Learn More About SHL Pre-employment Tests

Does the company for which you applied require you to take the SHL test and you want to get prepared before you set foot in an examination room? Then, you are in the right place.

What is SHL?

SHL, also known as SHL Group Ltd, is an organization that develops and offers employers different tests, the majority of which are psychometric. The company is headquartered in Surbiton, Surrey, the United Kingdom, but also has smaller offices worldwide.

The idea behind the creation of SHL tests is to help employers to recruit only those applicants who will make the most meaningful contribution to their business. By implementing the SHL test into their hiring process, employers succeed in eliminating unpromising candidates at its early stages and invite to interviews only those applicants who possess skills required for their prospective roles.

Results from the SHL tests help recruiters build a comprehensive and pretty accurate picture of candidates’ cognitive abilities and professionalism, which increases the fairness of the winnowing process.

In addition to psychometric tests, SHL provides also aptitude tests and personality and motivational questionnaires. Every test exists both in paper and online formats, though online assessments at assessment centers have recently gained more popularity among British recruiters. Despite the effectiveness of the SHL tests, only few companies offer them as a part of their pre-employment evaluation in the USA, Europe, Middle East, and Asia.

What Are the SHL Tests?

As a leading producer of psychometric tests in the United Kingdom, SHL has developed a variety of tests, all of which measure job candidates’ various cognitive abilities and skills and are, therefore, widely used by recruitment companies and large organizations. SHL psychometric tests ascertain that job candidates have indeed achieved a certain level of performance before they are invited for telephone or face-to-face interviews.

SHL Aptitude Tests also evaluate how much candidates are suitable for the role for which they are competing, but they rather narrowly focus on specific competencies crucial for success in this role.

If, for example, your position involves analyzing written texts and writing reports, your prospective employees will want, first and foremost, to estimate your reading and written competency and not your ability to calculate. If your role demands working with numbers, then, you will be administered the Numerical Reasoning Test that was designed to measure how well you analyze information presented in statistical tables and charts.

Because SHL Aptitude Tests are so constructed that they zero in on candidates’ specific cognitive abilities, your suitability for the applied position will to a large extent be measured by your results on the given test. Your employers’ hiring decision will also be partly based on how well you do on your examination.

What Tests Does SHL Offer?

SHL Aptitude Tests are numerous, but the most popular of them are the Numerical Reasoning Test, Verbal Reasoning Test, and Logical Reasoning Test.

The Numerical Reasoning Test

On this test, you will be asked to answer questions using information presented in statistical tables, diagrams, and charts. After you have studied the given data, you will see questions on the right-hand side of your screen, each of which will be accompanied by several answers. The Numerical Reasoning Test is a multiple-choice test, with only one right answer among given options. As a rule, no calculators are allowed on the test. You can use only a pen and a scrap of paper, though some companies do let applicants use calculators sometimes. The test is strictly limited in time. You will have less than a minute to answer each question.

The Verbal Reasoning Test

On this test, you will be required to read a passage that may or may not be thematically related to your profession or the position for which you applied. This passage will be accompanied by several statements made about it. Your task will be to assess a truth-value of each of these statements. If a statement confirms the information presented in the passage, mark it as “True.” If it does not sound accurate, check it off as “False.” There will be cases, however, when information in the passage will be insufficient to enable you to draw a conclusion made in the given statement. If so, choose the “Cannot Say” option. Like the Numerical Reasoning Test, the Verbal Reasoning Test has a short time limit.

The Logical Reasoning Test

This test, also known as the Critical Reasoning Test, assesses job candidates’ ability to interpret patterns, number sequences, or relationships between shapes. Although the Logical Reasoning Test is also a multiple-choice test, it does not ask applicants to estimate a truth-value of statements, as the Verbal Reasoning Test does. It rather measures their ability to use structured thinking to deduce from a short passage which of the given statements is the right response to a question. Thus constructed, the Logical Reasoning Test is similar to the Inductive Reasoning Tests, Abstract Reasoning Tests, and the Diagrammatic Tests.

In addition to a variety of Reasoning Tests, SHL offers other Numerical Tests. Among them are the SHL Calculation Test and Numerical Series Tests.

The Calculation Test

This test estimates your ability to add, subtract, divide, and multiply numbers precisely and quickly. On the test, you will have several questions. Each of them will present a mathematical equation with a missing number, usually designated by a question mark (?). You will be given a short time to peruse the equation, after which you will be transmitted to a screen where you will type the value of the omitted number in the equation. Note that a time limit given to complete this test is very short. You will have less than a minute to answer each question.

The Numerical Series Test

On this test, you will be asked to find a missing number in a sequence. The difficulty level of these sequences may vary from simple to complex. In more complex sequences, pay attention to the interval between the given numbers, because it may often contain the key to a sequence. As a rule, these sequence questions consist of four visible numbers and one omitted number. It is advisable to check, first, the arithmetic relationship between the numbers, after which you may look at intervals between them. If you notice relationship neither between numbers nor intervals between them, then there may be two number sequences intertwined in your question.

Sometimes, numbers in the given sequence are substituted for letters of the English alphabet. Because you can perform less arithmetic calculations with letters than with numbers, this version of the Series Test is usually less confusing. If you still feel confused by letters between which you need to find the relationship, treat them as numbers; that is, write underneath each letter a corresponding ordinal number. Thus, the letter C will correspond to number 3; the letter T to 20; the letter V to 22. When you have written a number underneath each letter of the alphabet, you may treat a letter sequence as a number sequence, which will save you a lot of time on your examination.