What Companies Want to Know. Companies use tests to determine either aptitude (such as your skills as a Java programmer) or to rate personality traits (such as your ability to work within a team or under intense deadline pressure). It’s important to remember that in most cases, the company isn’t using the test to cull applicants – it’s using it to determine for which positions applicants are best suited. Employers often realize that candidates with different backgrounds may be more or less comfortable with questionnaires or tests, explains Dr. Karine Schomer, president of Alameda, Calif.-based Change Management Consulting & Training. “The company can’t assume the U.S. mindset,” says Schomer, “where people know they need to be as straightforward as possible.”

In some countries, such as India, Schomer says, applicants may focus on discerning a single correct answer. It’s important to remember that there aren’t necessarily “right” answers and “wrong” answers – just honest answers that come from your experience and background.

How The Tests Are Localized. If your native language isn’t the same as that of your potential employer, you may worry that you won’t understand the wording of the tests. After all, even English has multiple variations, depending on whether it’s spoken in Australia, India, South Africa, the United States, or the United Kingdom. That’s why global companies usually hire local testing firms to adapt their tests for the geography in which the recruiting is taking place. These firms specialize in what’s known as psychometric testing and ensure that the tests are translated properly. They also make sure that those translations avoid references to cultural ideas or touchstones that are unfamiliar in the local culture or region.

Other elements of localization include making sure that situational questions such as “what would you do in the case of …” are culturally appropriate. For instance, in the U.S. and Eastern Europe, employees usually don’t hesitate to challenge their bosses. It’s unlikely there would be a question in those geographies along the lines of, “How would you tell your boss you thought he/she was wrong?”

When You Feel Unsure About A Test. Don’t be shy about speaking up. You may not have been brought up in a culture – such as in China or the U.S. – where tests are administered frequently. “In some cultures,” says Sheila Crosby Peña, senior manager for the global recruitment team at consulting firm Accenture, “people have been taking tests since kindergarten, and they’re comfortable with them.” You may ask for more time to take the test, or to get a better sense of what the test will encompass; that’s okay.

Some candidates may also feel uncomfortable taking a test on a computer if they haven’t had much experience with them. Companies are more frequently administering initial aptitude tests via computers, notes Peña, but they have to remember that not everyone has the same level of familiarity or comfort with computers. You may be qualified for a position, and if it doesn’t require computer skills (or if the company is willing to teach you), go ahead and asking to take the test on paper.

Remember that the test is just one method of judging whether you’re suited for a position, and your ability to communicate your attitude, skills and capabilities may be even more important.

According to hiring consultants and human-resources executives at international companies, it’s crucial for employers to hire firms that specialize in so-called psychometric testing. Only by working with those experts, who understand local cultural issues, can you devise a test that reveals an applicant’s capabilities. Maarten Van Beek, leadership and organizational effectiveness manager for international consumer-products firm Unilever in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, says, “Our competency model is used globally, but all tests are conducted locally. We need to assure that we take local or cultural differences into accordance.”

Sound simple? It’s not. Even experts disagree on the efficacy of such tests.

Take the commonly used Myers-Briggs personality test, which measures characteristics such as introversion vs. extroversion, or how much you rely on logic versus emotion. The Web site of the Myers & Briggs Foundation says that all types appear in “all cultures studied to date.” And Dr. Dennis Doverspike, a consultant in human resource management and a professor of psychology at the University of Akron in Ohio, concurs that it’s a valid test for measuring basic personality traits on a global basis. “As long as you’re talking about modernized countries with basic educational systems, personality characteristics, aptitudes and skills are pretty much globally consistent.”

Umesh Ramakrishnan, vice chairman of Christian & Timbers, a global recruiting firm, isn’t so sure. “It may be accurate on a global basis 70 percent, but there are aspects of Myers-Briggs that don’t necessarily test across geographies,” he warns. “In one culture, someone may have a quiet intensity, whereas in another culture, if it isn’t visible, they may not be considered aggressive enough to be in sales.”

Dr. Karine Schomer, president of Alameda, Calif.-based Change Management Consulting & Training, who has worked with Indian companies for 25 years and spent eight years living there, concurs that some tests may not be constructed as well as they could be. She believes that employment testing is as advanced as educational testing. “People know that when you administer aptitude tests for sixth graders, you need to weight the test based on where they come from culturally. That hasn’t been done in employment tests.”

That doesn’t mean that the currently accepted methods of working with local psychometric terms are invalid. It only means that hiring managers need to be even more assiduous in ensuring that tests are culturally appropriate.

Have you ever encountered a test, either as a recruiter, hiring manager or an applicant, that you felt failed to reveal accurate results about the person taking it?

Is it possible to prepare yourself to score higher on a pre-employment test? While the answer is a resounding ‘yes’ for tests that measure subject-matter expertise, the answer becomes a little fuzzier when the question at hand is your personality itself. On the other hand, sometimes the questions asked are transparent and test-savvy applicants can mold themselves to seem more collaborative or empathetic.

Dr. Karine Schomer, president of Alameda, Calif.-based Change Management Consulting & Training, contends that pre-employment tests are not for eliminating applicants, but rather for gaining a better understanding of their skills and aptitude.

Of course, flunking an aptitude test for something like Java programming sends a message to applicants that, in those situations, they can always seek further education.

While extreme forms of pre-employment test preparation may undermine the process itself, there are some things job applicants can do that balance the integrity of the process with good common sense. First, job applicants should seek to understand the corporate culture and background of the potential employer. That will help applicants understand how the contents of the test relate to what the company is looking for, and better explain how their skills will match the company’s needs.

Schomer notes that companies may test applicants for their adaptability to other cultures besides their own, testing their threshold for tolerance and flexibility. Don’t be surprised, she adds, if the company asks to administer the same kind of test to your spouse. “The reason many [foreign] assignments end is not because the worker has failed, but because the spouse is not adapting to the new country,” she says.

You might also consider taking a free personality test as a form of practice such as this one by eTest Inc. or this test by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Finally, don’t be shy when it comes to getting information about the tests you’re going to take. Maarten Van Beek, leadership and organizational effectiveness manager for international consumer-products firm Unilever in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, recommends asking to see the tests ahead of time. “We do that with every test we offer,” he says. “I believe the process should be open so that they can prepare to their maximum ability.”

Of course, not every company is as liberal as Unilever in that regard. But applicants – especially those in countries where tests may be used to narrow pools of people – need to understand that a test may be only one piece of a longer interview process, and thus they shouldn’t fear them.

According to hiring consultants and human-resources executives at international companies, it’s crucial for employers to hire firms that specialize in so-called psychometric testing. Only by working with those experts, who understand local cultural issues, can you devise a test that reveals an applicant’s capabilities. Maarten Van Beek, leadership and organizational effectiveness manager for international consumer-products firm Unilever in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, says, “Our competency model is used globally, but all tests are conducted locally. We need to assure that we take local or cultural differences into accordance.”

Sound simple? It’s not. Even experts disagree on the efficacy of such tests.

Take the commonly used Myers-Briggs personality test, which measures characteristics such as introversion vs. extroversion, or how much you rely on logic versus emotion. The Web site of the Myers & Briggs Foundation says that all types appear in “all cultures studied to date.” And Dr. Dennis Doverspike, a consultant in human resource management and a professor of psychology at the University of Akron in Ohio, concurs that it’s a valid test for measuring basic personality traits on a global basis. “As long as you’re talking about modernized countries with basic educational systems, personality characteristics, aptitudes and skills are pretty much globally consistent.”

Umesh Ramakrishnan, vice chairman of Christian & Timbers, a global recruiting firm, isn’t so sure. “It may be accurate on a global basis 70 percent, but there are aspects of Myers-Briggs that don’t necessarily test across geographies,” he warns. “In one culture, someone may have a quiet intensity, whereas in another culture, if it isn’t visible, they may not be considered aggressive enough to be in sales.”

Dr. Karine Schomer, president of Alameda, Calif.-based Change Management Consulting & Training, who has worked with Indian companies for 25 years and spent eight years living there, concurs that some tests may not be constructed as well as they could be. She believes that employment testing is as advanced as educational testing. “People know that when you administer aptitude tests for sixth graders, you need to weight the test based on where they come from culturally. That hasn’t been done in employment tests.”

That doesn’t mean that the currently accepted methods of working with local psychometric terms are invalid. It only means that hiring managers need to be even more assiduous in ensuring that tests are culturally appropriate.

Have you ever encountered a test, either as a recruiter, hiring manager or an applicant, that you felt failed to reveal accurate results about the person taking it?

Editor’s note: This is the first of two posts on pre-hire tests in the flat world. Part 2 runs Tuesday: “Can You Prepare For a Pre-Employment Test?”