# Aptitude test...



## ollienoclue

Howdy

As part of my now on-going search for employment I have obtained an interview with a local accountancy firm, with a view to entering as a trainee.

However, they will require me to take an aptitude test. This, I am told, includes grammar, vocabulary (not certain how this might be tested?), comprehension, mathematical and financial analysis.

As it was a long time since I was in school I am rather bricking it, particularly in maths terms as I am pretty useless at mental arithmetic.

Any advice for the above greatly received. I have utterly no clue to what level or extent I am likely to be expect to perform, it is a role entirely new to me and is something of a career change to say the very least.

I was hoping someone might at least know some resource that might indicate to me how difficult the tests will be. If they are not within my grasp I shall have to ring them and thank them for their time as I don't want to waste it nor suffer the blow to my self esteem by failing badly and being rejected.

Many thanks in advance for any help received.

Ollie


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## nbray67

Most are just a basic test just to ensure the candidates are not entirely unsuitable for the position.

Search online aptitude tests and practice a few. My biggest tip would be to take your time and answer what you can rather than rushing through and getting lots wrong.

30 questions but only being able to answer 25 of them of which 20 are correct is better than answering all 30 but rushing and getting 15 right.

Try here https://www.jobtestprep.co.uk/free-aptitude-test, oh, and good luck in the interview. Personality will counter a slightly poor aptitude test.


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## Andy from Sandy

Well unlike most of the nit wits who claim it doesn't matter your post looks very well presented to me with none of the usual predictive mistakes and shorthand scribble that a phone produces.

So if nothing else that's a good start.

If you have been looking for a job and need to get back to work this might be a good way of at least seeing what is involved for next time at another firm offering a similar position.

You may also get some interview practice in.

Hopefully you won't just be rejected on the score you achieve.

Good luck.


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## Tykebike

I agree with Andy re that your post is well written; not everyone takes care with their writing/typing. 
First and foremost be honest and secondly try to be enthusiastic even if it is for an accountancy role!
Good luck.


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## Kerr

Unrelated, but a few years ago a new labourer was taken on at my work. 

He was very eager to tell everyone he did very well in the altitude test. :lol:


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## Cookies

Have a look online for psychometric evaluation tests. There should be plenty of free to access examples. 

This type of test covers all of the disciplines you've mentioned above, so should give you a reasonably good indication of the type and difficulty of the test they'll use. 

Don't remove yourself from the process. Practice the tests on line, and give it your best shot. 

Good luck, bud. 

Cooks


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## ollienoclue

Thank you very much guys. I am enthusiastic enough as it will be working in accountancy with a business that has a big rural/agricultural focus. As such that kind of work has it's own language to begin with, and of course that kind of industry is a law unto itself because farmers in particular have a fairly unique decision-making process compared to conventional businessmen.

I will have a hunt around online for some of these tests.


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## ollienoclue

Well, I have been trying some of these tests. Just have to take the maths ones steady.

The reasoning/judgement and pattern ones you can only practice. They are weird.

Grammar/Vocab, well I'll just do however good I'm going to do. Difficult to 'revise' those.


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## Cookies

I think a lot of it has to do with getting your head around those types of question. You can only really do that by working away at them. 

Keep chipping away at them. 

Cooks


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## DrEskimo

Might be worth having a look at the CAT test.

I took this a couple of times when I tried to get on a graduate entry medical degree.

http://practice.ukcat.ac.uk/pages/menu.aspx?pack=ce630588-89fd-40a6-b325-4c55070e9fb5

My advice is just do as many as you can. Practice is the best way to get better at these...


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## Fentum

Although I am not an accountant, but an economist/ project finance specialist by training, I used to work for one of the Big Four accountancy firms and had to support a lot of recruitment activity for them.

The aptitude tests are really there to sort the wheat from the chaff, more of an eliminator than a differentiator IYSIM. 

They'll be looking for good literacy and, natch, numeracy skills but mostly for evidence of a clear and logical orderly mind and a can do attitude. If they are offering a training contract, that's a big investment from a small firm. But don't sweat it. If you are suited for that kind of work, you should just breeze through. 

Funnily enough, if you are dealing with farmers (or car dealers for that matter), you will anyway need diplomatic and negotiation skills much more than the ability to calculate the strike price of derivatives:lol:. Keeping odd and unaccountable clients on the straight and narrow is harder than in a big City firm with all its compliance functions etc...

If you are going to struggle with these tests, you really will need to ask yourself whether you can bear the ballsaching pain of doing the compressed equivalent of about 50 GCSEs in two years. Getting the Chartered Accountancy qualification is a long and challenging slog, even for people with Firsts in Maths from Oxbridge. The others are not much less arduous as there has been quite a lot of harmonisation of the curriculum.

None of this is aimed to dissuade you; a qualification in accountancy is useful, even if you never practise. I mentored one lad who did the qualification to please his father and he did very well but he resigned on me at the first opportunity after he passed because his heart wasn't in it. He made the right decision although I was sad to see him leave. I saw him at the cricket a couple of summers ago and he was much happier. He still thought it was a good qualification for all kinds of business activity, though. It also gave him a cushion to take risks as he knew he could always get a job.

Anyway, as others have said above, from the evidence of your drafting which is clear and coherent and is written with the reader in mind, I'd say you have a good chance.

Feel free to PM if you want any specific advice.

Good luck

Peter


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## ollienoclue

Fentum said:


> Although I am not an accountant, but an economist/ project finance specialist by training, I used to work for one of the Big Four accountancy firms and had to support a lot of recruitment activity for them.
> 
> The aptitude tests are really there to sort the wheat from the chaff, more of an eliminator than a differentiator IYSIM.
> 
> They'll be looking for good literacy and, natch, numeracy skills but mostly for evidence of a clear and logical orderly mind and a can do attitude. If they are offering a training contract, that's a big investment from a small firm. But don't sweat it. If you are suited for that kind of work, you should just breeze through.
> 
> Funnily enough, if you are dealing with farmers (or car dealers for that matter), you will anyway need diplomatic and negotiation skills much more than the ability to calculate the strike price of derivatives:lol:. Keeping odd and unaccountable clients on the straight and narrow is harder than in a big City firm with all its compliance functions etc...
> 
> If you are going to struggle with these tests, you really will need to ask yourself whether you can bear the ballsaching pain of doing the compressed equivalent of about 50 GCSEs in two years. Getting the Chartered Accountancy qualification is a long and challenging slog, even for people with Firsts in Maths from Oxbridge. The others are not much less arduous as there has been quite a lot of harmonisation of the curriculum.
> 
> None of this is aimed to dissuade you; a qualification in accountancy is useful, even if you never practise. I mentored one lad who did the qualification to please his father and he did very well but he resigned on me at the first opportunity after he passed because his heart wasn't in it. He made the right decision although I was sad to see him leave. I saw him at the cricket a couple of summers ago and he was much happier. He still thought it was a good qualification for all kinds of business activity, though. It also gave him a cushion to take risks as he knew he could always get a job.
> 
> Anyway, as others have said above, from the evidence of your drafting which is clear and coherent and is written with the reader in mind, I'd say you have a good chance.
> 
> Feel free to PM if you want any specific advice.
> 
> Good luck
> 
> Peter


Hello

I don't think they expect me to be a maths genius judging by what I have learned about the company at any rate. I have spoken to a couple of people who work for them to learn something about the training and the like.

I'm not worried about a long learning slog, I had that for my previous position and that was far more scary. I don't mind exams and I am keen to learn a new skill, and a qualification or set of skills with more application in the real world strikes me as being highly desirable given the current economic climate. I look online and there are no end of vacancies for qualified accountants which tells a story all of it's own.

I wrote to them purely on a speculative basis and honestly did not even expect a reply, but I have been given a summons nonetheless. I think they are more interested in my background mostly. Agriculture and the associated industries have their own language and they do not conform to the usual rules of business, farmers usually make decisions for totally different reasons than everyday businessmen.

I am quite excited about the position as I believe it will be very interesting to learn about how the physical performance of a business might translate into the nuts and bolts financials of it. Though these were touched upon back in my days of academia, that was years ago.

I used to have to deal with and negotiate with farmers and tell them how I intended to spend their money in my previous job, they aren't half as scary as they used to be, but heck they are impossible to classify and are all entirely unique, I know that much. If there is any one attribute that they share it is that they are all very much motivated in the same way.


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## Fentum

Reading this, I think you have your head screwed on properly and they obviously are impressed enough to ask you to come in off an unsolicited letter. 

I always hired on attitude (assuming that the candidate wasn't a complete moron) on the basis that knowledge and skills can be taught to the right person. It sounds like you have the right attitude (which can't really be learnt) and have an excellent chance here :thumb:!

Good luck!

Peter


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## Derekh929

Well with enthusiasm like you last post about accounts that can be drier than a size 10 Arabian sandal, you got the job from me, good luck by the way


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## ollienoclue

You are all much too kind. I am feeling a lot more confident now I have been practising a bit. The grammar and verbal comprehension I feel comfortable with, just a minor refresh on comma usage and the like to do.

The maths side of it just frustrates me slightly, some of the calculations and thinking involved are just mind-bending daft. Eventually I can work out the answer but it isn't the kind of thing I have been used to having to calculate daily.

Previously it was costs, areas and totals or averages, that kind of malarky. I would go to a farm in the early part of the year and discuss their plans or requirements. We would then sit and work out what would have to be done, work out a fairly detailed cost for it all, then work out how the bills would arrive and discuss a payment plan for it all. Then I would order it all and do the legwork when the season began.

It was quite a tall order for me initially because prior to that job I worked solely in an office, and never dealt with anyone face to face. If nothing else my ability to communicate and work with people has improved a hundredfold. Once upon a time I, particularly in my teens I was basically afraid of using the phone. Now it is an everyday occurrence.


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## ollienoclue

Did the thing, chap I was interviewing with seemed to treat it like a formality.

Seemed to be ok at any rate. Glad I boned up with a GCSE maths textbook beforehand as I was rusty and would have struggled a bit otherwise.

Spelling and grammar seemed ok, can't get it all right and no good sweating about it now anyway.

Definitely better to have a good amount of rapport with the interviewer, they seemed quite positive but explained this is their busiest time of the year so it would be problematic to take a newbie on, although I did explain that I was keen to wait until January to start a new job anyway.

I have a couple of other leads to chase down as well but I am feeling quite relaxed about it all at the moment.


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## Fentum

ollienoclue said:


> Did the thing, chap I was interviewing with seemed to treat it like a formality.
> 
> Seemed to be ok at any rate. Glad I boned up with a GCSE maths textbook beforehand as I was rusty and would have struggled a bit otherwise.
> 
> Spelling and grammar seemed ok, can't get it all right and no good sweating about it now anyway.
> 
> Definitely better to have a good amount of rapport with the interviewer, they seemed quite positive but explained this is their busiest time of the year so it would be problematic to take a newbie on, although I did explain that I was keen to wait until January to start a new job anyway.
> 
> I have a couple of other leads to chase down as well but I am feeling quite relaxed about it all at the moment.


Thanks for the update.

Good. Now there's nothing more you can do, so relax!

Fingers crossed for the outcome!

Peter


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## ollienoclue

Heard back from the company, passed their tests. I can't remember all the scores but I got 3 out of 4 on the maths section which suits me fine. How the hell they read my handwriting I have no idea lol.

Going for a day or two work experience next month, obviously it is their busy time this time of year so won't be able to consider me for a slot until January. Which suits me perfectly.


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## Fentum

ollienoclue said:


> Heard back from the company, passed their tests. I can't remember all the scores but I got 3 out of 4 on the maths section which suits me fine. How the hell they read my handwriting I have no idea lol.
> 
> Going for a day or two work experience next month, obviously it is their busy time this time of year so won't be able to consider me for a slot until January. Which suits me perfectly.


Great. Very encouraging!

Now, you just have to dress smartly, look alert, avoid licking the windows and dribbling down your front and you can show them what you've got!


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## Darlofan

Fentum said:


> Great. Very encouraging!
> 
> Now, you just have to dress smartly, look alert, avoid licking the windows and dribbling down your front and you can show them what you've got!


Now you've put him under more pressure😂😂


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## ollienoclue

I've attended 50 quadrillion interviews, familiarisation days, meetings, seminars over the years so I am quite comfortable dressing like a grown up.

Have a couple of days with some of their team coming up, although I also have a contact who is insistent I go to work for his company, who just happen to be competitors of the firm in question. We shall see. I just want the three magic letters and then I shall decide what to do next.


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## jacksouth

I just got invited to take a numerical and verbal reasoning test for an accountancy firm for 2019!! 

This might be too old of a thread now, but did anyone here find any other practice resources, apart from JobTestPrep.com and Practice UKCAT?

I haven't taken these types of tests for a while and I haven't really done verbal reasoning since pre-GCSE so I'm slightly concerned about my ability at the moment.

I have been using the tests on practicereasoningtests.com which are pretty good but there's only one of each type. For anyone else researching this topic, there's also a pretty great guide to taking psychometrics (it really helped me): https://practicereasoningtests.com/psychometric-tests.

Can anyone recommend another resource?


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## Kerr

jacksouth said:


> I just got invited to take a numerical and verbal reasoning test for an accountancy firm for 2019!!
> 
> This might be too old of a thread now, but did anyone here find any other practice resources, apart from JobTestPrep.com and Practice UKCAT?
> 
> I haven't taken these types of tests for a while and I haven't really done verbal reasoning since pre-GCSE so I'm slightly concerned about my ability at the moment.
> 
> I have been using the tests on practicereasoningtests.com which are pretty good but there's only one of each type. For anyone else researching this topic, there's also a pretty great guide to taking psychometrics (it really helped me): https://practicereasoningtests.com/psychometric-tests.
> 
> Can anyone recommend another resource?


I'll test you with a simple maths question.

3 guys walk into an electrical store to buy a DAB radio. It's priced at £30 and each guy contributes £10 each.

Once they leave the store the salesman notices the radio had been reduced to £25. He takes 5 £1 coins out the till and chases after them. He then releases he can't share £5 between 3 people and sneakily decides to keep £2 and give each of the 3 guys £1 back each.

That means each guy has has paid £9. 3x9=£27 and the salesman took £2.

Where is the missing £1?


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## jacksouth

With respect, I don't think this would be a question used on numerical or verbal reasoning tests. It's not really a numerical reasoning question, it's really a trick question; a riddle. 

The text misguides the reader to think one way, when maths works another. Normally numerical reasoning questions are based on ratios, percentages and other similar types of calculations, not things like this. 

And to answer the riddle, it's simple, when you consider the real price of the item (£25) and not the presented price of the item (£30). The new price is £25. Each guy finally pays £9 each, so £27 total, so £2 more than the price. That's the £2 the retailer keeps.


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## GleemSpray

i think good advise with any exam or test is to start by looking at how many questions there are to answer and how long you have in total for the test. 

Divide the two and that gives you a guide of the maximum amount of time to initially allow for each question.

Then calmly work through the questions you can comfortably answer and set aside those that are going to take longer - get to the end of the questions then repeat the process and work out how many difficult questions are left and how much time is left to answer them.

That way you get the most questions answered in the time available.


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## Kerr

jacksouth said:


> With respect, I don't think this would be a question used on numerical or verbal reasoning tests. It's not really a numerical reasoning question, it's really a trick question; a riddle.
> 
> The text misguides the reader to think one way, when maths works another. Normally numerical reasoning questions are based on ratios, percentages and other similar types of calculations, not things like this.
> 
> And to answer the riddle, it's simple, when you consider the real price of the item (£25) and not the presented price of the item (£30). The new price is £25. Each guy finally pays £9 each, so £27 total, so £2 more than the price. That's the £2 the retailer keeps.


It was for humour purposes.


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