Invariably an aptitude test consists of a number of problems that must be
solved in a fairly short period of time, often not more than five minutes
per question.Often the test is not just to tell if the candidate is capable of solving
the problem but also an assessment of how the candidate arrived at his or
her solution.
The problems with aptitude testing
As with all forms of testing; an aptitude test is only an accurate reflection
of the candidate's suitability for a particular position if it is applied
with consideration of what the candidate will be employed to do.
All too often a candidate is confronted with, what looks like, an incredibly
difficult aptitude test that they are unable to complete and consequently
fail at this stage of the recruitment process even though they may be
perfectly suitable for the position they have applied for.
On the other hand, people who sail through the aptitude test turn out to be
far too intellectually motivated to take on the p--s-poor job that
is on offer and won't accept the position available.
This is a failing of the company offering employment and there is little that
can be done to prevent such abuse of aptitude testing.
Aptitude testing, with its pressures of time, fails entirely for a candidate
who may not be especially quick off the mark but is quite capable of
solving a problem given a reasonable amount of time without undue pressure.
Candidates can however fight back
Often it is the case that a candidate has never had an aptitude test before and
is unsure as to how to approach the problems presented.
The following questions are taken from typical aptitude tests that are used by
a number of companies ( in some form or other ) ...
If you want to gain experience at answering these typical aptitude test type
questions then try and answer each question in five minutes or less, but ...
If you haven't answered the question in five minutes, don't just give in;
ask your friends, associates and family at work and at home if they can solve
the problem and spend more time thinking about the possible solutions.
You will probably be surprised at just how difficult these questions actually
are and how few people can answer all the questions quickly and easily if they
have never encountered the question before.
And don't forget, although you may think you've got the answer, are you sure ?
Is there another answer other than what you may think is the right answer ?
This is an aptitude test after all !
Things to remember
These are questions that are very similar to those that you may encounter in
a real aptitude test and it is tempting to think that by knowing the answers
to these questions you will sail through any aptitude test when these
questions do appear, however ...Knowing the answer is not necessarily the only thing required; showing how
you arrived at the answer is an entirely different matter.
And any good aptitude tester should be able to spot when a question has been
answered by simple rote learning ( as here ), and, being unable to answer
any question, other than those that appear here, should make it pretty
obvious which questions were known prior to testing and those that were
original questions that had never been seen before.
So just learning these questions and answers will not necessarily get you
your next job but could help you on your way.
An important thing that you must consider when confronted with an aptitude
test during the recruitment process is, "Why are they doing the aptitude
test ?".
If it is just to narrow their shortlist of candidates down and such
problem solving is not a necessary requirement of the position that you
have applied for; do you really want to work for that company ?
If you do, but you don't think that you have done that well with an
aptitude test, make sure that you tell the interviewer why you had
problems rather than just giving up on the application; if the company is
treating aptitude testing as just another part of the recruitment process
then your openess and honesty may well secure you the position that you
thought you had just thrown down the drain.
If, on the other hand, the company is adamant that every candidate must be
amazingly confident at answering aptitude test questions but you are fully
qualified to do the job they are offering; write and tell them that they are,
"A bunch of w--kers", and take your skills to a company that appreciates them.
Good luck with the questions !
You have been thrown into a dungeon that has two exits; one will lead to your
death the other to freedom. There is a guard on each of the exits; one
will always lie to you the other will always tell the truth.
You are allowed one question that you may ask one of the guards before
chosing an exit to take.
What question would you ask ?
There are four members of a band; Adam, Brian, Cheryl and Dave who have to get
from their dressing room to the stage and they have 17 minutes before their
concert starts.Between the dressing room and the stage there is a corridor which has a severly
damaged floor with gaping holes revealing a very large drop into the basement
below the corridor. And the lights in the corridor have failed.
From previous performances at the venue it is known that only one or two people
can be in the corridor at a time without it collapsing and the corridor is only
safe as long as they keep moving.
During rehearsals each member of the band passed through the corridor with a
torch, one at a time; Adam took 1 minute, Brian took 2 minutes, Cheryl took
5 minutes and Dave took 10 minutes to traverse the corridor.
Tonight the band discover they have only one torch between all four of them and
they must devise a scheme whereby they can get through the corridor and onto
the stage in 17 minutes.
The band members can traverse the corridor either singly or in pairs and one of
them must always have the torch with them. Once one or two band members have
traversed the corridor one, or another, band member must return with the torch
to bring the other band members through.
Any pair traversing the corridor must travel at the speed of the slowest band
member otherwise the slowest will be left behind and could fall through a hole
in the floor.
How do the band members organise themselves to get from their dressing room to
the stage in 17 minutes without enlisting any external help or employing any
other trickery ?
Note
Although it may appear that it is not possible to get all the band members
through the corridor in the 17 minutes allowed; there is a solution and, "It
is not possible", is not the correct answer !
A farmer has a straight stone wall, 200m long, and a roll of fencing 100m long.
He is going to attach both ends of the fence to the wall so that he can create
an enclosed rectangular ( possibly square ) area using the wall as one side of
the rectangle and the fence as the other three sides.What is the maximum area that he can enclose ?
Give ten reasons why a round manhole cover is better than one of any other
shape.
Given that one kilometre is 5/8th of a mile; show the equation for converting
kilometres to miles.
A man decides to give all his money to one of his two sons. The son who will
receive all his money will be the last to arrive at a certain destination.
Both sons leave their father's home and spend a considerable time sitting
around waiting for the other to arrive at the destination first.
After a number of years; both sons encounter wise men who both offer
advice to the two sons who consequently travel immediately, and as fast as
they can, towards the destination.
What was the advice the wise men gave the sons ?
