Hopefully you have now had a chance to practise your numeracy skills and are feeling ready to put your test-taking strategies into action. But before that, let’s have a look at the test-taking process in general. Being fully aware of what to expect on your test day will help allay any jitters.
What will I be told in advance?
You should have been provided with the following information, in keeping with best practice:
- logistical information, such as directions about how to get to the test centre;
- advance notice that you will be taking a numerical reasoning test, including the length of time that the test will take to complete;
- an explanation of the testing process;
- the part that the test will play in the overall process, including who will have access to your results;
- any feedback arrangements.
If you feel that anything has not been adequately explained to you, or if you are uncomfortable with any aspect of these issues, then don’t hesitate to get a contact name from your prospective employer or place of study.
Ensuring fairness
If you have a disability then be sure to inform your prospective employer or educational establishment in advance if you require any adaptations to the testing process. It is likely that you would have been asked this question on your application form. You may also have been asked to complete a separate equal opportunities or monitoring form. Let them know how you have approached testing in the past and what provisions need to be made to ensure that you have equal access to the numerical reasoning test. This includes the format of the test, the medium through which it is communicated and how it is communicated. The testing process can be adapted whenever it is appropriate to do so, including an additional time allowance and having the questions delivered in Braille or large print.
Mental preparation
If you have completed plenty of practice questions and familiarised yourself with your test format you should be feeling confident. When you take your test you need to be able to concentrate 100 per cent and maintain a positive, confident mindset. Instead of worrying, channel your energy in a positive way – by applying useful strategies and working briskly through the questions.
Physical preparation
Mental preparation isn’t enough – you need to prepare yourself physically, too. Try to get a good night’s sleep before the test as you will concentrate better if you are fully rested. If you’ve done your mental preparation in advance, you don’t need to stay up all night ‘cramming’!
Test-taking tactics
Remember that you are not expected to get a perfect score. Even if you get several answers wrong you can still pass the test, as long as a relatively small number of incorrect answers is outweighed by a much larger number of correct answers. Here are some top test-taking tactics to help you maximise your performance.
- Be methodical and do not jump ahead. Start by looking at the first question, answer it and then move on to the next. It is important to concentrate your mind on one question at a time.
- Don’t lose any marks for interpreting the information given incorrectly. Read each question very carefully and always check that you have read across tables, charts and graphs correctly.
- Rely on your intuition if you can’t decide between two answers.
- If you run out of time or you cannot answer some questions properly you have nothing to lose by putting down an educated guess. The only exception is if your test is being negatively marked (meaning that you would lose a mark for getting each question wrong).
Reviewing your answer options
When doing a multiple-choice numerical reasoning test, ruling out one or two answer options reduces the number of correct answer possibilities. As you complete the test, ask yourself a few questions:
- Are any of the answer options unfeasible? If you have started the numerical calculation in your head, are any of these answer options not of the scale that you expect? If you are going to guess, you have more chance of being correct if you have already ruled out some of the answers.
- Are any answer options deliberately designed to mislead you? Some answer options may look very similar to the correct answer – for example, a slightly higher or lower value, or a decimal point in a different position. Take care not to be caught out.
- Follow your intuition if you have a bad feeling about your answer. Just because it is one of the multiple-choice options does not necessarily mean that it is the right answer. If in doubt, double check your work.
What if I get stuck?
If you find that you are spending too long on a particular question, don’t get bogged down. We all come across questions that we find difficult. The quicker you decide to cut your losses the better, since that will give you more time to work on questions that you find easier. Give your best guess and move on. Mark the question so that you can go back at the end of the test and finish it off if time allows.
Online testing
Online testing has been the dominant testing medium for the past few years. One leading test publisher now only publishes its psychometric tests online. Today, the job application process is likely to involve completing an online application form and uploading your CV to an online testing site. All of this digital information immediately becomes available to your potential employer. For high-volume recruitment processes, such as graduate-entry training schemes, a numerical reasoning test is almost always one of the initial sifts – regardless of the position applied for. The streamlining of applicant processing has shifted modern recruitment away from old-fashioned, labour-intensive paper-based processes.
There are a few major differences when taking an online test as opposed to a traditional paper and pencil test:
| 1 | You will not have a test administrator available to answer any questions or to manage any problems. An online contact will be made available for you to use, so it’s vital that you take your online test on a computer that has a reliable broadband connection. |
| 2 | The functionality of some online tests is fixed so that you cannot go back to a previous question. |
| 3 | Most online tests require you to enter an answer for each question, otherwise you cannot progress to the next question. |
It’s always best to practise with test questions that are as similar as possible to those in your real test. Once you have found out who publishes the test you will be taking, visit their website so you can practise with the questions they provide. Kenexa IBM, for example, offer a wide range of practice test examples on their website: www.kenexa.com/Solutions/Assessments/AssessmentGuidance. The author’s company website also has some common test examples (www.robwilliamsassessment.co.uk).
Other tips for taking online tests
Whilst most online tests for recruitment purposes are completed at home, you are advised to make your home environment as professional as possible. Take the test when you are best able to concentrate and focus without any interruptions. Even a short lapse in concentration could reduce your score by a couple of marks – potentially the difference between a pass and a fail.
- You are allowed as much time as you like to read the instructions onscreen, so make sure that you are absolutely clear on what you are being asked to do.
- You will be the only person in the room, but that doesn’t mean that you control the time allowed on the test. Once you have started you need to complete the test in the allocated time. You can take a break whenever you need to, but it will cost you valuable time.
- A well-designed online test will have been thoroughly tested to work on most computers. You should be told any technical requirements in advance. But if you do have an access problem at any stage, use the contact information provided.
- If you do not have internet access at home, think about alternative venues for taking the test. For example, you could complete the test on a friend or relative’s computer or at your local library.
- Don’t leave taking the test to the last minute in case you run into any computer problems.
Adaptive tests
The leading test publishers typically offer adaptive online numerical reasoning tests. Adaptive tests are shorter since they have been designed to measure your numeracy skills as efficiently as possible. As the name implies, online adaptive test questions deliberately adapt to how you are performing as you progress through the test. You answer the first question and if it is correct you will then get a more difficult question. However, if you get it wrong, you will be presented with an easier question. This type of test can feel challenging since, as the questions get progressively harder, you are being pushed until you reach the highest level at which you can answer questions correctly. Using this process and some complicated statistical analysis, an adaptive test determines the optimal questions to ask each candidate.
Are there any benefits for me?
- Adaptive testing has led to a reduction from typically 25–30 minutes to 15–20 minutes for some online numerical reasoning tests. So you can complete the test in less time.
- The online test will have a timer visible throughout which makes it easy for you to track your progress.
- Traditional tests present you with a range of easy, medium and difficult test questions. When you take an adaptive test, however, after the first few questions you will find that the questions are matched roughly to your numerical ability level.
How will my test results be used?
Your prospective employer or place of study expects that there will be a range of test scores on the numerical reasoning test. That’s why the test is being used in the first place – to differentiate between applicants in terms of their numerical ability.
A few comparisons will be made:
Your numerical reasoning test may be one stage in a long recruitment process. It will be used to screen out unsuitable applicants who do not have the necessary level of numeracy skills. This process is called a sifting out, or deselection, process.
Will I get any feedback?
Feedback should always be provided and may take several forms. Remember that it is your relative performance that has been measured – meaning how your performance compared to those of the large norm group that have taken the test previously. You won’t receive marks out of ten, or a percentage score, as you might expect. Instead, your feedback could be one of the following:
- A standardised score such as a percentile. This is similar to a percentage, but a percentile of 60 per cent means that you did better than 60 per cent of the norm group.
- A band that compares you to the norm group – e.g. average or above average. Remember, the term ‘average’ refers to average within a group of people similar to you who have taken the test for similar reasons to yourself. Your results are not being compared to those of the general population. So, a ‘slightly below average’ or ‘below average’ grade does not mean that you are worse than everyone else in the general population.
Good luck!
By now, you hopefully know what to expect from your numerical reasoning test and have had plenty of opportunity to practise. As you’ve seen, there are a lot of different strategies that you can apply to test-taking in general and numerical questions specifically. If you want a quick and easy way to remember some key points that have been covered, just think of the Three Big Cs:
- concentration;
- confidence;
- continual practice.
- If you have special needs, get in touch with the contact provided well in advance of your test day.
- Don’t make any assumptions – if anything is unclear check before proceeding. The administrator is there to answer your questions.
- Remember that all questions are worth the same. The important thing is to answer as many correctly as you can.
- Only guess on questions that you have no possibility of answering correctly.
- Feedback should always be provided and can take different forms. It compares your performance to that of a norm group.