Prepare for Sales Psychometric, Personality and Aptitude Tests

There are many different types of roles in sales, retail, face to face, insurance or financial services salespeople, sales managers, directors and more. Whilst the aptitude tests for sales people may differ according to the roles you are applying for, the psychometric tests will usually focus on personality or situational judgement tests.

As someone working in sales you need to have good interpersonal skills. You need to be able to read your customers, understand their needs, and find a way to sell them what they want to buy. Below is a list of just some of the skills that salespeople need to be strong in. The key to the skills you will need in any given job will be explained in the job description.

Remember to show the recruiters how you have and will use these skills on the job during the assessments and interviews you are to encounter.

Many people like to compare interviews for sales jobs to an actual sale itself where you are the product you are trying to sell. In that vein, when preparing for a sales interview, think about what are your biggest “selling points” or your competencies. Sales interviews tend to focus on competencies and our competency-based interview question tips offer lots of great ways to tackle these questions.

• Tell me about yourself.
• Why do you want to work in sales?
• What motivates you to sell?

Personality forms a big part of any sales job description. As a result many employers require personality tests as part of their application processes. The aim of a sales personality test is to see who will be a successful salesperson. The personality test provides your company with information about the different aspects of your behaviour and how they will impact on your ability to achieve the competencies required of you. In order to make them as valuable as possible, personality tests are usually designed in accordance with the requirements of the role, job description and employer you are applying to. Personality questionnaires do not have right or wrong answers, they are a measure of the fit of your personality to an ideal picture.

Personality questionnaires do not have right or wrong answers, they are a measure of the fit of your personality to an ideal picture. When preparing for a personality test there are several things to do:

• Before you start, think about what the employer is looking for in employees. This is usually found in the job description and company values.
• When taking the test you need to “put your work hat on”, and answer questions as though you are already in this job.
• Be truthful in your answers, don’t try to answer based on what you think the employer wants to see.

The best way to prepare is by taking a practice personality test. Use our expert preparation materials to really ace the test.

Situational judgement tests are another type of psychometric test looking at how you respond in a work setting. In this type of test you are presented with a scenario based on everyday work situations, and asked to assess the best response to the scenario or to judge whether a given response was appropriate or not.

Employers of sales staff want to assess how you respond to situations when you are in the middle of them. They want to know how good you are at judging the correct course of action when things do not go your way. A sales situational judgement test will usually contain sales scenarios such as difficult customers, strong negotiations or changing requirements.

Find out more about sales SJTs with our sales SJT pack with lots of practice materials and a tutorial to help you improve your results.

Alongside the sales personality and situational judgement tests you are often asked to sit some reasoning or aptitude tests. The sales aptitude tests you can expect will depend on the job you are applying to. Here are some of the common sales aptitude tests explained.

Verbal reasoning - salespeople need to be able to communicate with customers, as well as understand information presented in written formats. The type of verbal aptitude test you will take will depend on the role and sector you are applying to.

Numerical reasoning - the ability to understand sales sheets is a key part of your role as a salesperson, as is the need to make numerical calculations quickly. In the numerical reasoning tests you are asked questions that will examine your ability to make these calculations quickly and accurately.

Abstract reasoning - abstract reasoning is a non verbal logic test. You are tested on your ability to interpret patterns and come to logical conclusions using information based on shapes rather than words or numbers. The aim of this test is to examine how you see patterns and put information together.

Error checking - attention to detail is key in sales positions. Error checking tests such as those provided by CEB’s SHL and Saville Consulting ask you to check over data for errors.

The different testing companies provide different packages for sales staff. In this table we list some of packages you may come across.

Preparation for any psychometric test is crucial. Each time you prepare for the tests you make taking the test easier, you sharpen your skills, and you improve your confidence in your own abilities. At JobTestPrep we have created test packages at a variety of levels, and in the style of many testing companies. Find out which of our testing packages can help you on our aptitude tests pages. Personality and interpersonal skills form a very large part of all sales recruitment processes, and practising personality and situational judgement tests is an important part of your preparation for any sales related assessment.