Why Large companies Use Aptitude tests?

Many organizations worldwide have incorporated aptitude tests in the recruitment process particularly for graduate jobs. This is because depending on the job, graduate recruitment tends to attract thousands of job applicants especially when advertised online. This could partly due to the rapid development of online social networking sites where organizations or individuals can share job vacancies to interested parties free of charge (save for the time taken to post!). Consequently, the hiring company would be overwhelmed by the sheer number of applications. Hiring graduates could be tricky particularly in situations where all have papers that meet minimum requirements e.g. a distinction in chemistry. A way has to be found through which a smaller number of applicants is selected to go to the final interview panel.

Companies have therefore employed various forms of graduate online aptitude tests to help downsize the number of applicants. Thesegraduate ability tests/ aptitude test for recruitment/incorporate various questions that test for specific skills sets and knowledge. Getting a distinction does not mean one can do what he purports to. Online sites have been developed to support candidates in preparing for company aptitude tests.  Popular practice test packages include Kenexa reasoning tests and Cubiks test. These tests contain sample aptitude tests for graduates that measure numerical, verbal and logical reasoning albeit using different test terminology.

Graduate test preparation also benefits from access to recruitment test tutorials that are constructed very similarly to the ‘real thing’. These are materials that contain questions popularly asked in these exams but most importantly, invaluable tips of answering them in a timely manner. Some sites do provide free graduate test videos to enrich the learning experience.

A google search of “list of large companies that use aptitude tests” returns more than a million hits, perhaps as an indication of just how widespread these tests for job recruitment are. Some of the companies listed in one of the hits (http://www.practiceshltests.com/list-of-companies-using-shl-aptitude-tests) include: Barclays capital, Betfair, BNP Paribas, British Airways, Capital One and Centrica.

Others are: Danone, Deloitte, Deustche bank, EDF Energy, Fidessa, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, ICAP, Jaguar Landrover, Johnson and Johnson, Kimberly Clark, and KPMG.  Lloyds Banking group, London Stock Exchange, M&G Investments, Moore Stephens, Natwest, Nomura, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), PZ Cussons and Rio Tinto also employ aptitude tests. Also in the list are: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Smith ad Williamson, Tesco, Thales Group, Thames Water, Transport for London (TFL), TUI Travel (Thomson and First Choice Holidays), TulletPrebon, and Yorkshire Water.

Evidently, aptitude tests are used by a wide range of organizations. Financial institutions dominate the pack but transport companies and companies in the energy and water sectors also employ these tests. An important feature of these companies is that they are the dream career destinations for many graduates. This implies that with the advancement of platforms for knowledge sharing and social networking sites, many college students will increasingly line up for these jobs therefore the aptitude tests will increasingly be employed around the world.

If you are going to apply for a job and want to have tips about successfully passing your recruitment aptitude test, then you should have to be familiar with the nature of job along with gathering some relevant skills. Also, you should be confident within yourself and have faith in your expertise. You can also take sample graduate online test to have an idea about questions and your insight on the subject.

Comparative analysis of your skills, academic background, career guidance tests evaluation and past experience is also important to qualify for a job. Other things that companies determine from the graduate test include your hobbies, family support, preferred work environment, age, personality, and ethical values. All these factors help companies to shortlist their desired candidates and evaluate on the basis of their performance in past jobs and efficiency. Normally, companies have certain requirements of age and experience and they create tests according to the expertise or mind set of candidates. Like there are some tests for senior citizens where they are required to answer different questions associated with their past lives. They are inclined towards emotional quotient as the people, taking tests, have achieved a lot of success in their professional lives.

Technology changes, preferences change. It, therefore, goes that aptitude tests will change. New concepts will surface. New terminology like “aptutorial”, coined by Graduate Monkey; will inevitably become lingua franca for job and college applicants. This could ultimately shift the cost ofhiring graduates on to the candidates themselves since these tests are not entirely free of charge. However, given that these tests could be the “mountain” standing between the graduates and their dream jobs, all efforts to secure a seat at the interview panel are worth the pain.