Why do you need to pass SHL tests and what they measure?
“Pre-employment tests are not indicative of my ability to perform or succeed as a professional”
While this may be true in some cases, such assessments are included in the hiring process not because they want to give applicants a hard time but because they want to make sure that they are truly qualified to take on the duties and responsibilities of the job that they are applying for.
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This is why more and more job applicants out there, especially the savvy ones, do their best to pass SHL practice tests as much as possible in order to not only meet the minimum score needed but also to improve their chances of being hired.
All in all, there are two main types of SHL tests: the general ability tests and the personality and behavioral assessments.
The SHL general ability tests
These tests are designed to measure a particular work-related skill that is crucial for the role that you are applying for and can range from verbal skills, numerical skills, problem-solving skills, and even your behavior.
When administered in the hiring process, companies will set a minimum score that each candidate will have to meet before their application will be truly accepted for consideration.
After a waiting period, the hiring managers will then compile the scores of each applicant so that they can arrange an interview with those who managed to pass the minimum score requirement.
While the outcome is not set in stone, the candidate that managed to get the highest score is typically given preferential treatment because their results are seen as indicative of their ability to succeed in the job and they only need to ace the interview as well to land the job.
This is why it is not only important to pass the SHL test, but also get a good enough score to improve your chances of being hired.
That being said, let’s take a look at the main SHL assessments and what work-related skills they measure during the hiring process.
The SHL verbal reasoning test
If the job that you are applying for requires a lot of reading and writing, then the company will want to confirm the extent of your reading comprehension skills as well as your ability to form logical conclusions based on what information is present in the passage.
Typically seen as the simplest of all the SHL tests, the verbal reasoning assessment requires test-takers to read a passage of varying length before needing to figure out if the conclusion provided is true, false, or doesn’t have enough information to confirm or deny it based on the details presented.
It is not uncommon for a single passage, especially if it’s a paragraph long, to contain multiple questions so it is very likely that you will need to re-read the text a number of times to make sure that the choice you’re about to pick is the correct one.
The SHL numerical reasoning test
As an employee, it is not enough that you can make simple to complex calculations; it is also vital that you are able to comprehend statistical, graphical, and financial data.
This means that although the questions are math-based in nature, they are mostly accompanied with graphs, charts, and financial reports that you will need to analyze and understand in order to find the correct answer.
Some questions will need you to check the exchange rate of one of five currencies from a particular year then perform the necessary calculations to see what was the loss or profit of the trader during that point in time.
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Surprisingly, this is the very reason why a lot of test-takers have trouble with the numerical assessment of the SHL test.
While they can do the calculations just fine, a number of applicants are not too familiar with using visual data analysis, especially if the graph or chart in question is something they’ve never seen before.
As a result, not only will you need to brush up on your math skills, you will also need to familiarize yourself with a lot of charts and graphs.
The SHL deductive and inductive reasoning test
These tests are used to measure the candidate’s problem-solving skills.
For the deductive reasoning exam, you are typically provided with a set of statements followed by a conclusion. From here, you will need to decide whether or not the provided conclusion is true, false, or if there is not enough information to refute or deny it.
For the inductive reasoning test, you will see a set of images to which you will need to figure out what sequence or pattern do they follow. After this, you will need to select which of the provided choices is the one that completes the sequence.
Although the missing image is usually the first or last one, it is not uncommon for the missing one to be any image from the set.
The SHL personality and behavioral assessments
Apart from confirming a candidate’s cognitive skills, the company will also want to make sure that the personality and work style of the applicant is compatible with the job that they are applying for as well as the core values of the company so that its public image won’t be affected in a negative light.
In order to make sure that the applicant in question can adapt well to the values of the company, if they are not already highly compatible, the SHL personality test is administered.
This exam follows a survey-type format, making it impossible to cheat in and highly difficult to ace without preparation. Many promising candidates, despite having a lot of experience and scoring high on the general ability test, are turned away because they didn’t match the personality profile of what the company deems as the ideal employee.
For the behavioral assessment, this is where the Situational Judgement Test of the SHL assessments comes in.
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Here, the applicant will be presented with a number of scenarios that are regularly seen by those already working in the position that they are applying for.
They will then have to select from the many courses of action which is the best one to take in order to resolve it in a way that is expected of a bonafide employee.
The result of your Situational Judgement Test is usually used against you, as hiring managers can easily see any discrepancies in your answers when compared to the answers you provided in your initial interview.
A good example of this is when you state in the interview that you only help people who deserve it but the results of your Situational Judgement Test show that you are willing to help anyone regardless of their status or level of emergency.
Through this, it is highly imperative for you to make your answers as uniform as possible and to present yourself as someone that the company needs to hire because of how much you act like a long-time employee of theirs already.
