Ability Tests

Our ability tests help organisations understand if potential new hires have the capability to reason with verbal and numerical information associated with the tasks required of them in role.

Introduction

The assessment of an individual’s ability/aptitude in the workplace has been a cornerstone of recruitment and development practices for decades, originally completed using pencil and paper tests. In many cases the transition to online assessment has been a simple replication of the original paper questionnaires. We believe that the working world has evolved considerably over the last 40 years and have reflected this change in our approach to assessment.

FindingPotential Ability tests provide two critical measures:

  • Accuracy: We will tell you how many questions your candidate answered correctly (and of course provide appropriate comparison norm groups)

  • Time Taken: How long your candidate took to complete the task.

The combination of these two variables helps you to make much more relevant decisions than many traditional ability tests. We are simulating the real working environment within which these abilities are applied. There are very few jobs that sacrifice speed for accuracy – more often than not organisations prefer to give their people a couple of extra minutes to “get it right” rather than rush their thinking, resulting in costly mistakes. FindingPotential Ability Tests put you in control by using your understanding of the role and the context within which it sits to decide the balance of speed vs accuracy.

 

Numerical Reasoning


These tests will gauge the applicant’s skill at numerical reasoning. The test consists of a series of graphs, charts and tables; each of which have a number of questions attached. The types of skill being measured are:

  • Fundamental arithmetic skills (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)

  • Percentages, ratios and proportions.

Tests like these predict whether someone is likely to be competent at reviewing simple and complex numerical information and drawing the correct conclusions from it.

There are four Numerical Reasoning Tests:

  • Two are designed for “remote” or unsupervised assessment – mainly where candidates complete the test on a home computer or device. This test is intended to provide a robust view of the candidates numerical reasoning skills in a shorter questionnaire format. It is ideal for sifting and shortlisting. Completion time approximately 20 minutes.

  • Two further numerical reasoning tests are available and typically used in a “proctored” or supervised environment. A typical application would be to use these tests to validate or verify the results of the unsupervised versions. Completion time approximately 25 minutes.
Example Report

Verbal Reasoning


These tests gauge the applicant’s ability to reason with verbal information. The tests consist of written passages, which each have a number of questions attached. Applicants need to judge whether each statement is:

  • True (or follows logically) from the information contained in the original passage
  • False, based on the information in the original passage
  • Cannot say if it is true or false, based only upon the information in the passage.

Tests like these predict whether someone is likely to be competent at reviewing simple and complex written information and drawing the correct conclusions from it, as well as producing high quality written outputs.

There are four Verbal Reasoning Tests:

  • Two are designed for “remote” or unsupervised assessment – mainly where candidates complete the test on a home computer or device. This test is intended to provide a robust view of the candidate's verbal reasoning skills in a shorter questionnaire format. It is ideal for sifting and shortlisting. Completion time 12 - 24 minutes.

  • Two further verbal reasoning tests are available and typically used in a “proctored” or supervised environment. A typical application would be to use these tests to validate or verify the results of the unsupervised versions. Completion time approximately 24 minutes.
Example Report

Candidate Sifting


In addition to individual ability test reports, we also provide group comparison reports that enable you to sort and filter to obtain your desired candidates - e.g. those you may wish to test further or invite to interview.

Comparison reports come at no extra cost - it's all part of the candidate fee so you can run them as often as you want.

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