Psychometric Test Preparation 2024 | 12 Tips & Practice Questions

Preparing beforehand increases your chances of success by about 73% (according to our latest client survey). While it is possible to sit the test without preparation, know that relying on your skillsets alone will not get you very far. Remember, you are competing with other job candidates. By self-practising, you will gain the needed competitive edge in today’s selective job market.

Passing psychometric tests is no easy task. Psychometric tests reach a broad range of topics that include numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning, inductive/diagrammatic reasoning, personality, situational judgement tests and more. Given that the topics are broad, it best to find:

1. Your weaknesses: Strengthen yourself by honing in on specific weaknesses and try to simulate. For example, if you find that abstract reasoning problems are hard for you, start practising them more than verbal or vice versa.
2. Short on time? Try watching video tutorials: either that or take short practise sessions that focus on specific topics. Note: short practise sessions can also prove invaluable. It allows you to spread your practise during breaktimes in your busy schedule.
3. Look up your test provider: Finding out which test provider you will be taking will allow you to know the question types you are more likely experience. By finding the test provider, you will also gain insight into the format of the test itself, its length, the difficulty level of the questions, the question style (graph/table, word problems, number series), the basic requirements (such as using a calculator) and even the visual appearance of the test. If you don't practise questions that are similar in style to those provided by a specific test provider, you risk wasting hours and money on the wrong materials and most importantly result in a lower performance on test day.

Find efficient ways to know your test provider. We advise you to:

• Contacting the employer's HR team or your recruitment agency and ask for more information.
• Using web resources such as Wikijob, Glassdoor and The Student Room. They are excellent places to connect with the community of past and fellow candidates.
• We have an entire section dedicated to employers' tests and assessments. Use the search bar at the top of our website and we may have a page that can help you.
• And of course, our support team is always here to help you learn more about these tests. Feel free to contact us via email at info@jobtestprep.co.uk

The raw score is the sum of all your correct responses. So, if you got 7 answers correct out of 10 questions, your raw score is 7/10. Your percentage will be the number of answers you got correct against all the questions, in this case 70%.

The attempted figure relates to the number of questions you attempted to answer. For example, if the test has 10 questions but you only answered 8 of them, your attempted figure will be 8/10. The percentage items attempted is the percentage of questions attempted against all the questions, in this case, 80%.

The percentage accuracy is the number of questions you've got right against the number of questions you attempted to answer. Using the figures above, 7 answers were correct out of 8 attempted answers, or 88%.

Scorecard showing percentile scores for Speed vs Accuracy test from Saville Swift Analysis Assessment Report.

Source: Saville Consulting - Swift Analysis Assessment Report, Sample Candidate

The raw score above tells employers little, they want to know about how you perform against others, and get a picture of how good your score really is. Standardised tests allow easy comparison between candidates. To create a comparison score the individual's score is benchmarked against a cohort (or normative group) of candidates sitting the same test, who all have similar education, job level or other circumstances.

The following terms describe how they work out standardised scores that can be easily compared.

The percentile score shows how many people who sat the same test scored less than you. For example if your percentile score is at the 66th percentile, 66% of the people who sat the tests scored less than you. Your number of correct answers is compared to the benchmark for a cohort in the same industry at the same level. This is the most commonly used result.

A percentile score card could look like this.

Source: Talent Q Group - Talent Q Elements Report Ali Example 11/06/2013

The precision score is a measure of speed and accuracy, i.e. how many of the attempted questions you got right and how quickly you answered these questions. The score gives you three pieces of information: number attempted, work rate (number attempted against the total number of questions in the test), and hit rate (the total number of questions answered correctly divided by the number attempted).

The standard error of measurement (SE m) is a measure of the range of results you would have if you sat the same test repeatedly.

The T score is another standardised measurement of your score. In the T score, the average score is 50, and the standard deviation is 10, and the score shows how many standard deviations your result is from the mean. So for example if your T score is 60, it is one standard deviation above the norm. Two thirds of all people in the set measured will have a T score between 40 and 60.

The STANINE score is a standardised scale for your results. STANINE stands for standard nine, and the scale is a nine point scale, where 7,8,9 are above average, 4,5,6 are average, and 1,2,3 are below average. The median score is 5, so if you have a score above or below, it will tell you where you have come relative to the others on the same scale. A standard deviation shows how far the results are spread out from the mean.

Psytech results chart for Verbal General Reasoning test showing raw score, attempted score, STANINE, T Score and percentile. Also shown is the accuracy score.

Source: Psytech.com Sam Sample 27 March 2013 Expert Standard Report

The beauty of taking psychometric tests online is that the results are available immediately. The results will go to the employer first who will then have their own procedure in place for notifying you of the results.

There is no clear definition of what is a good score in a psychometric test. Employers will set the pass score according to their own requirements. This pass score could also differ between tests and job levels.

The reason why employers place emphasis on percentile scores is that they want to know how your score compares with other people sitting the same test. It may look as though your raw score of 75% is a good result, but if it only places you in the 50th percentile, meaning that 50% of people sitting the test scored higher than you, the score no longer looks so strong.

Furthermore, different jobs require different combinations of skills. An employer may choose to have candidates sit the whole range of tests, but only require a pass score of 40% for numerical and a much higher 70% for verbal if they feel that verbal comprehension skills are more necessary for the job.

It is unlikely that the employer will give you this information in advance, but it is important that you prepare for these tests to improve your position against your cohort. Individual tests differ in format, content and scoring according to the specific test providers that create the tests. JobTestPrep offers tailored preparation resources that are designed to reflect the various formats of different test providers, such as SHL tests, Thomas International Tests like the Thomas GIA and Thomas PPA test, Cubiks aptitude tests, and more.

As previously mentioned, psychometric tests cover a broad range of topics. For the purposes of this page, we will cover the most common topics used in psychometric tests such as numerical, inductive reasoning (a variant of abstract reasoning), and verbal reasoning. Below are a few common questions and answers to further help you in your pursuit in acing the test:

Finding the right psychometric test advice can prove challenging. There are countless websites that sell test packages that can often miss the mark. Here, we focus our efforts on providing you with a customised practice experience with an emphasis on following the same features of the various assessment companies used by employers.

These are some of the most common assessments in use:

Korn Ferry Assessments

The PI Cognitive Assessment

Hogan Assessments

We also offer many different levels of assessments used for an array of positions (grad/mgmt, general staff, senior mgmt, technical, specific professions and more!). Likewise, we consider what past clients have experienced, as well as diligently incorporate live updates to our existing package. This results in some of the best psychometric test preparation materials online.

Interviewing is never easy for anyone. However, through the correct practise, you are sure to make an impression on your interviewer. Learn how to answer questions by using the STAR method and how to prepare for competency vs. managerial interviews by viewing our interview preparation page.

Now that you understand why psychometric test preparation is important, we will leave you with a few quick tips to remember when time comes to sit the test:

• No Time (that's okay): Tests in most cases are not meant to be completed, neither in terms of time constraints nor in terms of the materials covered.
• No Cheating: Companies use powerful tools to verify your scores. Also, if your actual skills don't match the job requirements, sooner or later the truth will be exposed.
• No Rush: Getting a solid mark on a few questions is better than getting a low mark on most.