).

This comparison indicates whether a candidate's score is a good score and whether they are likely to perform well in the role. The higher the score, the better the job match.

An indication of what job-fit scores mean follows:

• Over 80 – A strong fit for the role
• 60–79 – A good fit for the role, but the candidate may need support in some aspects
• 40–59 – The candidate may struggle to do well in the role and may not be a good fit
• Below 40 – The candidate is unlikely to do well in the role

In addition to your overall score, you will receive a complete Caliper personality test profile. This is a full review of how you have performed in the competency areas critical for your role's success.

Also included is information on the behavioral areas of strength and development relevant to the role. You will also be shown how your score for each of the 21 individual traits compares with those in the norm group.

Before sitting a Caliper test, familiarize yourself with the test format by taking paid for or free Caliper assessment practice tests.

While the test determines your inherent aptitudes, personality and behaviors, becoming familiar with the format and the style of questioning means your natural characteristics and abilities can come through.

Here are some of our top tips when sitting a Caliper test:

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

The Caliper test is a popular type of personality assessment used by a range of companies.

The test is split into two sections that assess a candidate’s personality and cognitive abilities. The results are used to determine a person’s job-fit score and whether they are a good match for the role they have applied for.

Sitting a Caliper test may seem daunting at first, but it may help to consider the type of role you’re applying for and the purpose of the test. Keeping calm and ensuring that you have sat practice tests ensures that you perform to the best of your natural ability.