Seven employers out of ten use literacy, numeracy and general ability tests on job candidates. And about half use personality tests and assessment centres, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Here Times Online has teamed up with assessment specialists Talent Q to develop three tests to help you prepare for those vital job assessments.

Assessment tests aren't just used by employers in the selection of new employees though, they can also be used for employee development, careers guidance and coaching.

According to test specialists their popularity stems from the fact that they are continually demonstrated as being one of the best ways of predicting someone’s performance and fit to a job role. They ensure that all applicants are compared fairly and against job relevant criteria. They also allow the employer to accurately see where people may benefit from extra development.

The three most popular tests are:

1 Personality Questionnaire

Click on the link above to take our personality questionnaire. Using a personality questionnaire of this nature enables employers to understand how individuals work with and lead others, how they approach tasks and projects, and how driven or emotionally resilient they are. Results from such assessments are largely stable over time and are therefore a really powerful tool for both the applicant and the employer. They ensure that the employer finds the person who will perform best in, and be most suited to the role, but they also ensure that applicants are offered the positions to which they are best suited and therefore, the roles they are more likely to be happiest in. As there are no right or wrong answers in personality questionnaires, applicants are simply advised to answer as honestly as they can. It is not advisable to try and outwit personality questionnaires as this is likely to be detected.

2 Verbal Reasoning

Click on the link above to take our verbal reasoning test. Whilst verbal reasoning is not relevant to all job roles, there are many which entail a large element of this particular ability. Using a verbal reasoning test enables employers to get a measure of how strong someone’s skills are in this area. If this is something that is key to the role in question, it helps them to understand who would be most suited to that role. Very often in this type of test the test taker is presented with a piece of information and they are then asked questions about that information. The candidate requires no prior knowledge of the subject matter which means the test is an efficient and objective way of gaining a better understanding of someone’s level of reasoning in this area. Every question has a correct answer and test takers are generally advised to work quickly and accurately when completing them. However, working too fast to the extent of getting many questions wrong should be avoided.

3 Numerical Reasoning

Click on the link above to take our numerical reasoning test. Using a numerical reasoning test enables employers to get a measure of how strong someone’s skills are in this area. If this is something that is key to the job role in question, it helps them to understand who would be most suited to that role. Very often in this type of test the test taker is presented with a table, graph or similar and they are then asked questions about the information displayed. They require no prior knowledge of the subject matter which means they are therefore an efficient and objective way of gaining a better understanding of someone’s level of reasoning in this area. Again every question has a correct answer and test takers are generally advised to work quickly and accurately when completing them.

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