Aptitude Test

Let's start with "What is aptitude?"

Aptitude refers to a person's suitability for an assignment -- her ability to perform it or learn it quickly and then do it. For example, Leonora may be said to have an aptitude for music because she always seems able to pick up an instrument and learn it. We say Thoai has an aptitude for physics because he grasps the abstract mathematical and scientific aspects of a subject quickly.

An aptitude test is an instrument for identifying whether the person being evaluated has an aptitude for a particular task or set of tasks. Sometimes the test measures a broad range of elements in order to define a person's capacities in various areas. I took one in college and was told I had an aptitude for any career involving written or oral communications. For another person, it may instead have shown that he had mathematical, mechanical or artistic aptitude or any number of other capacities for learning.

An "IQ" or "intelligence quotient" is an aptitude test which measures not how much you know but at what rate you learn. An IQ of 100 means you learn at the normal, average rate of all adults. An IQ of 145 means that you can learn almost half as much faster than average.

It's estimated that the philosopher John Stuart Mill had an IQ of over 200, meaning he could learn twice as fast as average. In fact, he taught himself to speak Classic Latin and Greek before he was 5 years old. However, had he not had access to the two languages, he would only have had the aptitude to learn them, not the knowledge. A high IQ doesn't mean you know a lot; it just means you can learn a lot.

You may encounter your first aptitude tests in school. Career or guidance counselors use them to help you choose a course of study. After all, you want a career you have an innate or learned knack for, right? Taking one of these tests may help you choose classes, a major or other preparatory experience in line with your aptitude in a given area.

Employers also use aptitude tests, but the purpose is slightly different. Personnel classification specialists have examined jobs at that company and determined what qualifications are needed in the best candidate for each job.

They may also determine what aptitudes will help a new employee in the position learn quickly and do well. Aptitude tests in this setting are designed to reveal whether you have the aptitudes that the specialists have matched to the job. If you need language skills for the job, for instance, they will test for language skills.

What are aptitude questions like? They usually are designed to be completed quickly. The employer wants to see what you already have in terms of capacity.

Experts recommend answering the questions correctly rather than trying to get an answer, any answer, in each blank. The quality of your answers will outweigh the number you answered, especially because aptitude tests often repeat or only slightly alter the same questions meant to get at a similar response. Finishing is not as important as doing well on the questions you complete.

Aptitude tests are not about what you know as much as what you can figure out. They test verbal, mathematical, mechanical, clerical and other skills. They can be verbal questions, mathematical problems, or shapes tests.

The shapes tests assess your ability to detect a pattern in a series of similar shapes.

In some cases, you may be asked to write an essay to check whether you can articulate complex ideas and whether you know grammar and punctuation.

Why do employers use aptitude tests? Simply put, you can't really tell if a person will work out in a job from a resume and interview. Evaluations of applicants through resumes and interviews are simply too brief and superficial.

The employer cares about only one thing: Will you do the job well? And they believe that, if they can measure your aptitude, they will be able to predict what a resume or interview cannot.

Because the tests are supposed to measure your existing capacity for a subject or task, you can prepare yourself for taking one. The best known aptitude test in the U.S. is the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) required of most, if not all, high school seniors.

There are a number of books on the subject that advise you about what strategy to use before and during an aptitude test. For example, the Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic catalog contains a half dozen books specifically about taking the SAT and others as well as the Graduate Record Exam and other scholastic tests.

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