Verbal Aptitude Test

Why To Take Test

In this day and age, verbal aptitude test is must as prospective employers test you and want to know all about you when you apply for a position with their organization. They want to know if you have the skills for the jobs you apply for and whether you fit into the organizational structure as a long-term employee.

This is understandable as they rely on their staff to help their businesses run smoothly and have to trust that any new recruit will reflect the organization’s integrity when dealing with the public. Organizations have a duty of care to all their staff so they have become more careful when screening applicants to ensure they fit into the company’s culture.

More and more you are asked to sit verbal aptitude tests as part of the screening process to test the way you understand, analyze and act on written instructions.A verbal aptitude test measures the extent of your language skills, how you communicate verbally and your decision-making ability under pressure.

Subjects covered in the Test

The way you speak, the words you choose, and your interpretation of the written and spoken word has a meaning. And the meaning is different from person to person as everyone’s perception is based on their culture, background and knowledge.

Your verbal aptitude test is broken into sections and is a questionnaire with multiple choice answers.An aptitude test is not to test your academic knowledge but to test your aptitude in a specific area or for a specific job function. The following are some of the subject areas you can expect to encounter in a verbal aptitude test to help you prepare:

• Knowledge of Spelling and Grammar: Your aptitude test measures your skill levels in grammar and spelling. These are two vital, basic skills that all employers expect, and require, when hiring staff. The expectation is that you have a good understanding of your native language; both the written word and verbally.

• Your Perception: This part of the aptitude test measures how you perceive and understand what is said to you or written. Employers want to see how you interpret written instructions, what level your understanding is and how you carry them out.

• Reasoning Skills: In this section of the test you will answer questions based on verbal and written statements, and drawings to see how your reasoning reaches a logical conclusion. This is used to look at how you go about reaching conclusions to base your decisions on.

• Distinguishing Words Phonetically: Phonetic testing is not always part of the verbal aptitude test and is usually only used if the job you apply for requires you to have a high level of knowledge about phonetics.

Tips to Prepare for a Verbal Aptitude Test

It is unlikely you will know what sort of verbal aptitude test you will sit, so here are some things to help you prepare:

• Download Practice Tests: Get online and download practice tests to see what your spelling and grammar strengths and weaknesses are. There are a lot of different types of tests online, so these will give you a good idea of what you face when you sit the test. Also, make sure you know a lot about the organization as many of the questions may be relevant to the job applied for.

• Practice your Reasoning Skills: Practicing your reasoning skills is a little difficult as it is all a matter of perception. Practice reading magazines and newspapers and see if you can list the main points from the written material.

• Brush up your Mathematical Skills: Practice basic mathematical skills in your head and with a calculator. It is important that you can interpret calculations on charts and graphs, as well as understanding basic addition, subtraction and percentages.

• Test your Logic: Play word games, take quizzes, do puzzles to help you test your logic and reasoning skills.

• Stress Less: It is important that you sit your test with a clear head. The best way to do this is to get a good night’s sleep the night before your test so you sit your test in a confident, relaxed frame of mind.

No matter what job you apply for today, it is likely a prospective employer will test your verbal aptitude. There is nothing to fear if you prepare and sit your test with confidence.