IQ tests can help you measure not only an applicant's "native intelligence," but also their creativity, emotional intelligence, personality, aptitudes...and pretty much anything else that can affect their job performance. When most people think of an intelligence IQ test, they think of the classic IQ test used for admission to MENSA and to objectively measure a person's intelligence. But today, increasing emphasis is placed on skills and attributes like memory, imagination and natural leadership ability, and there's a paper or online IQ test for all of these.

IQ test scores, though not the only indicator of an applicant's potential, can offer a more well-rounded picture of the person's aptitudes. IQ tests can help you evaluate:

1. An applicant's overall intelligence.
2. Skills specific to the job the applicant is applying for.
3. The applicant's ability to work with others, through assessments like an emotional intelligence test.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Start with the classic IQ test

Often considered the official IQ test, overall intelligence tests measure everything from problem-solving to spatial orientation. They're designed to objectively measure a person's natural intelligence, and while not everyone agrees that they accomplish this, they can offer insight into the way an applicant's mind works.

I recommend: IQTest.com offers a free online IQ test, as well as information about intelligence testing. 3SmartCubes offers several free online IQ tests, including The Complete IQ Test.

Test IQ to measure job-specific skills

An IQ test can help you better determine a candidate's suitability for a specific position. For a management position, you can test leadership IQ, and for something like advertising or new product development, for example, you can gauge creativity and imagination.

I recommend: Before and After, a firm that offers coaching in creative thinking, offers a free online creativity test on its website. FunEducation offers several free and paid specialized tests, including "Are You Management Material?"

Use IQ tests to evaluate interpersonal skills

Sometimes, the most important kind of intelligence is the kind used in interacting with other people. Every workplace depends on the ability of team to cooperate and collaborate. Even if someone is a stellar salesperson or has a head for numbers, if they can't get along with their co-workers they may hurt more than help the team. Consider an IQ personality test or an emotional intelligence test to determine how well they work with others, and if they have the kind of personality that blends well with the rest of your staff.

I recommend: Persuasion IQ offers free online tests evaluating a person's ability to persuade others. From TalentSmart, order the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal, which measures overall EQ, self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When using IQ tests as an employment screening tool, determine how much weight you'll place on the results compared to other factors, such as employment references or the job interview. An IQ test can help narrow down the pool of applicants, but as an indicator of someone's potential, may not be as accurate as actually interacting with that person.
• •  As with any screening tool, research the legality of using IQ tests for hiring purposes. Consult your company's lawyer or an employment attorney just to be safe, and consider how the applicant feels about your intention to 'test my IQ.'

Many types of assessments effectively test IQ levels. This is because so many different types of "IQ" exist besides native IQ, or native intelligence. A number of these IQ types can prove quite helpful to the businessperson. While few would argue that a high score on a classic IQ test is an asset to the business owner or manager, scoring well on a number of other tests could prove even more valuable in the business environment.

Some test types beneficial to the businessperson which might be classified as IQ tests are the following:

1. Classic IQ tests;
2. Memory tests;
3. Personality tests;
4. Aptitude tests;
5. Emotional IQ tests (also called EIQ or EQ tests);
6. Creative IQ (or Imagination Quotient) tests;
7. Business or Management IQ tests;
8. Entrepreneurial IQ tests;
9. Marketing IQ tests; and
10. "Geek" (or computer-related) IQ tests.

Action Steps
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Improve your IQ, as well as your memory, with online IQ tests and trainers

Both online and downloadable IQ tests and trainers, as well as memory, personality and aptitude tests, can help you maximize your native abilities and prepare you to use them more effectively in both your business and your personal life.

I recommend: Ded Phyto, Inc., offers numerous free online IQ test choices, including classic IQ tests, several memory tests and a downloadable personality test. It also provides information on how to evaluate intelligence test results and provides a free IQ Trainer software download. BlueChillies.com offers a downloadable classic IQ test for purchase, which consists of 100 questions for more accurate intelligence test results. It provides other IQ tests, as well, and information on how you can improve your IQ. TechRepublic features the relatively inexpensive Bergman IQ Test download, consisting of three complete IQ tests that are roughly equivalent to the prestigious Mensa IQ test. BNet offers an aptitude test for free trial download, along with a number of other IQ-type tests and assessments.

Visit websites that test IQ in specific business-related 'hard' skills categories

Many quizzes test IQ in a number of 'hard' skill areas, providing valuable insight into your level of expertise in specific, hands-on business and technical topics.

I recommend: InfoWorld offers the opportunity to test both your "Geek" IQ and your network security IQ. Z Squared Media, LLC, provides its quick, 20-question Smart Marketing IQ Test, to help you test your marketing savvy. ReEngineer Profit, LLC, offers a more comprehensive Business IQ Test.

Test your 'soft' skills and assess aptitudes that can benefit your business

Numerous online tests can help you evaluate such critical 'soft' skill areas as creativity, persuasiveness, entrepreneurial aptitude, business management aptitude and emotional IQ - all critical to business success.

I recommend: Before & After provides a super-quick Creative IQ test. In this particular test, "IQ" stands for "Imagination Quotient." The test is intended to give you a very general idea of your organization's or team's creativity level. Persuasion Institute provides two versions of its Persuasion IQ Test: The Quick Persuasion IQ Test, for those whose time is limited but who want some quick insight, and The Extensive Persuasion IQ Test, for professionals who are serious about improving their persuasive powers. Tickle offers the Guy Kawasaki Entrepreneurial Test, and FunEducation, Inc., offers its Business Management Aptitude Test. Queendom offers an emotional IQ test, along with numerous other tests, which are intended for your own personal development, yet which can also benefit you professionally.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  No single online test qualifies as THE official IQ Test. So plan to sample a variety of test materials to gain greater insight into your own personal cognitive and business management abilities and to determine your employees' areas of greatest aptitude.

An IQ test is a very common tool used for identifying a person’s level of intelligence, especially a child’s. IQ scores help teachers and psychologists determine high and low ranges of intelligence. Along with understanding the results of IQ tests comes understanding specific terms related to IQ tests. Some terms help the test-giver distinguish the types of IQ tests available. Stanford-Binet and Wechsler are both popular IQ tests. Other terms describe the meaning and validity of the test results. Users must be aware of terms such as intelligence quotient, verbal IQ, and deviation IQs which all refer to related test scores.

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Intelligence quotient (IQ)

Intelligence quotient, most commonly seen as IQ, is a score derived from an intelligence test. The score is based on dividing the mental age of the test taker by the chronological age and then multiplying by 100. The average IQ score is 100.

I recommend: Read an additional definition of intelligence quotient from Med Terms.

Deviation IQs

Deviation IQ refers to examining the IQ score compared to the rest of society rather than looking at the score independently. Deviation IQ looks at the person's deviation from the norm, which is 100. In the Wechsler test, the standard deviation is 85 to 115, with two-thirds of the population falling in that range.

I recommend: Minnesota State University has a page discussing deviation IQs; scroll down to the heading.

Stanford-Binet

The very first idea of an IQ test was in the form of the Stanford-Binet test. The test measures verbal reasoning, abstract/visual, short-term memory, and quantitative. Children as young as 2 1/2 all the way to young adults take this test.

I recommend: Gain more information about details about the Stanford-Binet test from Mental Help.

Wechsler Adult Intelligence

Ages 16 through adult take part in the Wechsler adult intelligence test. This IQ test has 11 subtests in two groups. The two groups are divided into verbal and performance. This test may last anywhere from 90 to 120 minutes.

I recommend: Kids IQ Tests discusses the Wechsler Adult Intelligence test.

Verbal IQ

A verbal IQ is made up of the scores on six parts of the IQ test. Those parts are: digit span, arithmetic, vocabulary, information, comprehension, and similarities.

I recommend: Psychology Today offers a Verbal IQ test online.

Genius

A genius is a person of high intelligence based on the scoring of an IQ test. The score of a genius is higher than 140.

I recommend: Mensa is an organization for individuals with a high IQ.

Obtaining IQ tests education and training can help you gain a better understanding about the history and purpose of IQ tests and how to properly administer IQ tests. The first official IQ test or intelligence quotient test was conducted in 1904 in France. Since then, a variety of tests have become widely used for measuring intelligence, emotional stability and behavior of both children and adults.Intelligence can be defined as correlative, logical and verbal.

Typical “test my IQ” methods measure an individual’s verbal comprehension, spatial aptitude, logic and reasoning abilities. To learn more about how to administer these tests and understand how to assess the scores, you can:

1. Find materials for better understanding of various IQ tests and how to properly administer them.

2. Attend workshops to become an administrator of intelligence IQ tests and learn how to assess the scores of these tests.

3. Learn about and find workshops for other types of tests such as IQ personality tests and the emotional intelligence test type.

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Gain a better understanding of IQ tests through training and education resources online

IQ tests are used to analyze an individual's mental abilities in comparison to others in the same age bracket. Each individual has hundreds of unique abilities, some of which are measurable. The measurable abilities are used to predict an individual's financial and academic success. Researchers suggest that individuals reach their peak intelligence level at age 48, while others believe individuals peak at age 25. Despite the peaking age, research indicates that an individual's intelligence scores will typically vary over time.

I recommend: Learn more about the history and purpose of IQ tests by visiting Autumn Group. Refer to the information offered by Guide to Psychology to better understand the wide variety of intelligence IQ tests, aptitude and achievement tests, occupational tests and clinical tests and the differences in administering these tests to individuals.

Become an administrator of intelligence IQ tests through workshops

IQ test scores are divided so that those scores deemed 'normal' are distributed in a bell curve. The curve is largest in the middle, which represents individuals who fall into the 'average' category. On the much smaller left and right ends are individuals who score exceptionally well or extremely low.

I recommend: Receive training via resources at Riverside Publishing for administering and assessing the highly-recognized Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales. Find training materials and workshop information for the Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (WISC-IV) and primary and preschool supplements (WPPSI-III) tests from Jerome M. Sattler, Publisher, Inc.

Learn about administering and understanding personality and behavioral IQ tests

There are other tests similar to IQ tests in how they are administered, but which assess things such as behavior, clinical conditions and mental or emotional stability for various high-risk careers. Among these are the SNAP test, a clinical tool for assessing traits in personality disorders; the MMPI-A, which assesses clinical conditions primarily in adolescent-aged individuals; and the MMPI-2 which helps in assessing clinical conditions and stability of law enforcement officers, firefighters, air-traffic controllers, pilots and other public personnel involved in high-risk work. All of these tests involve a large number of true-false questions.

I recommend: Learn basic interpretations and forensic applications for the MMPI and SNAP tests through workshops and symposia from the University of Minnesota Press and how to assess the scores and results of these exams. APLS offers full-day workshops for utilizing the MMPI-2 test for assessment in youths at risk and by forensic psychologists.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Scientific experts suggest that individuals can boost their IQ test scores by engaging in mental training sessions, which may include games, puzzles, books and exercises that focus on training your mind to think in a more logical manner.