All you need to know about cracking the aptitude test!
OR
Are Aptitude tests creating a roadblock to land you a job? Try reading this!
Tackling Tests
Your interview could well include a formal element, so the below guidelines are to help you prepare for such.
Written/online tests
The format of an interview can differ widely from organisation to organisation, but some companies (most commonly larger organisations) use written or online tests as a way to assess prospective candidates’ eligibility for their company. There are a wide variety of different types of tests that companies use, but broadly they fall into three categories.
- a) Verbal reasoning
b) Numerical reasoning
c) Psychometric tests/personality questionnaire
Some tests are timed.
You may be asked to complete these online before an interview, or else you may be asked to complete these at the clients’ premises either before or after your face to face interview.
Some things to remember about tests:
- Treat them seriously. The prospective employer does, so you should do too.
- Ensure that you set aside enough appropriate time to tackle them effectively. Make sure you are not going to be interrupted or your attention is going to be diverted from the task in hand.
- If doing the tests at home, make sure your IT/broadband facilities are not going to break down mid-way through the test!
- If you get stuck on a question, move on to the next and come back to it later.
- Don’t worry if you don’t complete all the questions within the set timeframe – its much more important to answer as many as you can to the best of your ability, rather than doing a ‘rush job’ by trying to answer every single question.
- Remember that in many cases there are no right or wrong answers – the purpose of many tests is to try to get a feel for your working style, characteristics and establish whether you would be a good cultural fit for the business.