Mansoor*, a student of A-Levels, is informed that he has a ‘social personality’. He tends to be helping, informing, teaching, inspiring, counseling, and serving. Perseverance is an important attribute of his character. He appreciates structured environments and is extremely observant. A future in the marketing and sales field, would suit him and his occupational journey will have more chances of reaching great heights, if he were to choose this field.

These seemingly mystical insights into his personality and a peek into his future are not the musings of a psychic, the readings of a palmist, the calculations of an astrologist or the impressions from a magic crystal ball. They are the psychological and scientific results of a psychometric test, which he undertook at Reveal Pakistan; an institute that conducts psychometric testing for students individually and at the school level, reducing the element of chance from a student’s success by mapping it out for them. Mansoor’s test results are now going to assist him in making a calculated choice for his educational and occupational voyage; one that will be tailored around these personality traits.

Psychometric tests are a globally accepted and widely used scientific and standardised means of measuring a person’s behaviour, aptitude, personality and mental capabilities providing the answer to the individual’s appropriateness for a role based on the results. Undertaken at the right time, it can be significantly advantageous in a student’s life, especially when he may be most perplexed about his future path. Around the time students reach their O-Levels, they are required to select their elective subjects, a fundamental decision that moulds their professional future. Psychometric tests provide students, who are otherwise unsure of their subject choices, the clarity that gives them the courage to pursue it wholeheartedly.

Moomal Zafar, 19, who took also took the test, says she felt immense relief after it. “I wanted to take up psychology, but I was still unsure. The test reassured me about my choice of field and confirmed that I was heading in the right direction, which is an enormous help at this stage in my life.” The test, she says, provides students the satisfaction of knowing that they will not only be treading on a path that they are passionate about, but also cut out for. Proudly waving the results in her hands, she says, “Now I will acquire all the necessary qualifications that are required to be what I want to be; a successful psychologist.”

Moreover, “Everyone has a particular quality or interest. The key to success is channeling and developing that quality and then finding a career that involves and utilises that trait,” says Ahmed Saya, COO, Reveal Pakistan. He adds that everyone has his or her own innate abilities, some make dynamic chartered accountants, some accomplished pilots, some outstanding engineers, some award winning doctors, but not everyone can be just that! There are many other career options, that can be equally fulfilling and rewarding and Pakistanis should start exploring them as well and get out of their fixation of a handful of careers. It is due to this obsession of a select few professions, that most Pakistani children are forced to pick professions, that they are unwilling to engage in.

Rahila Narejo, a leading HR consultant, CEO of NarejoHR and writer of the column Workplace Sanity in Dawn, says that in our society career decisions are typically made by the extended family rather than the individual himself. “Parents, grandparents, and older siblings have an enormous influence on a person’s career, school, and even employer selection, thus completely disregarding the needs and preferences of the individual, who actually has to do the hard work in order to shine in a particular chosen career.”

Psychometric tests can act as a remedy and can help students convince their parents in embarking on the career of their choice. “This gives them the rational reason to present to their parents for choosing a specific option. We also invite parents in the counseling session and discuss what career funnels their children are suited for and why we believe that certain options would be better for them,” says Naveed Ilyas, CEO, Reveal Pakistan. Because this career choice comes with considerable backing and with a qualified person explaining it thoroughly, parents are more open and willing to accept the choices of their children.

While psychometric testing is a relatively new field in Pakistan, especially in the field of education, even the age-old career counseling still remains absent from the majority of educational institutions here. Subsequently, children are pushed into pursuing fields that are chosen for providing higher salaries or fulfilling the career goals that their parents themselves were unable to take up. Narejo relates that career counseling is still perceived as a luxury rather than a necessity in Pakistan, with most schools expecting young adults to make independent decisions regarding subjects and majors.

This decision Narejo suggests can be exceedingly compromised, as it is made without an understanding of the students, their natural talent strengths, and the job market. Thus when fresh graduates venture into the job market they find themselves stranded in the unemployment jungle. If by luck and chance they do find a job, they experience extreme frustration and dissatisfaction, if the role is not aligned to their talent and strengths. “I often coach individuals in their late 30s and early 40s who literally just can’t take it anymore! Their frustration turns into depression and they seek help to finally realign their career to their own interest.”

This is most of the times too late for them and by then most doors to other genres are already closed to them. To avoid this waste of talent and time it is crucial for educational institutions to investigate about a student’s strong points and guide them towards a suitable field of employment. “Career counselors should conduct employability sessions in universities, for the thorough guidance of students with regards to their occupations. More importantly, at the school and college level, where employability is not an issue, career counseling sessions should be attended in order for the students to choose the field of study, so that the students are already armed with what it takes to be selected for a job and be prosperous in it later on. So, the importance of all schools and colleges to have a career counselor can never be overstated,” says Amin Saleem, a renowned career counselor of Pakistan and managing director at Careers Giant.

Distinguishing career counseling and psychometric testing, Ilyas says that standard career counseling is like going and discussing with a specialist suitable employment options, while psychometric takes it a level further. It eradicates the interference of personal bias from the counsel and is thus not an impression of the counselors own likes, dislikes, notions or experiences. “We are a lab and psychometric testing is like a blood test. Career counseling is a requisite after the test result, but because the counselor has a detailed report of the student, he/she is able to guide the students more comprehensibly.”

Understanding its significance, certain leading schools of Karachi have started conducting psychometric tests for their A-Level students, in order to facilitate them in making educated and more successful choices about their future. So, though the progress in this field may be late and sluggish

compared to other countries, the implementation of these tests at educational institutions shows that Pakistan has started to grasp the role psychometric tests can play in a student’s life and has started to accept it as a viable means of detection.