The verbal test is perhaps the most difficult of all those encountered in employment. The difficulties are not due to impossible tasks, but due to the unusual presentation of the material. Such tests are just beginning to be given to our students, and not everywhere, what can we say about seniors, but active generation, who are now “over thirty.” Graduated in Soviet schools and universities received a good education, which was proven by thousands of emigrants who became successful engineers, businessmen, and scientists abroad, although our former fellow citizens had to compete with specialists who graduated from Ivy League and European universities prestigious universities and so on.
Now our standards are approaching Western ones, and this is right, because best conditions for work and career in foreign transnational corporations with representative offices in Russia and CIS countries. Many domestic companies also use testing when hiring new employees, and the most important stage selection – verbal and numerical tests.
A standard verbal task is a certain text of 500 to 1500 characters, and the authors come up with statements for it, and they are quite contradictory. Easier SHL test example verbal test includes information text shorter, and on a simpler topic. However, if a specialist claims to good position in a transnational corporation, he must be prepared for crazy competition and complex tasks.
Verbal task increased complexity Not only does it contain a voluminous text, but its topic can also be related to medicine, psychology, and specific vocabulary can be used. Of course, there will be no terms in Latin, but there is very little time, that is, you won’t be able to remember unfamiliar words or search for them on Google.
An example of a simple verbal task is a text about the extinction of whales, and the reason for this is the mass slaughter of marine inhabitants by whaling ships. Whales were destroyed mainly for their animal fat, which was used to light houses. Claims may say, for example, that whale populations began to replenish after the discovery and massive production of oil.
Required this statement mark as “true”, “false” or “little information”. The correct answer is “no information,” since the statement clearly does not contradict the text, but nothing is said specifically about oil.
You can find approximately this complexity on the Internet, but you must remember that during real testing the questions will be more difficult.
Preparation
Preparation is necessary in any business, but before exams and tests it is a hundred times more useful. Verbal problems cannot be memorized, but the skill of solving them can be improved to high level, when questions with texts will be arranged in certain patterns in your head.
Speed Reading Technique
If the applicant does not own technology quick reading, it is desirable for him to improve his reading speed and quality of information absorption. The answer is given for a minute to a minute and a half, and the larger term involves complicated questions, so you should read and grasp the essence in 20-30 seconds.
Go Online
Some experienced former or current applicants advise taking the SHL verbal test online for free, no matter what level the tasks are, even the simplest ones. There is also a recommendation to start with questions, and from there move on to the text in search of specific information. It makes sense to recommend this approach, but you need practice, that is, you need to take the SHL verbal test online for free or for money, because you shouldn’t save when applying for a job.
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Dear friends!
- If you are soon to undergo “Verbal-Numeric” SHL testing, Talent-Q, Ontarget Genesys,
- If you are afraid of failing and are looking for how to prepare
- If there is little time left,
then I hasten to inform you that it is possible to prepare online professionally.
Fast and easy using effective online training, You will train your skills in 2-3 days and pass the tests the first time! A stable skill appears after solving 30-40 tests.
Listen to the 6-minute interview immediately after testing and training in our system.
In the interview we talked about online program Roboxtest V.8, which is a platform for versions of MAXIMUM 875, BIG4, FMCG, NGK.
Our team has developed a unique computer program Roboxtest V.8. It is as close as possible to real testing - the process itself takes place directly in the browser, with a limited amount of time. I invite you to take a trial verbal test and see everything with your own eyes. Complete test database (more than 100 tests per this moment- about 1500 questions) is also available. To do this, contact me. Contacts are below.
All preparation will take place online. Each test has correct answers and solutions without a time limit. The program works directly from the browser Google Chrome, FireFox, Mozilla, Safari.
Attention! WITH Internet Explorer At the moment, the program is not “friendly” (not all functionality).
(Works with Google Chrome, FireFox, Mozilla, Safari.)
At the end you will see a report similar to what employers see - in percentages and percentiles. This will allow you to soberly assess your strengths. Since the preparation takes place online, it is possible to compare yourself with other people who have taken this test - this is important, because this is how employers look at you.
The system will also identify your strengths and weak sides and will tell you what to pay more attention to.
Now the database contains more than a hundred different tests (more than 1,500 questions) - mainly ability tests - verbal, numerical, abstract-logical. But, most likely, you are not solving the entire database. Something else is important here - skill.
As experience shows, it is enough to achieve a level of 80-90 percent and at least 60 percentiles for each type of test in order to successfully pass real testing the first time.
People who prepared using our system solved an average of 30-40 tests. Here again, individually, one candidate really wanted to get the position - he solved 152 tests!!! And I passed the real test successfully!!!
There are also knowledge tests - English - 2 levels, RAS, IFRS - for preparation for the Big Four.
If you are interested in training in our system, please contact me. Without payment, the system will block you within a few hours after registration.
Sincerely, Panteleev Stanislav.
The tasks you will solve cannot be called difficult. These are not matrices and integrals, not complicated mathematical logic. The purpose of testing is to measure your psychometric data.
The whole difficulty lies only in the time that you are given and the passing scores that are assigned by employers and testing companies. You don’t know anything about them, and you don’t know about the types of tasks. In this article we will lift the veil of secrecy and show you what will await you during testing.
An example of a testing company report for an employer
Your results will be compared with those of other candidates. This is what the test result looks like for an employer using the example of testing the Talent-Q system.
Draw conclusions. You will be compared to normative group and based on these results, whether to invite you for an interview or not.
To get an interview, be sure to train hard! See what types of tasks exist, find your own materials or use ours. The formula here is simple: “Training = Success”
Numerical test and its varieties. Examples and solutions
Example of a problem with a graph
How many thousand more cars were imported in the second quarter of the second year than in the first year for the same period?
Solution:
The graph shows that in the second quarter of the second year, 600 thousand cars were imported, in the second quarter of the first year – 425 thousand.
We calculate the difference 600-425=175 thousand cars
Answer:
175 thousand carsExample problem with diagram
It's no secret that the power level financial system of any country is assessed based on the size of its gold and foreign exchange reserves. Of course, the greater the reserves, the higher the level of economic stability to various financial shocks.
The charts below show the change in the size of such reserves (in billions of US dollars) of the five largest economies in the world: China, the USA, Japan, European Union collectively (EU) and Russian Federation. Note that the data reviewed relate to the period 2010-2013.How many times gold reserves Are there more Chinese in 2010 than Russians in 2011?
Solution:
The gold and foreign exchange reserves of China in 2010 amounted to $2,000 billion, the Russian Federation in 2011 - $400 billion.
Answer:
Example of a problem with a table
On Olympic Games In 2004, the most gold, silver and bronze medals were won by athletes from five countries: USA, China, Russia, Australia, Japan. Question: How many gold medals did the Russian team lack to take first place in the team standings in terms of the number of gold medals not counting silver?Comment: places in the standings are distributed according to total amount awards
Solution:
For Russia to take first place in gold medals, it needs to overtake the United States and collect 36 medals. That is, we lacked 36-27 = 9 medals
Answer:
Example of a problem involving percentages
In January 2012, the price of a men's suit increased by 25%, and in March 2013, at a sale, it became 16% less than the price raised and currently stands at $336. By what percentage overall did the price of a suit fall or rise during the period mentioned above?
Solution:
Let us denote by x the initial price.
Then the price in January 2012 was 1.25*x;
Price in March (1-0.16)*1.25*x=$336
1.05*x=$336
Answer:
The price rose by 5%.
Example of a mixture problem
From two salt solutions - 10 percent and 15 percent, you need to create 40 grams of a 12 percent solution. How many grams of each solution should I take?
Solution:
Let us denote by x the mass of the 10% solution, and by y the mass of the 15% solution.
Then we can create 2 equations:
The total mass of the solution is 40 grams, that is
The following equation will determine the salt content of solutions:
0.1x+0.15y=0.12*40
So, we have a system of 2 equations. We express x from the first equation and substitute it into the second.
0.1*(40-y)+0.15y=4.8
4-0.1y+0.15y=4.8
Answer:
10 percent 24 grams, 15 percent 16 grams.
Verbal logic test. Example and solution.
Example of a verbal logic task
There is a worldwide accepted international classification diseases (ICD-10), it includes hundreds of different diseases. Many psychiatrists from different countries around the world (for example, American doctor Kimberly Young) demand the inclusion of cyberaddiction (computer addiction) as a disease in the next edition of the ICD. At the moment, the closest existing diagnosis is gaming addiction, however, the description of this disease refers exclusively to the use of slot machines, O personal computers there is no talk there.
Question 1: Cyber addiction is a disease recognized throughout the world.
Answer: False.
Explanation: since psychiatrists from different countries demand the inclusion of cyber addiction in the next edition of the ICD, we can conclude that this disease is not yet recognized throughout the world.
The story of Stanislav Panteleev. Tests at P&G
I will tell you about my experience, and you yourself will draw conclusions from this. In 2008 I graduated from Ural State University majoring in economics and management with a specialization in anti-crisis management. On final courses we had strong advertising from the big four (E&Y KPMG Deloitte PwC). Many from my course went to work there. 90% left within the first year. I chose a different path for myself - sales. The first company I went to was P&G. I filled out the form in the Taleo system, uploaded my resume, waited for the call, and now I’m testing at the P&G branch in Yekaterinburg. The first impression is that the tasks are easy, but time flows inexorably. There were three of us candidates for the Sales position at P&G. I worked through everything carefully and was stuck on some tasks. I remember there was some kind of task about how many and what items different sizes will fit into the warehouse - I sat on it for about 10 minutes and realized that I couldn’t solve it. At one point, my rivals asked me, “Will you have time?” I said that I would have time, but for the rest of the time I was just running around with answers from the idiot. The results were in 20 minutes. Stanislav "No." I was very upset then. I’ve never had problems with such simple tasks, but here I’m going to fail and ruin my career. A few days later I was reanimated and realized this simple thought— I’ll find textbooks, download tests, and start preparing. But it was not there. Tutorials on the Internet on preparing for seemingly such simple tasks there was practically none. Tests too. As a result, there are scarce resources for preparation. And my career meant a lot to me at that time. This is both money and professional growth And social significance. There was a resource from Vadim Tikhonov, but I didn’t want to pay for tests at that moment. It seemed to me that everything could be downloaded. As a result, I spent a lot of time and began to compose my tasks based on what I remembered and what else I came across. I started asking my friends and acquaintances who also faced this problem. This is how I met Marina Tarasova, who greatly helped me in my preparation. At that time, she already had extensive experience in developing tests for assessing and qualifying personnel, including practice tests for admission to international companies. Next were the companies Mars, KPMG, E&Y, Unilever. Everywhere I passed these tests with a bang! It was only necessary to master the principle. The training helped me, and it will help you too. Our tests are paid because we conduct great job to create them - work for results. You have probably encountered the fact that there is very little information on the topic of preparing for testing. We are filling this gap. A lot of new things come from you, dear clients and readers. Every month we update the tests in accordance with new information and trends in the candidate testing market. These include new tasks, new types of tasks, examples of solutions and other updates. As a result, we created a small but very useful resource for your test preparation. We are ready to hear your wishes, comments and reviews on our website. To do this, contact a “consultant” and we will contact you.
If you are reading this article, then you are looking for the answer to the question - how to successfully pass the SHL, Talent Q or Ontarget verbal test? What do you need to know for this? What is the algorithm for solving such tasks?
In this article we'll talk about verbal tests, one of the most commonly used psychometric tests (aptitude tests) used by employers to measure the suitability of potential candidates. There are several types of verbal tests - from completing sentences and selecting a similar statement to analyzing large texts. It is large volumes of text and complex verbal reasoning that are used to evaluate specialists and managers. These tests involve reading passages and measure your ability to understand spoken information, think logically in the context of the information you read, make logical inferences accurately, write written reports, and communicate information to others in a clear and simple manner.
What do employers want to learn from verbal test results?
The result of your test makes it clear to the employer to what extent you have developed the following skills:
Draw conclusions from the information given to you
Make clear and understandable reports and documents
Task type: synonym definition.
Here is an excerpt from the text. Your task is to indicate which of the five proposed words is a synonym for the word highlighted in the text.
Synonyms are words belonging, as a rule, to the same part of speech, different in sound and spelling, but having a similar lexical meaning, For example: brave - bold, fast - impetuous, hurry - hurry.
Despite their similar lexical meaning, synonyms rarely completely coincide in their meanings. For example, the words “fast” and “swift”, at first glance, may be interchangeable in the text, but if we turn to explanatory dictionary Russian language, we will see that:
fast - something that happens in a short period of time;
Swift is very fast and sharp in movement and development.
That is, the word “fast” is associated, first of all, with speed, and the word “swift” has additional meanings – movement, sharpness.
Let's consider the execution algorithm of this assignment on a specific example.
The following excerpt from the text is offered:
Every culture has its own ideas about childhood and raising children. Numerous cross-cultural studies reveal the following features of parental behavior. Mothers of Anglo-Saxon origin prefer verbal explanations and often praise and encourage their children. In Latin American families, mothers more often rely on negative reinforcement, use physical control, use visual cues and simple modeling more widely. American mothers expect from their children from the very beginning early age development of social skills in communicating with peers. On the contrary, Japanese mothers expect emotional maturity and obedience from children of the same age, good manners. Looking at what influences school achievement in to a greater extent- the child’s efforts or his abilities, American mothers indicated the equal importance of these two factors. Japanese and Chinese mothers gave priority to the child's own efforts.
Exercise:
Which of the following words is a synonym for the word “success”?
Achievement;
Luck;
Confession;
Grade;
Victory.
Your actions:
1. Read the text quickly to understand its main content.
2. Carefully read the sentence containing the highlighted word:
When considering whether a child's efforts or his abilities influence school success more, American mothers pointed to the equal importance of these two factors.
3. Try substituting the words “success” for each of the options. We get: school achievements, school successes, school recognitions, school marks, school victories. Some of the resulting phrases may be jarring, since they are rarely used in everyday speech, for example, good luck at school.
Please note that not all words can be used correctly (from a grammatical point of view) plural, For example: school successes, school recognitions, since the words “luck” and “recognition” are abstract and are used mainly in singular. Therefore, we are removing these answer options.
4. Analyze the meaning of the remaining options (achievement, evaluation, victory). Think something like this:
Achievement is what a person receives with the help of certain efforts, what he strived for;
Assessment is something that does not depend on the person himself; assessment is given by someone from the outside; grade is also a school grade;
Victory is what a person gets as a result of some kind of competition, battle, etc.
In terms of their meaning, the words “achievement” and “victory” are most similar, which name what a person can achieve himself, with the help of certain efforts. This means that we also remove the word “assessment”.
5. Compare the meanings of the words “achievement” and “victory.” Look what it's about we're talking about in the text – about the result of effort or luck in competition?
6. Pay attention to the context in which the word “success” is used in the text. The next sentence talks about the child's efforts and abilities.
Therefore, a synonym for the word “success” is “achievement” as positive result effort.
By purchasing a package or, in addition to the tests, you will get access to the continuation of this article, which examines such types of tasks as 1. True, False, Not Said 2. Determining the meaning of a word 3. Selecting the correct statement.
Best regards, website development team
PS:Be sure to watch a short video about our service:
Verbal test (verbal ability test, verbal analysis test) - what is it and how to pass it? We will tell you about all the nuances and help you prepare for successful completion tests for verbal abilities, if you participate in the Leaders of Russia competition or get a job in one of the companies conducting verbal tests.
Why verbal tests?neededto the employer
ALL the largest employers in Russia and the world use verbal tests for the initial selection of applicants for vacancies. These are mining and energy companies: Gazprom, Rosatom, Rosneft, Lukoil, Bashneft; retailers: Pyaterochka, Magnit, X5 Retail Group, METRO, IKEA; consulting and auditing companies: PWC, Deloitte, E companies in the FMCG sector and many others.
Before being interviewed for a position, you and other candidates may be asked to take a number of tests. Tasks for verbal thinking allow you to assess the ability to correctly perceive written information, analyze and interpret it.
The test results reveal the candidate’s ability to:
- draw logical conclusions from business-related reading materials (reports, practical guides etc.);
- create organizational documentation and reports independently;
- accurately formulate business questions and present information to colleagues, managers, and clients.
How is verbal testing performed?
To pass each test you are given certain time. Usually, based on 30-60 seconds per question. Only 1-2% of unprepared respondents can answer all questions correctly within the time limit.
Verbal testing is based on text fragments. The topics of the passages may be in the areas of social, physical or biological sciences, business areas (marketing, economics, management by human resourses etc.). You need to read short text, understand what we are talking about, and answer a number of questions.
Employers use 2 main types of verbal tests:
- tests “true - false - I can’t say”
- verbal analysis tests
Below you will find examples and answers for both types of these tests.
An example of a verbal test “true - false - I can’t say”:
Read the passage and say whether the statements are true.
“There are 7 species of wild deer in the UK. Red deer and roe deer are related species. Fawn deer were introduced by the Romans, and from the seventeenth century they were joined by three other non-native species: the sika (Japanese spotted), the muntiac ("barking" deer), and the Chinese water deer, which escaped from the parks.
Most of the UK's red deer are found in Scotland, but there are significant wild populations in the eastern, southern and north-western parts of England, as well as the north Midlands. The red deer can interbreed with the Japanese shika deer, and hybrids are common in some areas.”
- All the red deer in the UK are found in Scotland.
- Red deer can interbreed with sika deer.
- The UK is not home to sika deer.
For each of these statements, you can choose only one answer:
- A) Correct - matches the information presented in the passage.
- B) Incorrect - contradicts information obtained from the text.
- C) I can’t say - the fragment does not say anything about this or there is not enough information to make such a conclusion.
Correct answer for this example For the verbal test, see the end of the article. Try to figure out the answer yourself first. This test usually takes 30 seconds to solve.
Verbal analysis tests are usually more difficult. They may have 3 or more answer options. Your task is to determine which of the statements given in the task answers the test question. Below you will find an example of a verbal analysis test for one of the FMCG companies:
An example of a verbal analysis test:
For the correct answer for this example verbal test, see the end of the article. Try to figure out the answer yourself first.
Important! When answering questions, do not use your knowledge, rely only on information from the text. Read the text carefully to understand general meaning. Then try to apply each statement from the question to the corresponding part of the text.
HR agents prepare tests for different positions different levels difficulties. It is clear that the tasks for junior specialists will be much easier than for management team. Verbal analysis tests for executives and top positions can be very difficult.
How to pass verbal tests successfully
- Don't rush to give an answer.
The text passages are deliberately written in a complex style, so it is easy to perceive the information not entirely correctly. Before choosing the desired option, carefully read the statement 2-3 times.
- Keep calm.
Anxiety interferes with concentration and directly affects test performance. Difficulty staying calm during oral test or in a noisy office. Before important date We recommend that you get a good night's sleep, and on this day take a light sedative and tune in to a positive wave.
- Take as many practice tests as possible.
The secret to success and self-confidence lies in preparation. Practice tests will help you become familiar with the style of text passages. During preparation, you will learn to “unravel” complex fragments over time. This way you will know exactly what awaits you.
- Keep track of the time.
In most cases, you are given 30-60 seconds per question to complete verbal tests. Don't waste your time! Immediately see how many questions are associated with one statement in order to correctly distribute precious minutes.
- Complete the simple tasks first.
Remember! For the time it takes you to try to understand complex issue, you can answer several others. Therefore, go through clear tasks first. You will return to the statements that cause you difficulty at the end.
If you get stuck, reread the sentence from the end. Break complex sentences into separate small statements to understand the essence of each of them and draw a logical conclusion.
Sometimes the number of texts that need to be processed is more than you can manage in a certain amount of time. Therefore, just try to give as many correct answers as possible and in no case act on luck.
If you have the opportunity to take the test online at home, then you will not be hampered by anxiety due to the unfamiliar environment of someone else's office. But there is a temptation to take the help of a friend. We don't recommend this. First, you will waste time arguing over answers. And secondly, even a friend who has successfully passed 10 such tests can be wrong. Rely only on yourself.
What result should you strive for?
This question is difficult to answer, since your testing results will be compared with the results of your competitors. The entry threshold is calculated based on the results of the majority. You can answer 75% of the questions correctly and be among the leaders, because the majority of applicants for the position scored 60-65%. Or you can pass 80% and remain “overboard”, because your competitors turned out to be stronger.
Evaluates the results special program. The HR agent sees only the result in percentages and percentiles*.
*Percentile is an indicator of how often it occurs this result among others obtained in the sample. Its value allows you to divide the test results into ranks - high (75th percentile or more), average (> 50 and up to 75) and low (< 25 и до 50). Numeric value interpreted as: "55 percentile - the candidate did better on the test than 55% of other applicants."
What conclusion can be drawn from this? Don't strive for any specific result, just try to answer most of the questions correctly. Any educated person can take verbal reasoning tests.
If you are a participant in the Leaders of Russia competition or are applying for a job, then most likely, in addition to the verbal test, you will have to pass numerical test and a test of abstract logical thinking. Read more about these tests in our special articles:
Your main enemies are anxiety and lack of time. In order not to get confused in right moment, prepare in advance and practice on verbal, numerical and logic tests from site. This way you can identify your weaknesses and strengths, and also remove the fear of the unknown.
Start preparing now or look at examples of free verbal tests:
Answers to example tests:
Test “true - false - I can’t say”:
C - I can't say. This is not directly stated in the text, and we can only use this information.
Verbal Analysis Test:
