Prepare for Management Aptitude Tests
Have you been invited to take a set of management aptitude tests, for example a numerical, verbal or logical reasoning test? Learn more about these tests and how JTP can help you prepare, including a dedicated senior manager and executive level preparation pack.
Introduction
Management recruitment can be carried out directly by the company or with the help of a recruitment specialist company. Together they will determine the tests that the applicant can expect, and this will vary from company to company and even from job to job. Testing companies typically offer two levels of executive psychometric testing, senior management or executive tests, and management tests as a part of their management, graduate and professional banks.
Some of the different tests in executive management aptitude tests include:
What is different about management ability tests?
You may get the same aptitude tests as you have taken in the past, for example verbal, numerical or abstract reasoning tests, written exercises or personality tests but the questions are harder, in general requiring more complex calculations to solve them. Time allocations per question are shorter. Numerical reasoning questions may require more stages of working out in order to answer them, and verbal reasoning will be more critical.
Different tests may be used in management psychometric tests, for example deductive reasoning tests or Watson Glaser verbal critical reasoning tests. In this article we will go through some of these test types.
What is included in management aptitude tests?
Testing companies offer several senior management and management aptitude tests that build on the aptitude tests typically used in recruitment at lower levels. Here we will look at some of the more uniquely managerial tests.
Management Verbal Aptitude Tests
Verbal reasoning tests assess your ability to use and interpret written language to come to logical conclusions. At manager and senior management levels these tests will ask you to critically assess what you are reading. Some of the verbal reasoning test types you may experience are profiled below.
- Verbal Analysis - This test is usually offered in senior management test packs. Each company has created its own verbal analysis test. Saville's verbal aptitude assessment contains one or more passages of text and a series of questions, including true, false, cannot say questions, inferences, or comparing arguments. CEB's SHL's verbal analysis test for senior managers will ask you to critically interpret complex data such as reports or passages.
- Verbal Critical Reasoning - This type of test measures your ability to evaluate the logic within arguments. Questions are usually in true, false, cannot say format. Topics will be relevant to the type of job you are applying to.
Management Level Numerical Aptitude Tests
Numerical reasoning tests examine how well you can use information provided in numerical formats to help you reach conclusions. They usually require you to manipulate this information in some way, usually making mathematical calculations to come to an answer.
Numerical Analysis - A test such as this one from CEB's SHL assesses your ability to interpret and use complex business related data, examining how good you are at identifying trends or combine information to create new pieces of evidence.
Numerical Critical Reasoning - In these tests you are being examined on how you use numerical information to make correct decisions or inferences. Again the topics will be relevant to the information in the test.
Deductive Reasoning
Deductive reasoning is a type of logic test which measures your ability to draw logical conclusions from a set of premises or rules. In tests like this one from CEB's SHL you are asked to use the information provided to come to a conclusion, identify strengths and weaknesses of arguments, and work through scenarios based on incomplete information. Deductive reasoning is a skill used in decision making.
Watson Glaser
The Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal to give it its full name is a critical reasoning test provided by Pearson Vue. In this test you are being examined on five critical thinking skills: drawing inferences, recognising assumptions, deductive reasoning, logical interpretation and argument evaluation.
Testing Company Test Batteries
| Company | Junior/ Middle Management | Senior Management |
|---|---|---|
| SHL | Management and Graduate Item Bank Critical Reasoning Test battery | Advanced Managerial Tests |
| Saville | Swift Analysis Aptitude Swift Executive Aptitude | Swift Analysis Aptitude Swift Executive Aptitude |
| Cubiks | Reasoning for Business | No specific pack |
| Kenexa | Kenexa Ability Series Behavioural Assessment | Kenexa Ability Series Behavioural Assessments for Executive Roles |
Executive and management aptitude tests are usually more difficult versions of the psychometric tests experienced by graduate or professional applicants. The key difference however is the emphasis on management contained in these tests from test content in verbal and numerical tests to management approached in management personality tests or management situational judgement tests.
At JobTestPrep we have specially created senior management test packages aimed at senior manager applicants, whilst junior or middle managers can prepare with our range of graduate/ professional/ management aptitude packs. Learn more about management personality tests.