I am sure you’ve heard of an IQ test by now. In a lot of printed publications, focused on women in particular, you may find them. Or just google ‘IQ tests’ and you will get as many as you like. You’ll get this page of questions filling your screen and you’ve got to select your answer online quickly. Then you submit the test and before you can count to ten, you get your results – a two or three digit number.

But to start from the beginning, what is an IQ test really? What is the meaning of the IQ score? IQ is the ‘Intelligence Quotient’, a measure of how smart you are compared to the whole population. There is some connection between your IQ score and what professions may suit you or how well you may do in college.

The IQ test measures your intelligence to solve problems written on paper. It assesses the ability of your brain to figure out solutions to issues presented to you in written form. Your intelligence is gauged in respect to another person. It’s one method commonly used to measure human intelligence.

The average IQ score is 100. If you’ve taken an IQ test and you scored 136, this means you’re a lot more intelligent than the average person. Any score less than 100 indicates your intelligence level doesn’t match up to the average John Doe.

Positive sides of the IQ test

• Recruitment Let’s say you’re hiring someone for a new job. You could get a better understanding of the applicant’s intelligence by conducting an IQ test. The test could be on logical, linguistic and spatial intelligence. These may be more related to the type of work involved. A high score would indicate the candidate is well suited for the position. Some candidates who would probably not be able to do the work could be screened out this way.
• College entrance You could get potential students to sit for an IQ test to gauge their intelligence in addition to their SAT scores. This would be useful if there are too few places on the course to accommodate everyone who wants to study. It would increase the likelyhood to find the top brass.

Disadvantages of the IQ Test

• IQ tests are far from infallible though A High IQ sore does not guarantee that you also perform well in other important aspects. It is quite common that they do not climb very fast or high on the corporate career ladder.
• Other factors may be more important College students who initially showed promising scores on their IQ test ended up not being so hot when they sat their term papers. According to some scientific studies have shown that a high self-discipline is more important than a high IQ score. Relying only on smartness is not enough you must put whatever IQ you have to work to do really well. Many high IQ scorers have been overtaken by so-called ‘weaker’ minds with much lower IQ.

• IQ does not measure everythingLeadership is one area which is not measured by IQ tests It doesn’t measure your emotional quotient or EQ – how you’ll get along with other people, including co-workers, superiors and peers. There is also the theory of multiple intelligences, that defines 8 different aspects of intelligence that you may have to varying degrees. Intelligence is so much more than a single score.