Did you know that only 1 out of 5 applicants who take the SHL assessments are able to land the job if this is what’s used as the company’s pre-employment exam?
On paper, the known SHL tests are rather simple and easy to do since they’re designed only to measure a particular work-related skill such as your ability to problem solve and how good your verbal and numerical abilities are.
Its personality tests, on the other hand, are more focused on measuring a candidate’s soft skills to see if their behavior is fit for the company and its clients, and are nothing more than a survey.
However, the thing that makes candidates take the SHL sample tests online so that they can practice and improve their testing ability is because the results of the exam are put on a percentile, and those at the top are given priority in the interview phase of the hiring process.
This means that it is not enough that you manage to pass SHL assessment, you have to excel in it in a way that solidifies your standing as the best choice for the job.
Here are a number of tips that can help you ace the exams.
Learn to read simple to complex graphs
Unlike other tests, the SHL numerical reasoning exam puts some special emphasis on charts, graphs, data sheets, tables, and other graphics that you may encounter or use when making reports at work.
When you take the exam, you will be provided with a word problem that is then accompanied by one of the data graphs above.
It is not uncommon for candidates to lose precious time while looking for the correct values to use based on what is needed in the supplied question with how many there are, panic, then make a mistake while making their calculations.
As a result, keeping yourself calm and collected while being familiar with a number of data graphs can help you a lot because you won’t have to spend too much time looking for the right values.
Apart from that, you must sharpen your knowledge on percentages, ratio, rates, currency conversions, measurement conversion, and even fractions or decimals.
- Good logic and reading comprehension skills are needed for the verbal reasoning test
The verbal reasoning test of the SHL assessments also follows a different format.
Instead of just giving you questions focusing on reading comprehension, you will instead be made to determine if the provided conclusion to a passage of text is true, false, or there is not enough information available.
This means that you will have to have a good understanding of the contents of the text as well as having good logical reasoning skills in order to determine if the conclusion provided is correct.
Find as many puzzle books as you can get
When it comes to the inductive reasoning test of the SHL assessments, there is nothing more effective in preparing yourself other than getting a puzzle book that focuses on finding the sequence, pattern, or rule of a series of images.
This is because although they may not be completely identical, the questions in the SHL inductive reasoning test all follow that idea.
Questions will come in the form of a series of figures and you will need to analyze it carefully in order to figure out what kind of pattern they follow in order to find out which of the provided choices is the missing one in the set.
Discover the core values of the company
As a personality test, the SHL Occupational Personality Questionnaire gives candidates a lot of difficulty since it comes in the form of a survey where you have to select the intensity of your agreement or disagreement with.
The same goes for the SHL Motivation Questionnaire.
Most people tend to just answer blindly or be too honest with their answers, causing them to produce a personality profile that is the complete opposite of what the company wants in an employee.
In order to have a good shot at being hired or be seen as the best candidate, you should look up the mission, vision, and core values of the company then base your answers on what information is available.
These can be found through their company website or at the office entrance, hung up on one of the frames or plaques that they use to decorate the area.
If a company website is not available, consider making a visit to check them personally.
Once there, you can try and do some small talk with the receptionist or employees there under the guise of you wanting to familiarize yourself with the area so that you know where to go when it’s time for your interview or application date.
Should your interactions go well, this will give you some consideration in the eyes of the hiring manager or interviewer because the employees will have an idea on what kind of person you are when interacting with others.
In a sense, this is a ‘two birds, one stone’ scenario because you’re preparing for both the personality test as well as the interview process.