Hello, I spent two years as a psychometrist before grad school. You learn how to administer and score tests REALLY well. To be honest, I got tired of testing pediatrics very quickly and it just wasn't the population for me. I much prefer adult assessment. It depends on the state whether you need a bachelor's or masters. I was able to work with a bachelor's and made maybe $17.50/hr starting in 2014 and ended at maybe $18.50/hr in 2016 (Midwest), but I believe most make more now with inflation/cost of living adjustments since 2016. I believe it would give you good experience if neuropsych is your goal. However, I don't think it's the end all be all for getting you into a PhD program if that's what you are hoping for. The most important thing for PhD program is to be active in research that is a good fit for labs. If you are able to do both (e.g., volunteer with a lab while working as a psychometrist), great, but otherwise research assistant type jobs or a masters program may be more helpful so that you are actively doing research. I personally did 2 years of full-time psychometrist work and then a 2-year master's program which made me competitive for a PhD program.
Ohh...I just realized I never answered your question about certification...certification is definitely not necessary...I've worked in 2 different neuropsych clinics and I don't think anyone I've worked with ever got the psychometrist certification. In fact, at my first clinic, we asked our clinic manager about getting it and she told us the clinic would not pay for us to get it, nor would they increase our salaries if we got it, so that was that. In my first psychometrist job, I was trained with no previous experience but I know the other clinic I worked at prefers people to come in with some experience.
