Have you discovered that the company that you’re interested in uses one of the SHL assessments in their hiring process, but you’re not sure which one you should prepare for because you don’t know which of them you’re about to encounter?
If you’re worried about studying for the wrong thing or if you do not know what to expect in the SHL, you are not alone.
Even today, there are a lot of aspiring professionals out there that have no idea on where to begin or what they should do in order to tackle the SHL effectively.
While some shrug it off as just your run-of-the-mill pre-employment test, many of them take SHL practice tests so they can stand out from the rest of the applicants and increase their chances of landing the job. This means that if you want to have a solid chance in getting selected, you will have to do the same and produce good, if not exemplary, results in the SHL assessments.
Here are a number of tips and tricks that can help you prepare for most of the SHL tests:
Read up on the duties and responsibilities of the position you are applying for!
One of the greatest missteps that you can do as an applicant when taking the SHL Situational Judgement Test is not knowing what are the duties and responsibilities of the position that you are applying for.
This exam, which usually follows a multiple-choice format, requires you to solve a conflict or problem that is commonly encountered in the workplace. This can range from simple arguments between you and another coworker to a full-blown encounter with an angry customer after you did something wrong.
By reading up on the duties and responsibilities of the job that you want, you will have an idea on what you should do.
Furthermore, you should also carefully read if the question is asking which of the choices is the BEST or the WORST course of action to take.
This is because some question banks are also designed to see if the test-taker is paying close attention to the question, just not the passage and the courses of action presented.
How to tackle the SHL Personality Test effectively: Examine the company’s core values
Personality tests are the bane of most applicants, not just those who need to take the SHL personality assessment.
Because of its survey type format, it is more difficult to prepare for, as you cannot be certain if the statement that you are agreeing or disagreeing with is ideal for the employee that the company is looking for.
Fortunately, the most efficient way to tackle this type of SHL test is usually hung up in plain view in the reception room or on the company website.
Namely, you just have to look up their mission, vision, and core values because they pattern the SHL personality test results to fit the traits and qualities of the ideal employee that the company wants.
You should also take into consideration the duties and responsibilities of the position that you are applying for.
This means that if you’re aiming for a job that requires constant interaction with customers or clients, then you should also show good interpersonal skills among others.
If the job you want requires you to be highly attentive and analytical, like say a data analyst, then your answers should reflect this nature.
Be careful not to select too many ‘extreme’ answers in the personality test
Although we advised you to tailor your answers to present yourself as the most ideal candidate for the company to pick for the job, you should be careful not to invalidate your SHL personality test profile.
This is because if you only agree with statements that yield a positive personality trait while completely disagreeing with every negative one, the algorithm of the exam will issue a warning to your prospective employer stating your responses are not reliable or that you purposely manipulated it.
So even if you gave a good impression at the initial interviews or provided a strong resume, the company will not hesitate to turn you away if they see this result.
It also doesn’t matter if you didn’t mean to select those answers or if you didn’t know about this because the company will most likely take the side of the results as a precaution.
Get as much practice as you can!
For the SHL General Ability Test, the best way to prepare is to practice for them as much as you can because they will test several skills that are directly related to your ability to function as an employee of theirs such as your:
- Numerical Reasoning Skills
- Verbal Reasoning Skills
- Inductive Reasoning Skills
- Deductive Reasoning Skills
For specific industries and positions, however, these SHL tests can be specialized:
- The Calculation Skills Test for jobs that involve a lot of math like accounting and bookkeeping.
- The Mechanical Reasoning Skills Test for mechanical and engineering jobs.
- The Reading Comprehension Skills Test for jobs that require a keen eye for detail where there are a lot of legal or work documents.
Considering the broad number of subjects and subtopics contained within these exams, the best way to tackle them is to take up a lot of practice or mock tests.
This is so that you can be familiar with the contents of the SHL itself, no matter which one you have to take.
Whether online or not, these practice tests contain questions that are similar or near-similar to the ones that you can see in the actual SHL exam. Considering the fact that companies will compare the results of each candidate, it is likely that the one with the higher or highest score will be the one to proceed to the next part of the hiring process.
This means that even a single point can prove the difference between being hired or not, and by becoming familiar with the SHL, you can gain an advantage over the applicants.
