Skills Assessment - Online Practice Test
Estimated time required: 30-60 mins
Lots of employers today use online tests to check your abilities, judgement skills and personality type – normally as the first step once you’ve applied for a job. They’re nothing to worry about and can even help you show skills you don’t get to demonstrate in an interview.
Often called ‘psychometric assessments’, these tests are a bit different to tests you might have done at school. These tests are designed to determine your ‘personality’ (your preferred style of behaviour) and your ‘aptitude’ (your ability in certain areas, like verbal and numeracy skills).
Over 7,000 people visited our skills assessment page in 2020.
What is the Online Assessments tool?
The Online Assessments tool helps you practice these kinds of assessments. You can have as many goes as you need to feel ready for the real thing.
Why do some companies use these tests?
Well, these assessments help employers measure the kind of skills you’ll need for a particular job. For example, if you apply for an IT role, you might be asked to take tests to show you understand concepts and ideas, visualised with the use of diagrams and imagery. And some large multinational companies will often look for specific personalities and behavioural traits for a certain position – these tests are a useful tool to help them find suitable candidates.
How do you use it?
Our tool will ask you to choose between three types of online assessment tests; reasoning skills (beginner and advanced), situational judgement and personality type. Unlike the real thing, these tests flag up the right answers and help you with wrong ones. Once you have completed one, you can go back and do the other two in whichever order you like. You can also do these tests as many times as you like so that you feel comfortable heading into the real thing.
What do I need to use it?
All you need to get going with this tool is a free LifeSkills account. It’s also a good idea to have a pen, some paper and a calculator handy.
What key things do I need to think about?
Two of the tests will ask you multiple choice questions to assess your understanding of written text and your responses in specific situations. It’s hard to prepare for these but you will have done similar exercises at school many times, just remember to read the questions carefully and take your time.
One of the tests is about your personality, so think about your key strengths and abilities for this one.
How long will it take?
The tool should take a minimum of 30 minutes for the first go on each type of test. But remember, the reasoning skills test has a beginner and advanced level, and you can always come back to try all of them again.
Remember, if an employer asks you to take a real online test and you have individual access requirements, be sure to flag this up with them in advance. It won’t hold you back getting the role, it just means that they can ensure you have everything you need to do your best.
Once you’ve used the Online Assessments tool, get your CV up to scratch using the CV Builder tool or have a go with the Virtual Interview tool so that you are fully prepared for that first step into work.
