Job Assessments 2023/24. Practice Tests. Full Guide.

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Summary

Which job assessments are used by employers? Why do employers use job tests? How to pass job tests? If these are questions on your mind, look no further than this guide.

In this article, we cover how you can prepare with our GF tools and provide expert advice you will need during your recruitment process. Prepare for your next online assessment with free aptitude practice tests and assessment tools.

Sign up with GF and take FREE practice aptitude tests developed by former SHL experts who developed the tests for 8,000+ companies and gain personalised tips based on your performance.

Contents

1. GF Free Practice Tests
2. Employers That Use Aptitude Tests
3. Why do Employers Use Psychometric Tests to Hire?
4. Psychometric Test Publishers
   • SHL
   • IBM Kenexa
   • Cubiks

5. What is an Aptitude Test?
6. How to Prepare for a Job Test
7. Game-based Assessments
8. Video Interviews
9. Assessment Centres
10. Top Tips on How to Land Your Dream Role

GF Free Practice Tests

At GF, we provide access to free practice tests for your next job application as a student, graduate or an experienced professional. GF’s free practice tests are written by former SHL and IBM Kenexa organisational psychologists that developed SHL assessment tests used by over 80% of the world’s largest employers. 

Did you know? Our assessments and practice tools help with a number of different test publishers including:

• SHL
• IBM Kenexa
• Korn Ferry Talent Q
• Cubiks
• Cappfinity
• Arctic Shores
• Pymetrics
• AON Hewitt Cut-e
• HireVue

For example, our SHL style practice tests and aptitude tests to help increase your chances of getting your next job. We increase your success rate in your psychometric tests, video interviews, assessment centres, and game assessments.

We offer over 150 aptitude practice tests to help you during your recruitment process  application with different product packages to suit your practice needs, ranging from free to our Go premium package. For your assessment preparation, we provide:

• Aptitude practice tests created by our test experts with unique and non-repeated questions, with answers and worked solutions to help you through. Examples of these aptitude tests are: verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning and logical reasoning

• Question Identifier Tool to help you out with competency interview questions that can be asked by your interviewer

• Practice Situational Judgement Tests to gain a real SJT experience and develop using our detailed feedback reports on the key competencies assessed

• Assessment centre exercises: in-tray exercises, e-tray exercise, group discussions, presentations, written exercises, role-play exercises.

• Work Personality questionnaire similar to the SHL Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ)

• Game-based Assessments for organisations that use games in their recruitment process from publishers like; HireVue, Pymetrics, Arctic Shores, AON Hewitt Cut-e

• Video Practice Interviews to prepare for 60+ employer competency, strength and case study interview questions.

GF Practice Assessments	Practice Now
Aptitude Tests	Start Practicing
Question Identifier Tool	Start Practicing
Situational Judgement Tests	Start Practicing
Assessment Centre Exercises	Start Practicing
Personality Questionnaire	Start Practicing
Game-based Assessments	Start Practicing
Video Interviews	Start Practicing

But which employers often use aptitude tests in their recruitment processes? Keep reading to find out!

Employers That Use Aptitude Tests

Many industries use aptitude tests during their recruitment process, as it is cost effective and a proven method in measuring candidate’s ability quickly. Aptitude tests are most commonly used in job roles that require specialised skills.

Industry	Roles
Engineering	Mechanical engineer, project manager, quality assurance
Finance	Bankers, accountants
Retail	Customer service, administrative assistant, account executive
Aviation	Cabin crew, pilot, air traffic controller

Which employers use aptitude tests?

Some of the companies include:

• PwC
• P&G
• Deloitte
• EY (Ernst & Young)
• IBM
• KPMG
• GSK
• HSBC

Watch this P&G Employer guide to gain an idea on how employers use these assessments below:

So why do employers use these job assessment tests to hire you? Continue reading to find out below.

Why do Employers Use Psychometric Tests to Hire?

Psychometrics are commonly used by employers as a recruitment tool during a job application process to measure your traits and abilities efficiently and accurately, which gives the employer valuable insights into your skillset, personality, and competencies.

Employers often use these tests for 2 key reasons:

1. Cost-effective: Employers use psychometric tests due to its effectiveness to screen candidates and shortlist the best fit for the role much faster, reducing the cost of a lengthy interview process.

2. Employee retention: Employers can use the assessment results to find the best-fit candidate that will be most happy working with them in the role for longer periods of time. 

So, who provides these employer psychometric tests? Find out below!

Psychometric Test Publishers

There are many aptitude test publishers out there providing high quality assessment to employers all over the world. These publishers create the psychometric tests used by employers during their recruitment process.

What are some common psychomteric test publishers?

These psychometric tests publishers include: 

• SHL
• IBM Kenexa
• Assess Candidates
• Cubiks/Talogy
• Korn Ferry Talent Q
• AON/Cut-e
• Cappfinity
• Saville
• Pymetrics
• Clevry
• Hudson

During your job application process such as for a graduate role, you are likely to encounter one of these above test providers for your job assessments. 

Therefore, we have outlined a summary of the 3 major publishers you are likely to come across during a job assessment test. 

SHL

SHL is an occupational psychology based company that specialises in providing assessments which evaluates the ability of prospective candidates. SHL is renowned as a leading test publisher within the recruitment industry and is responsible for providing psychometric tests to thousands of employers globally.

SHL assessments covers four categories of tests:

• Cognitive
• Behavioural
• Personality
• Job focused

3 Expert Tips to Pass an SHL Assessment

1. Familiarise yourself with the SHL assessment format

There are a wide range of SHL aptitude tests and SHL assessment tests, so knowing the type of tests you may encounter and familiarising yourself through SHL-style practice tests will help you through the recruitment process.

2. Practice 

‘Practice makes perfect.’ Practising for assessments is a proven way to help increase your chances. At GF, our job assessment experts provide free SHL-style practice tests to boost your confidence in your abilities for the real assessment.  

3. Time management 

When taking your SHL psychometric tests, it is important to know that many of these tests are timed. Practice to help develop your time management skills during the test and discover the top tricks you can use to find the correct answer fast.

Take a break from reading and check out this quick video on how you can improve your speed in your employer assessment tests:

IBM Kenexa

Kenexa was first set up in 1986 by Rudy Karsan as a recruitment company and has grown rapidly since then. Kenexa now has a range of over 1,500 assessments and is used by most employers in talent acquisition and performance management.

Uncover more about Kenexa assessments with our super easy-to-follow guide here.

3 Top Tips to Ace an IBM Kenexa Assessment

1. Practice examples of Kenexa-style questions
   • Practising helps you to be prepared for what to expect during an assessment. Take a free test and familiarise yourself with questions and worked solutions provided by GF job assessment experts.

2. Brush up on your technical skills
   • Some employers may use Kenexa’s technical assessments to assess your knowledge and skills. Ensure to revise the basics of your area in advance to better prepare for these tests!

3. Stay focused
   • Ensure to be well rested the night before taking a Kenexa test as these require intense concentration. Avoid taking these tests in a place where you will be disturbed.

Cubiks

Cubiks employs organisational psychologists and psychometricians who develop assessments used by employers during their recruitment process. Cubiks offers a wide range of tests and assessment packages such as, ability tests (called Logiks tests), personality questionnaires, e-tray exercises and others. 

3 Expert Tips to Pass a Cubiks Assessment

1. Attempt as many questions as possible
   • During a Cubiks online assessment, there are often many questions for you to answer within the time limit. Aim to attempt as many questions as you can and take educated guesses if unsure. 

2. Read the instructions carefully
   • Make sure to understand each question before selecting your answer. You may be provided with last minute tips or information before you begin the assessment.

3. Practice 
   • The best way to ace any Cubiks psychometric test is to practise. The key to practicing these tests is quality over quantity. Attempt fewer practice assessments repeatedly until you are confident in how to reach the answers quickly. 

But what is an aptitude test and how are these tests typically taken? Keep reading to find out! 

What is an Aptitude Test?

An aptitude test is an assessment that is used by an employer to measure your potential and ability for a specific role. During an aptitude test, you can either be assessed through ability tests or behavioural tests, depending on the job role. 

Cognitive Ability Tests

Employer Ability tests often focus on assessing your cognitive function, problem solving and critical thinking. While the behavioural tests assess your situational judgement, personality and your work preferences.

What are the most common psychometric tests used by employers?

Here are the most common psychometric tests used by employers:

• Numerical reasoning
• Verbal reasoning
• Logical reasoning
• Inductive reasoning
• Abstract reasoning
• Diagrammatic reasoning

Practice a FREE numerical, verbal and logical reasoning test with GF today and get a headstart on your job assessment test practice with live test reports and progress charts based on your performance. 

Situational Judgement Tests

Situational Judgement Tests (SJTs), is a psychometric test used by employers to assess your competencies in a workplace. During this test, you are presented with a hypothetical work-case scenario and required to select the most appropriate response from a number of options provided.

Discover more about Situational Judgement Tests here.

Situational Judgement Test Question Example

Personality Questionnaires

Personality assessments are used by most organisations to determine how well you fit in a particular role. These are often questionnaires used by employers to help predict your performance in the workplace using strengths in particular personality traits in the job context. 

Uncover more practice tips in our in-depth personality assessments article here!

Workplace Personality Test Example

The most common and well-known personality model is the Big 5. This model supports SHL’s OPQ, Kenexa’s OPI, Hogan’s HPI, and our Work Personality Questionnaire (WPQ). Our practice personality questionnaire that can be used to prepare for personality assessments used by many employers during the recruitment process.

Take a break and watch the video below to discover 5 tips to ace personality assessments:

How are Aptitude Tests Typically Taken?

Employer aptitude tests are usually carried out online, but you may come across these in a traditional written format. As well as assessing your cognitive abilities, these tests also often assess your time management skills and your performance under pressure.

Check out the below for a typical graduate verbal reasoning test we’ve designed to show how recruiters often assess your ability to comprehend and analyse written information:

Graduate Aptitude Test Question Example

So how do we prepare for these assessments? Keep reading as we cover our top expert tips below!

How to Prepare for a Job Test

Preparing for an assessment may seem daunting as many employers and providers claim there’s no real way to prepare. However, our team uncovered 5 steps you can take to ensure you are ready for your employer ability test:

1. Research the Company: Make sure you research the company and role thoroughly – this will help you understand what they’re looking for in a candidate and give you a better idea of what skills you will be tested on.

2. Understand Your Values and Skills: Consider your own preferences and skills in the workplace. Do these align with the company?  as well as how you can contribute to the organization.

3. Get Familiar with the Test Format: Understand the tests you are most likely to come across for your job application. Check out the test provider ahead of time to discover the layout of their assessments and what to expect.

4. Practice, Practice and Practice: Practise test questions repeatedly to develop confidence in your understanding of the questions and your ability to reason with data effectively and efficiently under time pressure. 

5. Manage your Time: Many assessments include strict time limits, so it’s key to prepare under this pressure. Use timed practice tests to improve your performance under timed conditions and build your speed.

Keep reading to find out about a new style of psychometric test that employers are using to hire more often, game-based assessments.

Game-based Assessments

Game-based assessments are tests designed like games which are used by employers to assess your cognitive abilities using interactive tools and game-based elements. Common game-based assessments include the Balloon Game, emotional intelligence and short-term memory games. 

Some of the key game-assessment providers include:

• Arctic Shores
• Pymetrics
• HireVue
• AON Hewitt Cut-e

This provides you with a more interactive and engaging experience while it provides employers with thousands of data points on your behavioural activity that can be used during the selection process to see if you’re the best fit.

3 Key Tips to Ace Your Game-based Assessment

1. Be Well-rested: Ensure to have plenty of rest the night before and have something to eat ahead of the game to help function at your best.

2. Take in a focused environment: Take the game assessment in a place you won’t be disturbed. These game tests often require a lot of concentration.

3. Use the recommended device: Many game-based assessments are mobile friendly, however you should ensure to take these on a platform that you can quickly and comfortably interact with. 

A fundamental stage of any application process is the interviews stage. Continue to find out more about how you can prepare for your interviews with us and what you can expect in a video interview.

Video Interviews

Video Job Interviews are commonly used by employers as a tool in professional and graduate recruitment processes through recorded or live responses to questions provided. These questions will be specific to the skills and requirements needed for the role, similar to a traditional interview.

Video Interviews are often conducted online through various platforms such as Skype, Google Meet, MS Teams or Zoom. Discover more about video interviews with our article here.

Stick around for this short video below to discover 3 easy tips to prepare and ace video interviews:

A key way to boost your confidence in video interviews is to familiarise yourself with practice. Practice video interviews using our GF Video Interview Platform and get prepared for your next job interview with 60+ sets of practice interview questions.

Video Interview Graduate Question Example

Now that you know what a video interview is all about, let’s move onto the key tips you’ll need to know about the next step of the assessment process: assessment centres.

Assessment Centres

An assessment centre is not so much a physical place, but rather a method used by employers in selecting the most suitable candidates during a job recruitment process. An assessment centre or assessment day typically involves different activities, such as:

• Presentations
• Group Discussions
• Interviews
• Psychometric Aptitude Tests
• In-Tray exercises
• E-tray Exercise
• Written Exercises 
• Case Studies

Depending on the job role, you are assessed based on your performance and on your interaction with other participants during group tasks. This gives employers a deep insight of your strengths and weaknesses.

Assessment Centres can also be used to assess your technical ability and competencies such as problem solving, communication and team working. By understanding these key factors involved in an effective assessment centre process, organisations can ensure they select only the best talent for their open positions.

Assessment Centre Example Exercises

Now that you have all you need to know about various assessments and employers, let’s cover some super useful tips you can use to help land your next job below.

Top Tips on How to Land Your Dream Role

When applying for a particular graduate role, it is important to consider several things that can help in increasing your chances at getting the role. Some of them are:

1. Research the Company and Role
   • It is important to know the company and role you are applying to as this will help during your recruitment process to understand the company and know the type of assessment tests they use, thereby increasing your chances. So, before your next job assessment test, make sure to find out a little about the company.

2. Have a Good Career-Specific CV/Resume 
   • Your CV/resume is the first thing your employer checks, which is why it is very important to submit a quality resume that fits best to the role you are applying for. You can use templates from the web to create a suitable CV.

3. Identify the Key Competencies Required
   • Depending on the role you are applying for, your recruiter will be expecting certain competencies like problem solving, critical thinking and time management. Identify the specific competencies needed for the role and improve on it.

4. Practice for your Assessments
   • At GF, we provide practice assessment packages curated by former SHL test experts, consultants and developers. This will help you become more prepared for your assessments.

5. Research the Industry
   • Depending on the role you apply for, it is useful to do your research on the recent news around the industry and company. This helps to impress your interviewer by showcasing your interest.

6. Rehearse for Your Interview
   • This is very important when going for a job interview. It helps you to be more confident during the process. You can self practice by filming yourself and watching to see how confident you appear or take the Video Interview test on GF.

7. Stay focused
   • The first step to failure is fear, which is why it is essential for you to stay focused and be confident in what you know and have practised so far. Resting properly before the assessment will help you in staying focused during an interview.

8. Follow-up
   • After your interview, send a thank you message to the interviewer. It is very important to check your mails regularly and to follow up after a couple days to show you are still enthusiastic about the role. 

Take your job assessment practice to the next level with GF and hone your key skills with over 2,000+ unique assessment questions, video interviews and game-based assessments to get your dream job, first time.

Job Assessment FAQs

How do I pass the assessment test for a job?

• Practice to prepare
• Pace yourself
• Use the recommended device
• Take the test at your best
• Eliminate wrong answers first

What should I prepare for a job test?

1. Research the role
2. Familiarize yourself with the format
3. Practice under timed conditions
4. Use feedback reports
5. Repeat practice until confident

How do I get better at psychometric tests?

A key way to improve your score in job assessment tests is to practice. A recent study found that candidates that practiced assessments had improved their performance for the real test. Practicing is a key way to improve your speed and accuracy in assessments.

What happens if you fail an assessment?

Many candidates are rejected at the assessment stage. If you have been rejected at this stage, you may need to reapply to the company. However, whilst some employers allow you to retake a test, many employers do not allow candidates to reapply for up to 6-12 months later.

What is a good score on an assessment test?

Assessments are typically scored using percentiles instead of percentages to allow employers to compare the results across candidates. Low-cut offs are recommended for employers but it is best to aim as high as you can, beyond the 70th percentile, to give yourself the best chance of being invited to the next stage.