Tips & Tricks

Structured interviews, or patterned interviews, are a test interview method popular in many different industries and the public sector as well. In these interviews, a large group of candidates is asked the same or rather similar questions that reflect on their past experiences so various competences, such as working with others, leadership, learning and development can be assessed. A typical question would be the following: “Please tell me about a time when you had a conflict with a member of your team and how you reacted?”.

When interviewing for a job, candidates are assessed on their skills, experience, academic qualifications, and personality. Personality also translates into a candidate’s attitude towards work, their co-workers, and organisational processes.

Numerical reasoning tests, also known as numerical ability tests, are used by assessment centres in business organizations to determine if a candidate is fit for the job they are interviewing for. These tests are used particularly for sales, marketing, and financial positions or for those who work with a large amount of data.

An important component of assessment centres, in-tray exercises (or in-basket or e-tray exercises, the latter being used when they are administered on a computer) are role playing exercises where a candidate assumes the role of an employee and is given a set of tasks to perform under time pressure. These tasks can include writing memos, answering emails, creating reports, or handling organizational charts. By involving candidates in these tasks, assessment centres are able to determine their professional attitudes and also evaluate if they are fit for the job.

Assessment centres are an important part of the job selection and recruitment process, in which candidate skills are tested through a series of psychometric tests and role playing exercises. These tests are designed to give a fairly accurate idea of how a candidate can be expected to perform in the job they are interviewing for.

Cognitive ability tests, also known as aptitude tests, are a part of psychometric testing conducted by assessment centres during job selection procedures to determine a candidate’s skills and abilities. In most cases, these aptitude tests include a combination of abstract reasoning tests and numerical and verbal reasoning tests.

Initially reserved for management interviews in consulting firms, case study exercises are gaining popularity in all industries. They are a quick way of determining a candidate’s problem solving and strategic thinking skills based on a (usually) fictitious context that is presented in background documents such as e-mails, statistical charts, article clippings or any other kind of material. These exercises form an integral component of assessment centres and most management oriented interviews.

An abstract reasoning (or, as sometimes called, diagrammatic reasoning) test is a test of analytical and logical abilities, designed to evaluate quick thinking and strategic planning. They are an integral component of many aptitude tests and are increasingly being used by business organizations for interview testing.

If you have already done job interviews in a special setting, it is likely that your prospective employer has used assessment centres to evaluate your skills and determine if you are a good fit for the job. Quite simply, an assessment centre uses a series of evaluation methods to assess interviewees. These methods can include simulated job situations or psychometric testing. Typically, an assessment centre tests six candidates at a time and can last anywhere from a day to three days, during which candidates participate in several stages of assessment testing.

As the name rightly suggests, verbal reasoning tests are used to assess linguistic ability of the test taker. Candidates are tested on several different parameters, including reading comprehension, grammar, and sentence structure. Although these assessment tests are primarily used in universities and colleges during the admission procedure, many business organizations are also adopting verbal reasoning tests, along with psychometric testing, for candidate evaluation.