mental ability test and behaviour test in interview

Hi there, I applied for a research analyst position and will have an interview next week. I was told that in addition to the regular interview, I will have to take a timed mental ability test and take home behavior test. Anybody know about mental ability test and behavior test? How to prepare for it? Thanks

I had to pee in a cup.

Not sure – they might give you one of those mental cognitive tests or critical thinking exams like Watson-Glaser. Some firms do it…but it could be anyone’s guess. Another thing they might do is put electrodes on you (sort of like in Clockwork Orange). If they make you explode, it might just mean you’re not cut out for the job.

i had a 6 hour behavioral and ability exam when i applied for a trading position with a pension fund. it was NOT a fun afternoon, but I did well on it. just don’t try and game the behavioral questions too much, cause that can screw up your results. i kid you not, one of the questions on mine was “did you like alice in wonderland?” y/n? (aka…“do you like drugs?”)

Crapital One does this stuff. It doesn’t get anywhere close to seeing how good people are in the company.

a friend of mine used to work at a company that gave one of those personality tests to potential hires. once, everyone on the team liked this guy even though he did “poor” on the test. my friend doesn’t even know what “poor” means. anyway, they took it to the head of hr or someone else and without looking at anything besides the test results or asking the team anything, he told them to stop wasting his time and said no. some companied really take these things seriously, for better or for worse.

The behavior tests frighten me. What goes on in my twisted head is my own business. I really don’t want anyone else getting a glimpse.

virginCFAhooker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I had to pee in a cup. Wow! I guess they’re testing accuracy of your estimations? Like… can you hit the target? :wink:

I worked for a firm where the personality test was the first interview, no phone call just the test.

CCM Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I worked for a firm where the personality test was > the first interview, no phone call just the test. You just have to wish you could be a fly on the wall during the HR conversations that led to this practice. I mean they must have had some serious personnel issues at this firm to take such a hard line. “And remember that just last January Kent went postal and blew away nearly half of the middle office staff.” “How can we change our hiring process to avoid this kind of service interruption?” “I’ve heard there’s a correlation between people who like Alice in Wonderland and those who use handguns in a workplace setting, at p = 0.07.”

DarienHacker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > “And remember that just last January Kent went > postal and blew away nearly half of the middle > office staff.” I knew kkent was crazy!!

I had do take three tests for a job I interviewed for back in February. The first was an mental aptitude test. They put myself and another candidate for the position in a room and had us take the same test. It wasn’t all that hard. No trickier than a CFA exam but with general GMAT style questions. The HR person giving the test said that no one had ever finished it. I did all but about 6 questions and felt pretty good about them. The other guy was way behind me. The second test was a knowledge/skill assessment where I had to preform a basic credit analysis. Nothing too difficult. This was followed up with an impromptu interview with the boss of the hiring manager. All in all, it was a 3 hour process. The third was an online personality test after my the first interview. Your standard do I feel this way or do I feel that way or what would I do with this or that. Most of the questions were either yes, no, maybe. I think it’s best to try to infer what they are trying to get at. For example, on a scale of 1 to 5, how angry would you be if someone cut in front of you at a movie line. Saying 5 indicates you’d be too aggressive, 1 is too passive, so a 3 or 4 is appropriate given the team you will be working with. For the second interview, I was read a series of questions verbatim off a sheet in an attempt to standardize the interview process. Questions like, tell me how you did this or did that when x or y happened, be specific. Then it was a job shadowing an individual doing the same job I was applying for. Then meeting with the managers of the team and then a meeting with HR. Another 3 hour process.

these tests are designed so you cant game em, they’re there to accurately asess your cognitive/psych traits. so you’re pretty much f’ed.

cfa2grunt Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > DarienHacker Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > “And remember that just last January Kent went > > postal and blew away nearly half of the middle > > office staff.” > > I knew kkent was crazy!! LOL!