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Aptitude Test Tips
Aptitude (or psychometric) tests are being increasingly used by employers as part of the recruitment process. This variety of test has been specifically designed to measure the skills and abilities of an individual to assess suitability for the role or company applied for. These tests provide an objective method for assessing an individual’s strengths and weaknesses, and allow employers to see skills that are not necessarily evident on a candidates CV
Aptitude tests are usually either pen and paper based or conducted on a computer. Many employers conduct tests online prior to inviting candidates to interview. This allows candidates to take the test at home, without incurring any travelling costs. Pen and paper tests usually come as a booklet with a separate answer sheet. The answer sheet usually contains printed boxes for you to indicate the correct answer by marking the relevant box. Computerised tests often allow you to take as much time as you want reading the instructions and answers are indicated using the mouse. Both test formats usually include a couple of practice questions before the real test.
Aptitude tests use multiple-choice questions, where one correct answer must be chosen from several answers. Therefore the answer is always in front of you. However, there are often incorrect answers put there to catch you out. These will be answers which are the result of an easy error when calculating the answer, or answers which are similar to the correct answer.
Two popular types of aptitude tests are verbal reasoning and numerical reasoning. Verbal reasoning tests assess your ability to read and understand or deduce information. Numerical reasoning tests assess your ability to solve mathematical problems.
Preparation
* It is possible to improve your performance in aptitude tests with practice so it is advisable to start practicing as soon as possible before a test.
* Make sure you know what kind of test you will be given as there is not just one type of test for each form of reasoning. If the company gives you example questions make sure you look at these as they will indicate the difficulty and type of question they will be using.
* Practice under timed conditions so that you are used to performing under pressure.
* Register to use our customisable test facility to practice a variety of questions under timed conditions.
Below are some more detailed tips on how to prepare for each specific reasoning type: -
Numerical Reasoning
* Practice the basic mathematical functions addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
* Do simple calculations in your head or on paper, rather than using a calculator.
* Make sure you are confident using different mathematical formats and converting between them, such as percentages, decimals, fractions, angles, volume, area, and ratios.
* Ensure you can interpret graphs and tables of statistics, and understand what the information presented in these different ways is telling you.
Verbal Reasoning
* Look up the meaning of any words you are unsure of.
* Think about what words have the same or similar meaning and what words mean the opposite to each other.
* When reading articles in newspapers, journals, etc. think about issues such as what evidence has been presented for and against the argument, and whether you think that there is enough evidence to justify the conclusion made by the writer.
The Test
When you come to take the test, whatever format it is in, ensure that you fully understand the instructions. Work through any practice questions so that you fully understand what is coming in the real test. If you are taking the test at the same time as other people make sure you do not get distracted by them. Equally if you are taking the test at home, make sure that no one is going to interrupt you.
Work as quickly and accurately as you can as aptitude tests usually have a strict time limit. If you do get stuck on a question do not waste time on it; move on to the next question and return to it at the end of the test if you have time. The best approach with multiple-choice questions is to work out the answer and then see if one of the answers matches your answer. If your answer does not match any of the answers then check over your calculations or reasoning to see if you can spot a mistake. If you can not see anything wrong in your calculations then try to make an educated guess at the answer by eliminating those answers you know are incorrect and then go with the answer you think is most likely to be correct. In verbal reasoning tests, where the answer is either true, false, or can not say, words in the statement such as always, never, only, or must, can provide clues to the correct answer.
Only ever change an answer if you are sure you have made an error. If you are unsure it is usually best to stick with your original answer.
Numerical Aptitude Tests and Number Types
An aptitude test may be comprised of math, verbal, non-verbal or any other kind of test of your knowledge and skills. The portions which measure your ability to use numbers and solve simple numerical problems are called numerical aptitude tests or math aptitude tests.
These tests may be administered separately or questions may be included in any other apptitude test. Numerical aptitude tests assess your ability to identify and apply correct numeric operators to problems to find out the correct solutions. Here you shall read about different values and types of the numbers which are generally utilized by the testing industry to set a typical math aptitude test.
Scope of Numerical Aptitude Tests
Ideally speaking, the numerical aptitude tests should measure your numerical capability and innate math reasoning with the real world issues. However, some old formats still use artificial data to measure your mathematical intelligence and numerical concepts.
Values of Numbers in Numerical Aptitude Tests
While taking numerical aptitude tests, you should always keep in mind that all the numbers are written by using digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Moreover, a number greater than zero is called a positive number and a number less than zero called a negative number.
The numerical aptitude tests use numbers, number sense and number relationship in a problem solving situation to measure your mathematics reasoning. There are three values of number:
1- Local Value
A local value of a number is the face value of that number. For example the local value of 4 in 3248 is 4.
2- Place Value
A place value of a number is the value of the place it occupies times its local value. For example the place of 4 in 3248 is forty.
3- Absolute Value
The absolute value of a number is the number that remains after neglecting the sign of the given number. Absolute value of a number x is denoted by |x|. So,
|x|=x if x is positive |x|=-x if x is negative
For example
|35| = 35 and |-35| = +35
Number Types in Numerical Aptitude Tests
There are ten types of number generally used in numerical aptitude tests. They are:
1- Even Numbers
All numbers which can be divided by 2 are called even numbers.
For example 2, 4, 6, 8… are even numbers.
2- Odd Numbers
All numbers which can’t be divided by 2 are called odd numbers, e.g. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, … are called odd numbers.
3- Natural Numbers
The natural flow of numbers starting from 1 are called natural numbers e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on.
4- Rational Numbers
Any number in the form of p/q, where p and q are integers and q ? 0 and p & q are in lowest terms, is called a rational number. The set of all rational numbers is denoted by Q.
Q = {x:x = p/q; p, q € 1, q ? 0}
Every integer becomes a rational when we write it in the form of p/q. For example 3 =3/1, -8=-8/1
5- Irrational Numbers
A number which can not be expressed in the form of p/q is called an irrational number. Numbers v2, v3, v5, v7, v11 etc are examples of the irrational numbers.
6- Real Numbers
When rational and irrational numbers are combined together, the numbers in the series are called real numbers.
7- Complex Numbers
When you do square root of negative numbers, the resulting numbers are not real numbers. Such number are called imaginary numbers. You can devote v-1 by ‘I’ then:
v-5 = v-10 v5 = iv5
v-64 = v-1 v64 = 8i
Hence, i= -1, i=-i, i =1, i
=i etc
A number of the form a + ib where i = v-1 and a and b are real numbers, is called a complex number. The ‘a’ is known as its real part and ‘ib’ as its imaginary part. Thus, 2-3i is a complex number where real part is 2 and imaginary part is -3i.
8- Whole Numbers
The whole numbers are all numbers in series starting from 0 as 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,… and so on.
9- Prime Numbers
The natural numbers which can be divided by either 1 or themselves only, are called prime number. For example the numbers 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 12, 17, 19, 23, … and so on are called prime numbers.
10- Composite Numbers
The numbers which are not prime and are divisible by at least one smaller natural number other than 1 are called composite numbers. For examples the composite numbers include 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12,… and so on.
