Essential Apptitude Test Preparation Tips

Hello house i just have these tips n resources to share with you

PREPARATION TIPS

Practice makes perfect. Evidence suggests that some practice of similar tests may improve your performance on actual tests but don't spend too long practising. Brush up on your exam technique and perhaps become more familiar with the types of test you may face. The practice tests here should help. Even basic word and number puzzles may help you become used to the comprehension and arithmetic aspects of some tests. Other tests are available on computers in the Careers Service - ask at reception where you can also pick up a "Starting Points" leaflet on Psychometric Tests.

Treat it like an interview: get a good night's sleep, plan your journey to the test site, arrive on time and appropriately dressed. Tiredness and alcohol can affect your ability to do well!

Listen to the instructions you are given and follow them precisely. Many people make errors because they've misunderstood what they have to do.
Before the actual test, you will be given practice examples to try: make sure you ask questions if anything is unclear at this stage.

Check the amount of time you have and the number of questions you have to answer in that time.

Increasingly tests are on-line. Again try our on-line practice tests to gain familiarity. In this case you may get another shorter test when you get to interview, to check that you didn't get a friend to help you with the on-line test! Make sure you are in a quiet place where you won't be disturbed and in a good frame of mind.
If the test was taken unsupervised on the web you may be asked to sit another, shorter test at the interview stage to make sure you didn't get someone else to do it for you.

Work quickly during the test, but pay attention to your accuracy. Try not to get bogged down on any one question: leave it until the end of the test, but remember that questions may get harder as you proceed. You can only score points for questions you answer, not for those you don't. Often there will be a lot of questions in a short time. Don't panic if you can't complete the test as not everyone will be able to: most candidates find these tests hard! Do try to answer as many questions as possible though. If you have time left at the end, check your answers.

Educated guesses are worthwhile. In multiple choice tests, you may be able to quickly rule out obviously wrong answers and concentrate on those that are left. In maths tests you may be able to estimate the answer rather than working it out precisely, to save time.

If you have a numerical test coming up and haven't done any maths since school then brush up on your numeracy - try BBC Skillswise www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise Stop using a calculator for everyday calculations, practice your multiplication and division, ability to calculate percentages, and to read graphs and tables. Similarly if your English is weak brush up on this.

Personality tests don't have right and wrong answers. Be honest and open when answering these.
You'll do your best if your adrenalin is flowing slightly, so don't worry about worrying! But try to stay calm and focused and try to enjoy the experience.

You are not expected to finish the tests. Your score relates your performance to a 'normed' group. So, your aptitude, ability or intelligence has a relative value to it. This is important to an employer who may want to know how well you can do something in relation to other applicants, the general population or people already doing the job.

Your score can be used in different ways. There may be a pass mark or the employer may have planned to interview a certain number of candidates and provided your score puts you in this group you will continue on to the next stage of selection. Alternatively, your score could simply be a further measure considered by an employer alongside a variety of other measures, such as interviews.

You can try the following online test resources
efinancial careers http://students.efinancialcareers.co...rical_test.htm example numerical tests of the type used by finance employers complete with answers and worked examples.
SHL Direct www.shldirect.com Free examples of ability test questions and personality questionnaires and timed practice tests with feedback on how you compare to other applicants.
Saville Consulting http://www.savilleconsulting.com/pro...ionguides.aspx downloadable verbal, numerical and diagrammatic example tests.
Assessment Day www.assessmentday.co.uk Free numerical and verbal graduate aptitude tests that mimic the type employers use - very good!
Kenexa www.psl.co.uk/practice/ do the online tests for Deloitte and there are practice Numerical, verbal & logical reasoning tests on this site.
Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Diagonal Thinking Self-assessment Tool
Morrisby examples of ability tests. www.Morrisby.com
ASE www.ase-solutions.co.uk Good practice verbal, nonverbal, numerical and abstract reasoning tests.
WikiJob www.wikijob.co.uk/wiki/verbal-reasoning practice verbal reasoning test
Knight Chapman Psychological www.kcpltd.com contains practice test examples
Psychometric Success www.psychometric-success.com non-commercial site is aimed at providing student job seekers with the practice material they need to pass psychometric job selection tests. Over 100 pages of free information on psychometric and aptitude tests and has over 50 free downloadable practice tests.
Online Intelligence Quotient (IQ) Test http://giqtest.com Spatial/non-verbal/diagrammatic reasoning questions. Can try the questions for free, but have to pay to get the results.
Psych Press http://www.psychpress.com.au/html/Ps...cTestGuide.asp free trials of numerical, verbal, abstract reasoning and other tests.
QueenDom www.queendom.com Offers a variety of personality, aptitude and intelligence tests
How To Pass Psychometric Tests http://passingpsychometrictests..com Designed For Graduates Entering The Employment Market.
GRE Test Examples www.ets.org/gre GRE are american university entrance tests.
GMAT Test. This is the Graduate Management Admissions Test often used by business schools to select for MBA courses. It involves critical and verbal reasoning, data sufficiency, reading comprehension, sentence correction, and problem solving plus written essays.

See Graduate Management Admission Council www.gmac.com/gmac/default.htm if you are interested in applying for MBA courses.
Fulbright Commission London office www.fulbright.co.uk/eas/studyus/tests/index.html has test information
www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT has some example questions and free tests if you register.
http://www.getfeedback.net/products/...cta_ranra.html has practice tests
www.gmattutor.com/links.html for links to free practice tests.
Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Test www.getfeedback.net Designed to find out how well people can reason analytically and logically. It is a very demanding test which is used to test staff who will be involved in complex decision making (policy formulation, strategy planning etc). It tests inference, recognition of assumptions, deduction, interpretation and evaluation of arguments. For each test, it gives a brief statement (which you are to regard as true) and follows these by proposed inferences/assumptions etc. which you rate as true, probably true, insufficient data, probably false or false. You respond to both neutral and controversial items. The controversial items are designed to arouse attitudes, opinions and biases that can interfere with the ability to think critically. These refer to political, economic and social issues which provoke strong feelings Employers giving the test should give candidates the practice booklet. It is similar to the GMAT Test (see above).
Educational Testing Service www.ets.org give access to practice questions for GMAT, GRE and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
www.markparkinson.co.uk/psychometric_links.htm links to lots of practice tests on the web.
10 minute IQ test on-line www.intelligencetest.com
BBC Skillswise Improve your numeracy and literacy www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise
Maths Centre www.mathcentre.ac.uk includes a maths test you can print off at www.mathcentre.ac.uk/resources.php/332

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