Crossing the first hurdle

posted more than an year ago | category : Interviews

Rajesh, an Engineer and an MBA graduate with distinction from a reputed management institute, was shocked to learn that he had not cleared the aptitude test for recruitment into a top IT company during campus recruitment.

With this setback, he almost went into a depression and landed in front of a career consultant. The analysis of the consultant was:

Rajesh had answered 56 questions out of 70; 52 were correct and 4 were wrong. With negative marking, Rajesh had scored 48/70; with 69% against 70% cutoff, eliminated in the aptitude test.
Rajesh had overspent time on first section of verbal reasoning, missing many questions in the quantitative section. Being an engineer, he could have easily cleared the section and got through the test.
The consultant discovered that Rajesh tried answering all questions, which was a wrong strategy.
The case of Rajesh isn’t unique and many seemingly good candidates often fail the aptitude tests, which is a process of elimination to bring down the number of candidates.

Recruitment format
A typical recruitment process comprises aptitude tests followed by group discussions and personal interview. An aptitude test, also known as psychometric test, has quantitative and verbal reasoning questions with multiple answers to choose from, in a limited time.

So, if you are in the last phase of your course and preparing for campus recruitment, following guideline should prove useful:

Know your aptitude
Aptitude tests differ depending on the job and company profile. Importantly, ensure you have the aptitude for the job, as these tests seek to assess aptitude, numerical and verbal skills, as required to perform the job. For example, if you are an introvert applying for a sales job, your unsuitability will come out in the aptitude test.

Awareness of the job profile
Research and assess the job profile, the environment in which you will operate and be conscious of the challenges you may have to face. Match the job profile to your skill sets to know your suitability. In case there are weaknesses, work on them.

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