Building your Aptitude

IntroductionAptitudes are natural talents, special

abilities for doing or learning to do so, certain kind of things easily and quickly.

“Aptitude Tests” are to specifically measure our language ability, numerical

ability, reasoning ability and general knowledge. This kind of aptitude test has

been made mandatory for recruitment procedures.

Aptitude testing is an important tool for recruitment procedure and the

performance in the test is used for providing employment opportunities to

appropriate candidates fulfilling requirements. So lets have a look on the

General Guidance on taking Aptitude Tests.

Classification of Aptitude Test

Aptitude and ability tests are designed to assess your logical reasoning or thinking capabilities. They consist of a number of multiple choice questions and are strictly

timed. You may be asked to answer the questions

either on paper or online. The advantages of online testing include immediate availability

of results and the test can be taken at an employment agency or even at home.

How to Prepare?

• Familiarize yourself with the test – It is better to know how long the test will be what kind of questions will be there. Your aim is to determine to both the content of the questions.

• Overview all the work to be done and schedule time to do it – make a list of all the tasks you must complete to prepare for it. Set priorities among your study tasks and plan to do the most important ones first.

• Deal with unread materials – concisely – – Read over quickly the entire reading material. Take notes

on whatever you have read as this is very important.– Read, emphasizing key sentences and concentrating on

understanding the ideas expressed. Questions regarding who, what, where, when and how about the information.

– Recite to the material to yourself immediately. Take a self test at the end . This will give you more confidence.

How to Prepare? contd…

• Review Actively – Integrate notes, text, and supplementary information by creating a summary sheet.

• Practice doing what you will be doing on the test – Answer unassigned problems or questions in the text or anticipate test questions by thinking frequently.

• Practice makes perfect – Evidence suggests that some practice of similar tests may improve your performance on actual tests but don't spend too long practicing.

Aptitude Test comprise of….

• Verbal Ability Tests – These include questions which test your ability to spell words correctly, use correct grammar, understand analogies and follow detailed written instructions.

• Numeric Ability Tests – These include questions on basic arithmetic, number sequences and simple mathematics. This type of test is used to determine your basic numeracy.

• Abstract Reasoning Tests – These tests are based on diagrams and measure your ability to identify the underlying logic of a pattern and then determine the solution. Abstract reasoning tests are thought to give the best indication of your general intelligence.

• Data Checking Tests – These tests present you with number of tables of information which must be checked against each other. This type of test is used to measure how quickly and accurately errors can be detected in data.

How to Crack Aptitude Test??

• Verbal Ability – Generally consists of – – Spelling Questions - Questions where you have to identify

incorrectly spelt words– Missing Word Questions - These questions are relatively

straightforward but because more than one of the options will complete the sentence satisfactorily you must read it carefully and choose the best word.

– Related Word Questions - To answer these word relationship questions you need to understanding of precise meaning of the words in the question and establish what exactly the relationship is between them.

– Synonym and Antonym Questions - These are words which have either the same or opposite meanings.

– Word Pair Questions - You need to establish the relationship between the ‘X is to Y’ words before you can arrive at the answer.

– Comprehension Questions - These questions consist of a short passage and some related questions.

How to Crack Aptitude Test??

• Numerical Ability – Is divided into – – Simple numeracy – where you are told which arithmetic

operations to apply.– Reasoning tests – you are presented with some data

and questions but the methods required to answer the questions are not specified.

– Numerical Reasoning – questions assess your ability to use numbers in a logical and rational way. The questions measure your understanding of such things as number series, numerical transformations, the relationships between numbers and your ability to perform numerical calculation.

– Data interpretation – Information is provided that requires you to interpret it and then apply the appropriate logic to answer the questions.

– Number sequence - you should first check the relationship between the numbers themselves looking for some simple arithmetic relationship.

• Logical Reasoning – – Accuracy – Avoid making guesses or reading in a hurry

as it would lead to decreased accuracy. – As far as possible, do not attempt Logical Reasoning in

the beginning. If you get the set wrong or if it is tough and takes more time, that would affect your performance subsequently.

– Use the option substitution method judiciously – The most effective way is to understand the logic behind the question and solve it.

• Spatial Reasoning – – These tests measure your ability to manipulate shapes

in two dimensions or to visualize three-dimensional objects presented as two-dimensional pictures.

– Spatial ability questions often involve the visual assembly and the disassembly of objects that have been rotated or which are viewed from different angles or objects that have different markings on their surfaces.

How to Crack Aptitude Test??

Guidelines

When the Test Begins• Listen carefully to the instructions and if you don’t

understand something then ask. • If the test is on a PC then make sure that it is

working properly. • Read the instructions for each question carefully. • If you are going miss a question then either guess

(if you don’t plan to return to it) or make a mark next to it that you can easily find it later of you have time.

• Pay no attention to how any other candidate is progressing, you have nothing to gain by knowing whether they are ahead of you and you will undermine your confidence if they are.

Happy Testing Happy Testing