How to Land a that Dream Graduate Job: Preparing for an Online Recruitment Test

As a recent graduate you will have a lot on your plate when it comes to job-hunting. This guest article from The Test Factory who create unique online assessments, including those used in the recruitment process, looks at how you should prepare for online recruitment tests.

Despite the fact you won’t be offered a job based solely on these tests, their importance should not be under-estimated because if you perform badly, you won’t be getting that interview. So here is what you should expect from the test and how to prepare.

What to expect?
There are a number of different types of test an employer might ask you to take, but there are some common themes. For example, there will be a time limit and the test is likely to be multiple choice. Many of these tests will give a statement and ask you to rank how strongly you agree or disagree with these statements. Some of these statements might appear to be completely unrelated to the job you’re applying for. But with these it’s important to answer honestly and not just what you think the employee wants to hear. Some of these tests will ask you questions to test the same characteristics in various ways, and whilst they are not designed to catch out, recruiters will certainly notice any discrepancies in your answers.

How to Prepare?
The key to preparing for online assessments is to find out what sort of test you are taking, and then practice as much as you can. There are plenty of free websites where you can practice timed tests. Not only will these get you used to the types of questions asked and areas you might want to brush up on. After lots of practice you should now be used to answering questions to a time-limit. Just like your university exams the introduction to the test will tell you how many questions you have and how long you have, use this information to work out how long you should spend answering each
question.

Try not to get bogged down with one question, if you are struggling leave it and come back to the question if you have time. If you find yourself running low on time, and you really don’t know the answer, by all means have an educated guess. If you are facing a multiple choice test, you might be able to quickly rule out obviously wrong answers and concentrate on those that are left. Similarly in numeracy based test, you may be able to estimate the answer rather than working it out precisely particularly if you are running low on time.