Mechanical Aptitude and Spatial Ability

What is Your Mechanical Aptitude and Spatial Ability

Do you want to get a competitive edge by testing your mechanical aptitude and spatial ability?

Does your career path requires high skill levels in these areas?

If so let’s have a look on this article

Today’s employment market is more competitive than ever before, with more and more highly qualified people vying for limited job opportunities. These days’ employers use pre-employment tests to screen applicants for almost all positions within their organization. It would pay, whether you are a student or job hunting, to make sure you know what you are up against and start taking practice tests. This familiarizes you with how they are set out and the types of questions to expect. It also helps you to get a high score as you can sit any test with confidence.

Defining Spatial Ability

Your spatial ability is how you interpret and take concepts and turn them into drawings or three-dimensional models. Spatial aptitude tests measure how you picture things will work and your capacity to make mental changes using visualization.

Spatial aptitude tests measure your ability to imagine how something would work in reality. If you want to be a technical designer, engineer, surveyor, architect, work in some branches of science, you need excellent spatial ability to take your concepts and draw tor model them.

Spatial aptitude tests are usually between 20 and 40 minutes long and have 20 or 30 questions. Here are some of the types of questions you can expect to find to measure your spatial ability:

• Matching Shapes: These questions you will have a number of shapes and only two are identical. It takes manipulating the two dimensional objects in your mind to identify the correct answers.

• Combine Shapes: These questions have sets of two-dimensional shaped with one shape dissected. To find the correct answer you have to visualize the all the shapes dissected.

• Three-dimensional Cubes: These questions will show you three-dimensional cubes that have markings or symbols on each face and you have to answer questions specifically relating to what you see.

• Solid Two and Three-dimensional Shapes: This is similar to cubic questions but using shapes instead of cubes.

Defining Mechanical Aptitude

Mechanical aptitude is a necessary component of mechanical aptitude and spatial ability test. Hence a prospective employer will have prospective candidates take a mechanical aptitude test to measure your understanding of basic mechanical principles. To score well on a mechanical aptitude test, you need a good understanding of:

• Simple electrical circuits

• Springs

• Gears

• Pulleys

• Tools

• Basic mathematics

• Levers

These types of things are commonly used in most mechanical workshops on a daily basis and you should have this knowledge to apply for mechanical jobs. If you have to sit a mechanical aptitude test you can brush up on your knowledge o you can sit your test with confidence.

Mechanical aptitude tests are tailored specifically to meet industry standards in any career field:

• Emergency Services and Defense Force: If you apply for a job in the emergency services or the Defense Force you can expect questions to focus on the principles of mechanics rather than mathematical calculations. An example is you may be given three drawings of different levers and you have to identify the one that is most efficient for the situation.

• Artistic and Technical Positions: If your career lies in an artistic or technical field there will be questions about the types of tools needed for the job. You will also answer basic mathematical questions as you will have to calculate the cost of materials as part of your job.

• Industry Specific: Most organizations design mechanical aptitude tests to suit their industry. If you want to be a fire-fighter then the questions will address key knowledge areas of fire-fighting. Whereas, applying for an aircraft mechanics job your questions will address the aviation industry.

Improve your Test Scores

If you are facing a mechanical aptitude and spatial ability test, start taking practice tests online. You cannot really study for these tests as they measure your personality and your skill levels.But, by practicing free tests online, you can learn how they are set out and the types of questions you are expected to answer.Although a mechanical test is relatively short, the stress of a test lying between you and your career can become quite fatiguing.Make sure you arrive to take your test relaxed, confident and remember to read all the instructions before you start.