Pymetrics Games Practice Test

The Pymetrics games are a suite of 12 individual games that are designed to assess your cognitive skills and personality traits.

This guide will provide insider information, preparation strategies, and game-changing testing tips that will boost your chances of success when taking the pymetrics assessment.

Pymetrics, currently a part of Harver, aims for their game-based assessments to replace traditional resumes and behavioral data for a fair, science-based evaluation of individuals. Additionally, they match applicants with profiles tailored to specific company roles, instead of applying a uniform scoring system to the assessments.

Most employees and candidates enjoy playing the pymetrics games as they are highly engaging. While applicants are engaged and unaware, pymetrics games assess around 90 behavioral, social, and cognitive traits. These traits fall under 9 broad categories which are used to determine the personality and character of the applicants.

Pymetrics Games Explained

The pymetrics assessment consists of 12 pre-employment games used by many of the world’s most famous and in-demand employers like Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Blackstone, and British American Tobacco (BAT). It is among the many game-based assessments that have increased in popularity over the past few years. These assessments are innocent-looking, fun to play with and monitor the behavior of the candidate at every step.

The algorithm develops a candidate profile based solely on skill and behavioral assessments derived from gameplay. It objectively evaluates abilities without regard to age, educational background, or other personal characteristics, ensuring a focus on relevant professional traits.

Pymetrics games use a unique scoring method that doesn’t rely on numerical values. Instead, they measure performance based on how top-performing individuals in various positions perform on the test. The idea is to create a benchmark of success based on actual job performance. 

This approach helps match candidates with their ideal jobs by focusing on their soft skills and personality traits rather than traditional scoring methods. Employers then review the comprehensive reports generated by the games to identify candidates whose profiles align closely with the specific requirements of the positions in their company.

Pymetrics 12 Core Games

If you are reading this, you’re likely about to take the pymetrics test, an engaging set of 12 mini-games, each taking only 2 to 3 minutes to complete. In total, you’ll spend about 20 to 30 minutes playing. Each game has its own unique goal and measures specific traits to understand your strengths and personality. These fun, interactive games focus on assessing your emotional and cognitive attributes to pinpoint jobs that fit you perfectly. The results of this test remain valid for 330 days. So give it your best shot the first time around, as many employers will have access to your performance.

Game Name	Description	Assessed Traits
Balloons	Pump balloons to accumulate money. If they pop, the money is lost. Your goal is to gather as much money as possible.	Risk tolerance, decision-making, pattern recognition
Money Exchange #1	Engage in a monetary transaction with an AI-based partner	Trust, risk tolerance
Money Exchange #2	Engage in another monetary transaction with an AI-based partner	Altruism
Digits	Memorize and recall ever-growing sequences of digits – how many digits can you remember?	Memory, retention
Easy or Hard	Choose between easy and hard tasks, each with corresponding rewards. Aim to earn as much money as possible while exerting a reasonable amount of effort.	Motivation, effort, strategic decision-making
Stop 1	React to the red stimulus and avoid reacting to the green stimulus.	Attention span, reaction time, task switching
Cards	Draw cards that carry rewards and penalties from four different decks, aiming to end the game with the maximum amount of money.	Risk affinity, pattern recognition, learning ability
Arrows	Identify the direction of specific arrows based on their color and pattern formation.	Learning, adaptivity, attention
Lengths	Decide if the smile on each face icon is long or short.	Attention to detail, motivation, learning ability
Towers	Arrange disks on three poles to match a target image, using the fewest possible moves.	Problem-solving, planning abilities
Faces	Identify the emotion conveyed by a person’s facial expression, taking into account any accompanying story.	Emotional intelligence, perception
Keypresses	Repeatedly press the spacebar key as quickly as you can.	Ability to follow instructions, impulsivity, motor function

Now, let’s take a look at every game individually to better understand what they are all about –

Game 1 – Balloons Game

What’s the Task 

Maximize Your Earnings: In this game, your goal is to inflate balloons to earn money. Each pump increases your potential earnings but also raises the risk of the balloon exploding. The key is knowing when to stop and collect your earnings before a balloon pops.

Some balloons might pop just after a couple of pumps

Other balloons may significantly inflate before popping

Your goal is to find the sweet spot and collect your earnings on time

Pymetrics-Style Balloons Game Sample Screens, by iPREP.

Skills You’ll Showcase

• Your Risk-Taking Ability: This game will assess your knack for balancing the risk of bursting balloons against the potential rewards.
• Your Learning and Pattern Recognition: It measures how quickly and effectively you can identify and adapt to the varying explosion probabilities of different colored balloons.

Strategies and Career Implications

• Understanding Explosion Probability: Mastering this reveals your strategic thinking skills, crucial for roles in areas like project management or entrepreneurship.
• Balancing Risk and Reward: How you manage this balance in the game mirrors decision-making skills needed in high-stakes environments like investment banking.
• Adaptation and Learning: Your ability to quickly adapt to the game’s nuances reflects the learning agility important in dynamic industries, such as technology or consulting.
• Aligning Your Risk Profile: The way you handle risk in the game can indicate your suitability for different professional roles, from high-risk areas in sales to more risk-averse positions in accounting.

How much money do you believe you could accumulate in this game? Test your skills with this free pymetrics-style Balloons Game and find out for yourself:

Game 2 – Money Exchange #1

What’s the Task 

In the game Money Exchange #1, there are several steps:

• You are randomly paired with an AI-based candidate and must make certain transactions with him or her.
• You earn $5  when the game starts as does your partner.
• Then one partner is given an additional $5 at random.
• The partner given the money will have the option to transfer some of their money to their partner.
• Next, your partner sends you back an amount of money of their choosing. 

Pymetrics-Style Money-Exchange Game Sample Screen, by iPREP.

Skills You’ll Showcase

• Trust Evaluation: Your decision to share a certain amount reflects your level of trust and comfort with uncertainty.
• Fairness Perception: How you perceive the returned amount – whether as fair or unfair – further illuminates your trust levels and expectations of reciprocity.

Strategies and Career Implications

Here are some examples of donations and fairness ratings and how they may reflect on your job suitability:

• Low Donation with Unfair Fairness Rating: Indicates a cautious approach, suitable for meticulous roles like auditing, but consider the benefits of occasional collaboration.
• Average Donation with Balanced Fairness Rating: Reflects a balanced trust level, aligning with strategic or negotiation-focused roles.
• High Donation with Fair Rating: Shows high trust and openness, ideal for leadership or team management positions, though it’s wise to maintain a degree of skepticism.

Game 3 – Money Exchange #2

What’s the Task 

The Money Exchange #2 game has a similar interface and appearance to Money Exchange #1 but it has two rounds:

Round 1:

• The game pairs you with a random AI-based partner that you must transact with.
• You and your partner both have  $5 at the start of the game. 
• One of the players will receive an extra  $5. 
• That player will choose to donate money to their partner with a max limit of $5.

Round 2:

• In the second round, the entire scenario repeats itself, but this time, you are also given the option to take money from your partner.

Skills You’ll Showcase

• Altruism and Fairness Perception: Your choices reflect your level of altruism and how you perceive the fairness of transactions, particularly when given the power to take as well as give.
• Contextual Decision-Making: The introduction of the option to take in round two adds complexity, showing how your altruistic actions change in different scenarios. Your donation consistency across rounds reflects either a steadfast altruistic principle or adaptable decision-making based on context.

Strategies and Career Implications

• Low to Average Altruism: Suitable for roles requiring self-reliance and independence, like consulting, with a need for occasional collaboration.
• High Altruism: Indicates a fit for empathetic and selfless roles, such as social work or healthcare, while highlighting the importance of maintaining personal boundaries.

Game 4 – Digits

What’s the Task  

The pymetrics Digits game measures memory and retention. A sequence of digits quickly flashes across your screen. You must memorize them as well as you can. Once they disappear, you must recall and write down the digits in the correct order. Here is an example of a rather short sequence:

Pymetrics-Style Digits Game Sample Screen, by iPREP.

The number of digits increases by one in each round, progressively making the game more difficult. However, if you enter an incorrect sequence, the next round will feature one fewer digit. The game ends after three incorrect entries.  Here is an example of an incorrect number entry. Do you think you could remember it?

Skills You’ll Showcase

• Working Memory: Your ability to remember and reproduce the digits in the exact order they appeared assesses your working memory, which is crucial for decision-making, problem-solving, and learning.

Strategies for Success

• Verbalization: Enhance memory retention by reading the digits aloud as they appear.
• Chunking: Group digits into larger units or ‘chunks’ to make them easier to remember.
• Game Pattern Recognition: Identify the pattern in which the digits appear to aid the memory recall process.
• Be Cautious of Writing: While writing down digits might seem like a good strategy, be aware that pymetrics may have the technology to recognize this method.

You might be curious about the longest sequence of digits you can remember. Don’t just guess – try this free pymetrics-style Digits Game sample and discover for yourself:

Game 5 – Easy or Hard

What’s the Task  

Choosing Your Task Wisely: In this 2-minute game, decide repeatedly between an Easy task and a Hard task. Your task choice and completion earn monetary rewards, with the Hard task offering more but at a higher risk of earning nothing if not completed in time.

Easy Task: Consistent throughout the game, requires pressing the spacebar five times in three seconds.

Hard Task: Also consistent throughout the game, involves pressing the spacebar 60 times in 12 seconds.

Variables Affecting Decision-Making

• Probability of Winning the Prize:
  • This variable affects both the Easy and Hard tasks.
  • The probability can be categorized as low, medium, or high.
• Monetary Reward for the Hard Task:
  • The amount offered as a reward for completing the Hard task varies.
  • The key consideration is whether the reward justifies the additional time and effort compared to completing multiple Easy tasks.

Strategic Question

• “Is it worth investing time in tackling the Hard task, or should you opt for completing many Easy tasks to maximize efficiency?“

What would you choose in a scenario where the hard task offers a high monetary reward but has a low probability of winning the money?

Strategies and Career Implications

• Understanding Task Dynamics: Recognize the time and reward associated with each task to make informed decisions.
• Examples of Task Selection Strategies:
  • High-Stakes Challenger: Regularly choosing the Hard task, even under uncertain success rates, indicates a preference for challenging scenarios, suitable for roles requiring problem-solving and resilience, like R&D or entrepreneurship.
  • Efficient Executor: Consistently opting for the Easy task for quick and steady gains shows efficiency, aligning with roles in fast-paced environments like operations or sales.

Game 6 – Stop 1

What’s the Task  

The Stop-1 game is a test of your reflexes and focus. Your task is straightforward:

• Red Circle: Hit the spacebar immediately upon seeing it.
• Green Circle: Do nothing.

It sounds simple, right? But picture doing this for two straight minutes. Take a look at the gif below to get a sense of the game’s speed and the level of attention required.

Pymetrics-Style Stop 1 Game Sample Screen, by iPREP.

Skills You’ll Showcase and Career Implications:

• Focus: Your success rate in pressing for red circles and not for green ones measures your ability to stay focused and accurately follow instructions. A high score in Focus indicates strong attention to detail and the ability to concentrate on the task at hand — qualities valuable in roles requiring precision and meticulousness.
• Perseverance: How consistently you maintain or improve this success rate throughout the game assesses your perseverance, especially as the task may feel repetitive or challenging. Strong performance in perseverance may suggest the ability to maintain consistent performance over time, crucial in jobs where tasks can be monotonous or extended.

Game 7 – Cards

What’s the Task  

Strategic Card Drawing: Engage in a unique challenge of drawing cards from four distinct decks, each with different odds of winning and losing. Your goal is to manage your initial $2,000 balance through strategic decisions, evaluating risk and reward with each card drawn.

Here’s an example showing how different decks can result in varying sums of winnings and losses:

Pymetrics-Style Cards Game Sample Screen, by iPREP.

Skills You’ll Showcase

• Methodicalness: This trait is assessed by your tendency to stick with consistent choices or actions throughout the game.
• Risk Strategy: The game provides insight into your willingness to engage with risk for potential rewards.

Strategies and Career Implications

• Pattern Recognition & Deck Experimentation: Initially, draw from each deck to discern their distinct risk-reward profiles.
• Deck Preferences & Their Implications: Your preference for a particular deck reflects your approach to winning and losing probabilities. Consistently choosing one deck indicates a specific risk strategy, while experimenting with multiple decks shows adaptability and willingness to balance risk.
• Risk Affinity: The deck you frequently choose reveals your comfort level with risk. This preference can guide you towards careers that align with your risk-taking style, from high-risk environments like trading or start-ups to more balanced or stable roles in fields like marketing or government.

Here is an example of someone with a high-risk affinity: This individual embraces the slim chance of significant losses for the opportunity of a high probability to win large sums.

Game 8 – Arrows

What’s the Task  

Rapid Response to Changing Stimuli: In this game, you’ll engage in a series of 135 arrow sequences. Each sequence requires quick and accurate responses based on the arrows’ color and direction, testing your mental agility. Use the keyboard arrow keys to indicate the direction of specific arrows, according to their color:

• Red Arrows: Press the arrow key that matches the direction of the side arrows.
• Blue or Black Arrows: Press the arrow key corresponding to the direction of the middle arrow.

Note that the center arrow may point in a different direction than the side arrows. In the image below, the relevant arrows are highlighted within a black box:

Pymetrics-Style Arrows Game – Red, Blue, and Black – You must mark the direction of the arrows highlighted within the black box. Source: iPREP.

The game’s pace is rapid, requiring you to respond quickly, adapt your response pattern to changing colors, and swiftly recover from any failed attempts. Watch this screen recording to grasp the challenge that lies ahead:

Pymetrics-Style Arrows Game Sample Screen, by iPREP.

Skills You’ll Showcase

• Cognitive Flexibility & Task-Switching: Your ability to adapt to rule changes as the arrow colors shift tests your cognitive flexibility.
• Perceptual Learning: The game assesses your skill in quickly recognizing and interpreting visual patterns, like the direction of arrows.
• Combined Speed and Accuracy: Your efficiency in making fast and precise decisions is evaluated, reflecting your capability to process information swiftly under pressure.

Career Alignments Based on Performance

• High Cognitive Flexibility: Indicates suitability for roles involving strategic planning and multitasking.
• Strong Perceptual Learning: Aligns with positions in data analysis, design, or quality assurance.
• Speed and Accuracy: Ideal for jobs requiring rapid responses and precision, such as operations management or emergency services.

Game 9 – Lengths

What’s the Task  

You’ll be presented with faces having either long or short smiles. Your task is to accurately identify the length of each smile, demanding acute attention to detail and precision. Can you tell the difference between these smiles?

In every round, you need to decide if the mouth is long or short:

• If you think the mouth is long, press the right arrow key.
• If you think the mouth is short, press the left arrow key.
• If you make the correct choice, you’ll see a success indicator. Otherwise, you’ll immediately move on to assess the smile of the next face.

Pymetrics-Style Lengths Game ‘You win some, you lose some’  Sample Screen, by iPREP

You have the opportunity to earn money for each correct answer! You’re encouraged to earn as much as possible. How does this affect your motivation to succeed in the task?

Pymetrics-Style Lengths Game Winnings Streak Sample Screen, by iPREP.

Skills You’ll Showcase

• Attention to Detail: Your ability to discern subtle differences in mouth sizes reflects your attention to detail.
• Motivation Styles: The game evaluates how your performance varies with different types of reinforcement, revealing your intrinsic or extrinsic motivation tendencies.

Strategies and Career Implications

• Focus on Key Features: Concentrate on specific points, like the corners of the mouth, to better judge smile lengths.
• Cultivate Intrinsic Motivation: Strive to maintain consistent performance regardless of external rewards or penalties. This self-driven approach is valued in many professional roles and encourages resilience.

Game 10 – Towers

What’s the Task 

Strategic Problem-Solving: Inspired by the popular Hanoi Towers game, your task involves arranging colored disks on three towers to match a target image. You must accomplish this using the fewest moves possible and within a two-minute time limit. This challenges your ability to plan and strategize efficiently under pressure.

You can only move one disk at a time, and it must be the top disk on any of the towers. All three towers are available for you to use in arranging the disks into the correct sequence. Additionally, you have options to undo your previous move or reset to the initial setup.

Take a look at this gameplay – do you think you could have performed better?

Pymetrics-Style Towers Game Sample Screen, by iPREP.

Do you believe you could plan more effectively or work faster? You can put it to the test with this free pymetrics-style Towers game and see for yourself:

Skills You’ll Showcase

• Planning: The number of moves you make to complete the task reflects your planning efficiency. Efficient planning indicates a strategic approach and the ability to devise an optimal solution.
• Mental Agility: Your completion time assesses your mental agility, revealing how quickly you can adapt, reassess, and execute your strategy.

Strategies and Career Implications

• Effective vs. Ineffective Planning:
  • Effective Planning: Demonstrated by minimal, deliberate moves and a clear strategy, aligning with roles in strategic planning or analytics.
  • Ineffective Planning: Characterized by hasty, unnecessary moves or frequent use of the undo option, suggesting a need for improvement in roles requiring meticulous planning.
• Mental Agility: Quick completion suggests suitability for fast-paced, adaptable roles, while slower times might indicate a preference for methodical, structured environments.

Game 11 – Faces

What’s the Task 

This game is unlike any other in the pymetrics bundle as it focuses on emotional traits instead of cognitive ones. 

• You will see photos of people with various facial expressions. 
• At the bottom of the screen, you will see a choice of 10 adjectives. 
• You must choose the adjective you feel best describes the person’s expression.
• Some photos include a short story about the situation which may have produced the expression. In these instances, you will get 30 seconds to respond. Even though you may find some stories to be similar, they all tell different stories.
• Other photographs will appear without a story. These must be answered in 7 seconds. 

Skills You’ll Showcase

• Emotional Intelligence: Your ability to understand and identify emotions from facial expressions and contextual information reflects high emotional intelligence, essential in many professional settings.
• Contextual Interpretation: The game also assesses your skill in integrating facial cues with textual scenarios to gauge emotions accurately, a critical aspect in roles involving interpersonal interactions.

What emotion would you say this woman is feeling?

Pymetrics-Style Faces Game Sample Screen, by iPREP.

Strategies and Career Implications

• Balanced Recognition (Both Face and Story): If you’re good at reading both facial expressions and story contexts, it means you’re adaptable in how you communicate. This skill is great for jobs in counseling, sales, or marketing where understanding people is key.
• Focusing on the Story: If you’re better at interpreting the story than facial expressions, you’re likely good at analytical thinking. This ability fits well with jobs in research or technical writing, where understanding and analyzing information is important.
• Focusing on Facial Expressions: If you’re skilled at quickly understanding people’s facial expressions, you’re suited for jobs that require a fast, instinctive understanding of others, like customer service or law enforcement.

Game 12 – Keypresses

What’s the Task  

Speed and Precision: Your task is simple yet challenging. Hit the spacebar as quickly and accurately as you can when you see the “GO” command. It is as simple as this screen recording:

Pymetrics-Style Keypresses Game Sample Screen, by iPREP.

The keypresses game tests your processing speed, reaction time, focus, and ability to follow instructions under pressure.

Skills You’ll Showcase

• Quick Response: How fast you hit the spacebar after the “GO” command assesses your reaction times and focus.
• Task Completion: The speed at which you complete around 40 key presses measures your motor skills and coordination.
• Adherence to Instructions: Starting to press before the “GO” command or continuing after the task ends can indicate your tendency to anticipate or your difficulty in stopping an action, reflecting on your ability to follow guidelines accurately.

Strategies and Career Implications

• Balance Speed with Accuracy: While quick responses are good, accuracy is equally important – do you start on time or try to cut corners and start in advance? This mirrors jobs where precision and attention to detail are key.
• React Swiftly and Accurately: Stopping the keypresses as soon as the task ends is crucial. This is especially important for roles that demand quick adaptation to changes.
• Consider Your Actions: Think about how your gameplay strategy aligns with desired traits in your prospective job. Whether it’s anticipation and forward-thinking or strict adherence to rules, your approach in the game can reflect your fit for various roles.

4 Pymetrics Numerical & Logical Reasoning Games

The pymetrics numerical and logical reasoning test is composed of four different games that focus on measuring the Approximate Number Sense that’s involved in quantity estimation, processing of numbers, and the grasp of math and number concepts. It requires you to make immediate decisions based on symbolic and non-symbolic items. For example, you may be asked to make decisions on the output of non-symbolic dots, symbolic fractions, numerals, etc.

The tests are given in addition to the twelve tasks described above and include:

• Magnitudes: Which is divided into Dots and Fractions subtests
• Sequences
• Shapes
• Letters

Game Name	Description	Assessed Traits
Magnitudes – Dots	Candidates compare two sets of yellow and blue dots and choose the set with a bigger proportion of yellow dots.	Approximate Number Sense (ANS), interpretation of relative magnitude, accuracy, response time
Magnitudes – Fractions	Candidates compare two whole-number fractions and choose the one that is bigger in magnitude.	ANS acuity, response time
Sequences	Candidates complete numerical patterns by filling in the missing number in a sequence.	Numerical reasoning, pattern recognition
Shapes	Candidates identify a smaller shape embedded in a complex pattern among multiple simple shapes.	Spatial reasoning ability
Letters	Candidates respond when they see the same letter that appeared two letters before in a sequence, ignoring other letters.	Memory, response times

Read on for a description of each. 

Game 1 – Magnitudes

Magnitudes is used to measure a candidate’s distinction of relative magnitude. It is composed of two symbolic and non-symbolic subtests or games – Dots and Fractions. Dots will always proceed Fractions for every single candidate.

Dots

What’s the Task  

In the Dots test, candidates are shown two squares that contain a mix of yellow and blue dots of different sizes spread out in various patterns. The user must choose the set displaying a bigger proportion of yellow dots. Every display is uniquely generated and there are no overlapping dots. Each participant had 40 trials where the sets of dots are displayed for 1500ms and the response window is 5000ms.

Appearance  

The Dots Game shows two boxes, each filled with blue and yellow dots of varying sizes spread out in different patterns. The user is made to pick the set with the bigger proportion of yellow dots. After doing so, a new set of dots will appear. This action will continue until the game is over. 

What does it Assess  

Dots measures the candidate’s Approximate Number Sense (ANS), acuity, interpretation of relative magnitude, accuracy, and response time.

Fractions

What’s the Task 

Fractions is the second subtest of the  Magnitudes portion of the test. It displays 2 whole-number fractions. The user is required to choose the one that is bigger in magnitude. The fractions appear for 5000 ms. The user must enter their response within this time frame.

Appearance  

The user will see two whole number fractions on their screen encased in brightly colored boxes. After they make their choice, another set of fractions will appear.

What does it Assess  

Fractions measures the ANS acuity and response time of the user.

Game 2 – Sequences

What’s the Task  

Based on Thurnstone’s Number Series Test, Sequences requires the user to complete the numerical pattern in front of him. It provides the user with a sequence of numbers with one number missing. Candidates have to enter the missing number and complete the pattern. There are 20 patterns to complete and you get 30 seconds for each one.

Appearance  

A numerical pattern is on the screen and a number is missing from the pattern. The numbers will stay on the screen for 30 seconds giving the user a window to input their guess. Then, the next sequence will appear.

What does it Assess  

Sequences measures the candidate’s numerical reasoning and ability to recognize patterns.

Game 3 – Shapes

What’s the Task  

Modeled on the Gottschaldt Figures test, Shapes shows the user multiple simple shapes on the screen alongside a complex, big shape. The aim is to identify which one of the small shapes is embedded in the bigger, complex pattern. The user will have to solve 14 trials in total and will have  45 seconds to solve each one.

Appearance  

In this game, you will see several smaller shapes on the right of the screen and a complex, bigger pattern on the left of the screen.

What does it Assess  

This game analyzes the candidate’s spatial reasoning ability.

Game 4 – Letters

What’s the Task  

Letters is adapted from Kirchner n-back test.  The user sees a sequence of letters displayed individually on the screen. The aim is to respond when you see the same letter that appeared on the screen two letters before. If the letter you see does not correspond with the one that appeared two letters previously, you must not respond. There are 10 targets for the candidate to identify within a 40-letter stream

Appearance 

A big display showcases a letter for 1 second after which the next letter appears on the screen.

What does it Assess  

Letters measures the candidate’s memory and response times.

Pymetrics Digital Interview

Format

After the Coronavirus pandemic, many companies switched to remote work environments and face-to-face interviews have been replaced by digital interviews. The pymetrics digital interview involves a set of pre-recorded questions. The candidate must record their response and send it to the hiring manager. It does not involve real-time communication. It is a one-way interview for the candidate.

The interview comprises both text and video questions, which are the same for all the candidates, pre-recorded by the employer. This removes bias and focuses on what’s needed for the role.

How is it scored

The pymetrics digital interview is scored manually by employers or through AI-based algorithms. Recruiters can easily share the interview results across their organization and let others join in the scoring process. The AI-based software creates transcriptions of the answers and  compares them with predefined ones. There is no risk of biased selections and all candidates are treated equally.

How to Prepare

It’s advisable to practice and prepare for the pymetrics digital interview before you take it.

You can do this by finding a job opening similar to the one you’re applying for and taking a look at its description. That way you can determine which skills you should be focusing on before the interview. Practice answering common questions on your smartphone camera or in front of a mirror to ensure you are well prepared. 

Ask a friend or family member to watch your recording and provide you with feedback.

You can also take various online courses that will train you for the pymetrics test and digital interview. Our iPREP course has valuable tips and sample answers to common questions you will come across. After taking the course, you will be prepared to ace the interview and the test.

Preparation Strategies

Research the employer and understand their qualities

Go through the background and history of the company you’re applying for so you are familiar with their values and beliefs. This will give you an idea of the skills and personality traits they are looking for in their employees. Check out the company website, YouTube channel, social media, etc. to get a good understanding of what the business is like. 

Read instructions carefully and stay focused

You may think that pymetrics is just a bunch of games, but it’s so much more than that. It’s an assessment that may help you land the job you’ve always dreamed of. Pay attention to the instructions before each game and make sure you know what to do next. If you don’t focus on the instructions, it’s likely that you will not get results that show your best assets.

If you take a training course and practice the games in advance,  you will have an advantage over other candidates that are not familiar with the pymetrics games. You will be ready to start the test without being confused by the instructions. 

Understand what every game measures and respond accordingly

Every pymetrics game assesses different personality and cognitive traits. You should have a grasp on what each game assesses and play them with a goal in mind. This will help you ace the tests that are most relevant to your prospective job position.

Make sure your webcam, keyboard, etc. are working properly

Before taking the test, make sure you are in a comfortable and quiet location where there are no distractions. Check your webcam, mouse, keyboards, etc. before beginning the assessment to ensure they are working properly. . You need to react quickly which will be difficult if your equipment is not functioning as it should be.  

Remember, if you do not do well, you won’t be able to take the test again for almost a year. The last thing you want is to perform poorly because of technical issues with your computer or other accessories. 

Take an online pymetrics test practice course

There are multiple pymetrics test practice courses available online that will help you prepare for the test. iPREP offers the best tips, solutions, mock games, and other resources you need to ace the test. Practicing with a mock test will boost your chances of performing well on the real assessment. 

Test Features

Test Fast Facts (tl;dr)

• 12 neuroscience-based mini-games 
• 4 numerical and logical Reasoning games
• Takes 30-35 minutes to finish the test 
• Assesses more than 90 social, cognitive, and behavioral traits 
• Game-based assessment followed by the pymetrics digital interview
• Test can be retaken  after 330 days
• Matches candidates with their ideal jobs

Game-Based Assessment

Pymetrics is a game-based assessment that uses data-driven insights into the candidate’s behavioral and personality traits to provide a fair and efficient hiring process. Its gamified approach collects thousands of data points and determines the candidates’ prominent soft skills.

Both the candidates and the employers have access to the test results. This helps in matching the candidate with the job profile that best matches their skills. The lack of a traditional interview process eliminates bias so every candidate is measured based on their potential. 

The pymetrics assessment offers a fair way to judge candidates. Its candidate completion rate is relatively higher than traditional interview and recruitment processes.

Combined measurement of soft and hard skills

Pymetrics measures the candidate’s hard and soft skills to match him with the right job profile. Soft skills include the candidate’s cognitive, behavioral, and emotional traits. Hard skills are defined as technical abilities, knowledge levels, etc. 

While hard skills are easy to identify, soft skills are not as obvious. Recruiters need to understand soft skills to build an efficient workforce. pymetrics provides the right soft and hard skill data for each candidate allowing employers to match them with a position that is best suited to their personalities and abilities.   

Used to trim down the applicant pool

There may be multiple candidates applying for a particular position. pymetrics results help recruiters narrow down the list before moving forward in the selection process.  The test results may even mean a candidate will be matched with a different role than what he applied for. 

Strict retake policy

You may only take the pymetrics assessment every  330 days. The results are valid until the test is retaken. . With this in mind, it’s advisable to prepare for the assessment so you can give your best performance. 

You can prepare by playing pymetrics practice games and taking free pymetrics courses online that offer tips and solutions to help you succeed. With iPREP’s pymetrics free practice tests, you get all the resources you need to do well in the assessment and land your dream job.

Used by top employers worldwide

Many multinational companies use pymetrics for their recruitment and hiring process. Initially, pymetrics was mostly used by organizations in the consulting and financial industry as it helped them stay on top of the competition. But today there are many companies across a variety of industries that are using it for their candidate screening process.

Here are the top companies using pymetrics – 

BCG – Based in America, BCG is among the top three consulting firms in the world.  It has offices in over 90 countries and more than  22,000 employees. Candidates are required to take the pymetrics test after they apply and before the interview.  Currently, BCG pymetrics is used mainly in US locations. 

JP Morgan Chase – JP Morgan Chase is the  4th biggest bank in the world and the biggest in the  USA. Based in New York with other headquarters in London, the company uses pymetrics for almost all positions.  It is very difficult to get hired by the company as candidates must be highly qualified to earn a position. 

Blackstone – Blackstone is among the top investment firms in the world. It is preferred by those who wish to partner with a boutique firm instead of getting lost in the abyss of big investment banks. Blackstone pymetrics helps employers shortlist top candidates for positions in the firm to access the best talent possible.

Accenture – Accenture is an Irish professional services company handling some of the most renowned and powerful clients worldwide. They employ over  500,000 workers globally. pymetrics plays a key role in their recruitment process.  

McDonald’s – This popular fast food chain has a presence in over 100 countries with more than 40,000 restaurants worldwide. Almost 2 million people work for Mcdonald’s, making it the second largest employer across the globe. pymetrics games are used to recruit employees for certain positions. 

Mastercard – Mastercard is a New-York based financial firm providing services worldwide. The company uses pymetrics to screen candidates and find the best talent for its workforce. 

Other major companies that use pymetrics include Unilever, UPS, BAT, JLL, and Hyatt. 

Technical Facts

Here are some technical facts related to the pymetrics games assessment.

Assessment of 9 Soft Skills 

Soft skills include a  person’s cognitive, social, and emotional traits reflecting their overall personality. Soft skills are hard to determine but they play a major role in deciding whether a candidate is right for a specific position. pymetrics analyzes candidates’ soft skills to determine their reliability for the job. 

These are the 9 soft skills pymetrics measures: 

Attention – This skill involves how well a person manages distractions and processes information. pymetrics games assess whether you take a methodical approach that minimizes error. It measures how open you are to new information and how capable you are of adapting your approach based on previous feedback

Altruism – Altruism is the trait of prioritizing the needs of others above your own needs.  In pymetrics games, it’s essential to show you are altruistic but still capable of keeping an eye on your bottom line. 

Cognitive Focus – Focus is a person’s ability to concentrate on a single task or multiple tasks at once. Focused people work consistently and can attend to tasks even if there are distractions. They can handle multiple tasks and react quickly to changing circumstances.

Decision Making – This skill showcases how efficiently a person can make decisions. . It assesses whether a person thinks long and hard before making decisions, or whether they rely on their gut instinct.

Effort –  Effort measures if a person is hard-working and gives their all regardless of the reward or if they are outcome-driven and favor tasks with higher rewards.

Emotion – This trait involves a person’s ability to interpret and react to others’ emotions. It is a useful attribute as it helps team members cater to client needs based on their actions and expressions. 

Fairness – Pymetrics games measure the candidate’s perception of fairness in social situations. It assesses if a person is accepting and quick to deem situations as fair, or if they are critical when judging the fairness of a situation.

Learning – Learning is a person’s ability to grasp new information and adapt their behavior accordingly. Adaptive person recognizes patterns, learns from their mistakes, and changes their approach based on feedback. 

Risk Tolerance – This trait shows how much risk a person is willing to take in professional and personal situations. It determines if a person is willing to take risks even if there is a chance of a negative outcome.

Utilizes methods that remove bias and offer fairness and flexibility

The pymetrics assessment uses behavioral science and AI to match people with the right job based on their soft skills. The digital test can be taken by candidates from the comfort of their homes or from any other location that has a WiFI connection.  The games are the same for every candidate.  Everyone who takes the test is assessed solely on their skills and potential.  This removes any bias that may be formed based on previous experience, education, etc. 

AI-based – thousands of data points

The AI-based pymetrics game assessment collects thousands of data points. The data is used to generate a report for every candidate.  Both the candidate and the recruiter get a copy of the report. The information helps recruiters find the right person for company positions based on the candidate’s traits and capabilities.

Candidates who are not selected for a particular role may be offered a role for another position that better matches their hard and soft skill sets.  This means employers can find the best possible talent for their positions while workers are placed in jobs that allow them to showcase their strongest assets. 

Results Scale and Interpretations

Personal results are available immediately 

Once a candidate completes the pymetrics assessment, a  personal results report is generated almost immediately. It is very rare to receive assessment results so quickly. 

The candidate immediately receives a report that assesses their unique traits.  This gives them an idea of the type of work and positions they are best cut out for. 

Each candidate is portrayed by a cluster of traits

Pymetrics offers an efficient and effective hiring process in which every candidate has a fair opportunity. The candidate’s results are depicted as a cluster of their traits. Every trait’s importance to the role is explained showing how well-suited the candidate is for the position.  

The report explains how well the candidate fits the role, points out potential gaps, and provides interview questions that will help the employer determine if they are right for the position. . The candidate is given a score for their desired job as well as scores for other open job positions. 

Fit is based on soft skills

The behavioral, cognitive, and social traits the test assesses are used to determine whether the candidate is right for the job. pymetrics measures 9 overall soft skills.  Each one has varying importance relating to specific jobs. Some soft skills are more suited for a particular position and less suited for another.

For example, being methodical and consistent is a necessity in a digital marketing position while a person pursuing data science must be adaptive and adventurous. The graphs below show the importance of different soft skills concerning various job profiles.

Reports Description

Below we see a sample of the report candidates may receive after taking the test.  The meter shows how important each soft skill is to the role and the candidate’s fit alongside it. The fit score shows if a candidate should be considered for a particular position or if he or she is better suited for another role. The candidate will also know which soft skills are their strongest and which positions are best suited to their personalities. 

Recruiters can check out the candidates’ skills and attributes so they can shortlist the right ones quickly. They can compare the results with a set benchmark and see how a candidate’s traits fit different job profiles. Hiring managers can recommend positions to candidates based on their fit, which may vary from the one they originally applied for.

Results are valid for 330 days

Once you complete the assessment, your test results will stay valid for almost one year. You can use them to apply to other job openings on the platform. Pymetrics test results will help you find  jobs that are perfect for your skill set. 

FAQs

Test Tips

The following tips will help you perform well in your pymetrics games test – 

• Research your prospective employer to find out their values. This will help you understand the qualities and traits they look for in candidates so you can prepare accordingly.
• Take an online training course by iPREP or another reliable platform that will help prepare for the assessment. You can practice similar games, and read tips, instructions, etc. to prepare.
• Read all the instructions carefully so that you know how to play each game in advance. . This will help to determine which trait the game measures so you can provide the best possible responses.
• Make sure to take the test in a comfortable, quiet place where there are no distractions. You can take the test only once in 330 days, so make sure you do it in the right environment.
• Make sure that the keyboard, mouse, and other equipment are working properly before taking the test.
• Take the pymetrics when you feel most attentive. If you are lethargic or unwell, you may not be able to give your best performance.

Administration

• Test Location – The test is available online and can be taken from anywhere that offers access to a virtual connection. 
• Test Uses  – The test is used by employers at different stages of recruitment. It is typically used to screen candidates and shortlist the ones that are best suited for the job.
• Test Format – The test consists of 12 different neuroscience-based mini-games with different objectives
• Test Materials – The test can be taken online on a computer or smartphone 
• Cost – None (covered by the employer)
• Retake Policy – The test can be retaken after 330 days

Test Provider

Pymetrics is a soft-skills measuring platform that uses AI and behavioral data to promote fair, efficient hiring practices. Many features were added to the existing platform after it was acquired by Harver. It now features a  behavior-based AI approach in addition to the previously existing talent assessments.

Information Sources

• pymetrics, Inc.
• Harver

Disclaimer – All the information and prep materials on iPrep are genuine and were created for tutoring purposes. pymetrics Core Soft Skills and pymetrics Numerical and Logical Reasoning are a trademark and brand of pymetrics, Inc, now a Harver company. iPrep is not affiliated with pymetrics, Harver, or any other company mentioned in this article.