Questions RE aptitude test

matth · Post by **matth** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 4:12 pm

Hi all,

I am slated to write the aptitude test in QM this weekend, and I've got a few questions. Apologies in advance if they were posted before, I read through this section of the forum and could not find anything.

What is the dress for the aptitude test?

I'm planning to arrive 20-30 minutes before the tests start -- how early in advance is the room opened, or does it depend on where it's being held?

I've read many questions about how to answer if you're really stumped on a question -- quality vs quantity. Which is the correct answer? I'm leaning towards quality, since they're designed to be nearly impossible to complete...

Thanks in advance!

bucks · Post by **bucks** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 4:45 pm

First, you can wear pretty much what you want.. there were people in suits and people in a t-shirt and jeans.. I wore a good shirt with no tie and a good pair of pants.. I'd think that's probably the right level of dress..

Second, at my testing they didn't open the testing room until about 5 min before. Although you do have to sign in and pay up before you start and that takes place prior to entering the testing room, therefore you must arrive early. Plus its not polite to be late.

Third, I wouldn't recomend quantity over quality, I was talking to a guy who I figured was a pretty smart guy.. after the test it sounded like we did about the same except he said he found a "pattern" in one of the tests and completed it.. well needless to say there are no patterns or if there are the one he found wasn't real because he didn't get an interview.. moral of the story? just work quickly and avoid guessing.. if you don't know.. skip that question move on to the next one.. I think they not only count the number you get right but they compare that number with the number you attempted (i.e. if you get 10 right out of 10 attempted thats slow but good... if you get 10 right out of 20 your quick but you make a lot of mistakes.. personally I'd rather have my flight delayed that crash). I only finished one of the tests and I still got an interview so just be aware of the time but don't stress about it.

Anyways that's just my advice take it or leave it and good luck on your tests

yrp · Post by **yrp** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 4:46 pm

There is no dress code. Most people when I wrote were business casual-ish. It was the same person running the test that did my interview, so something better than jeans might be an idea.

The room didn't open until a few minutes before my test, but being early is a lot better than late for your mental state.

I asked at my testing session about guessing. The woman said they evaluate you both on quantity and accuracy, meaning don't guess. But I have heard people on forums say that their tester said the opposite. Maybe ask at your session.

Overall, IMHO, I'd suggest not guessing (at least not blindly guessing when you run out of time - it's different if you are almost but not 100% sure of the answer). The testing is set up so most people do _not_ finish all questions. They want to make sure that you are under stress, and to see how quickly you can work. But they want accuracy under stress. So if you ran out of time and guessed for the last 20% of the questions, I suspect you would hurt yourself more than help.

NJ · Post by NJ » Sun Oct 21, 2007 4:47 pm

Dress was all over the place at the one I went to. I just wore a dress shirt with slacks, no tie. Not sure when the rooms open, but your plan seems okay. There was water and coffee served available at mine.

With the questions, if you can't answer one with certainty, don't guess, Skip it. The questions in each category get harder as you go as well. Budget your time. If it's an hour long section with 50 questions, you'll have about a minute per question with some wiggle room there. The one I took the longest on was the behavioral analysis (or whatever it's called: the psychobabble one). But that one wasn't timed, so I took my sweet time.

The sections can be finished, I finished all mine with ample time to stare out the window, or have some heads down time like in elementary school. People work at different speeds.

Oh, and make sure to bring $200 + tax and your resume.

Dreamin · Post by **Dreamin** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 5:21 pm

Anybody have any idea what the percentage of people who pass the test move onto the interview? Than the percentage that move onto the waiting list? Once again the percentage of people who move onto training from the waiting list? I would think that chances are now a days that alot of people would rather go to the rigs where the money is blowing out of their chimnies. So reduction of applicants is expected. I did my first test session in casual clothes, although I dont think its a huge deal if yer not semi formal. I met people there who were wearing ripped jeans and harley's davidson clothing. Point is, they may not be looking at yer clothes at this time as they are assessing your brain. But with all respects......

When it comes to the interview, I did mine in my underwear heh(phone interview). Has anyone else been interviewed by Stephen laramee? He I think is the president of his company that is now affiliated with SHL in selection.

AUGER9 · Post by **AUGER9** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 7:22 am

Anyone know how often they hold the testing sessions for atc? In Toronto specifically.

lilfssister · Post by **lilfssister** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:34 am

Here's the link to the testing schedule. Looks like nothing in Toronto on the list (but it only goes to late November). Also, I know it says FSS, but it's all the same test, linked from this page which mentions both FSS and ATC : http://www.navcanada.ca/NavCanada.asp?L ... efault.xml

http://www.navcanada.ca/ContentDefiniti ... ion_EN.pdf

matth · Post by **matth** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 2:01 pm

Thanks for the answers guys, appreciate it !!

invertedattitude · Post by **invertedattitude** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:04 pm

Dress code, just don't dress like a slob.

Guess, well you shouldn't really have to guess at too many if you're doing OK.

You're not going to finish each section so don't try to rush through it, get the answers right (unless the test changed)

Speaking as someone who has recently been qualified, and went through the SHL application process, enjoy the ride, it's a wild one

I assume you're writing at the centre, might see you there. Best of luck to you.

matth · Post by **matth** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:36 pm

invertedattitude wrote:I assume you're writing at the centre, might see you there. Best of luck to you.

Unfortunately not - we're at the Delta Beauséjour.

invertedattitude · Post by **invertedattitude** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:08 pm

Well at least you're $236 is going towards some free ice water and a nicely painted boardroom

Alex YCV · Post by **Alex YCV** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 4:35 pm

Dreamin wrote:Anybody have any idea what the percentage of people who pass the test move onto the interview? .

From what I saw when I went through the process last year, out of about 60 people who did the test in Montreal maybe a half a dozen to 10 got an interview, and beyond that I am not sure (I got N/G after that point). I think some of the interviews at that point were looking for people for FSS, as they were really pushing for FSS in Quebec.

So my guess would be about 10-15% to interviews, and then a number significantly less than that to the waiting list.

Braun · Post by **Braun** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 7:28 pm

When did you write your tests, im curious as to how many people got called back from my session.

Alex YCV · Post by **Alex YCV** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:05 pm

Me? About this same time last year. I am just cueing myself up for another run at it, maybe early december in Toronto instead of in Montreal.

My feeling is that whatever stopped me last time will once again stop the process this time around. I don't appear to have an issues passing the tests, but something after isn't working for me.

renfley · Post by **renfley** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:33 pm

I wrote the tests in January of this year, got the interview approx 2 months later. I had to wait another 3 months before I could get my French telephone interview, SHL contracted that out to another firm and I guess they were a bit busy. Anyhow I finally got the call saying I was selected for IFR Training in Late September.

I start training on Jan 21, 2008 so... from first test to start a training it took a year, give or take a couple days.

MCA · Post by **MCA** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 1:26 pm

IMHO, SHL doesn't give a crap at how you're dressed. most probably the person won't remember you when you will get the interview.

honestly, i was pretty neat for the interview, but not for the test, and it wasn't a problem.

remember: don't get fooled by idiots sitting next to you and make you feel miserable because they answered all the questions and you did not, or "found a pattern in one of the tests"... they will probably fail it, anyway! mind your own business, keep it cool, the rest will follow.

good luck to all!

invertedattitude · Post by **invertedattitude** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 2:25 pm

MCA wrote:
remember: don't get fooled by idiots sitting next to you and make you feel miserable because they answered all the questions and you did not, or "found a pattern in one of the tests"... they will probably fail it, anyway! mind your own business, keep it cool, the rest will follow.

good luck to all!

Great advice there!

Alex YCV · Post by **Alex YCV** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 5:07 pm

invertedattitude wrote:
MCA wrote:
remember: don't get fooled by idiots sitting next to you and make you feel miserable because they answered all the questions and you did not, or "found a pattern in one of the tests"... they will probably fail it, anyway! mind your own business, keep it cool, the rest will follow.

good luck to all!
Great advice there!

It was one of the things that they made clear at my test: It isn't about getting all the questions done. I wouldn't be shocked if the tests very specifically have been made to assure that you never finish.

What I noticed wasn't so much anyone finishing fast so much as a number of people groaning as the tests were over and a few people appearing to be quite stressed out. I don't get it, because it is an aptitude test, not an absolute test. Do your best, do it well, and the system will find you if you are right for the deal.

grimey · Post by **grimey** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 7:40 am

Alex YCV wrote:It was one of the things that they made clear at my test: It isn't about getting all the questions done. I wouldn't be shocked if the tests very specifically have been made to assure that you never finish.

Pretty much. It's possible to finish the tests (I finished a couple of them, and didn't finish others, though I'd be very surprised if I got 100% on any), but it is hard. They want to have a good idea of exactly how good you are, rather than "uh, he's better than the 50% of people who didn't get a perfect score". So it's designed such that only those with aptitudes *WAY* to the right of the bell curve will finish them all and get them all right. So if you have a specific aptitude in the 80th, 90th, 98th or 99th percentile, they want to know that. You don't need to get ranked in the 99.999th percentile to get an interview.

Take your time, and don't make wild-assed guesses. That doesn't mean don't answer if you're not absolutely sure, but don't go C-A-B-D all down the chart.

matth · Post by **matth** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:16 am

Well I wrote it. It's what I expected it to be, thanks to the stories I read here and elsewhere.

Now it's time to play the waiting game !

invertedattitude · Post by **invertedattitude** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 10:21 am

How'd it go Matt? Think you did well?

matth · Post by **matth** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 2:08 pm

invertedattitude wrote:How'd it go Matt? Think you did well?

I think it went OK. There were 11 of us in the morning session -- five or so were missing. We got through the first three tests by 10am (Math, spatial reasoning, diagramming), took a break, then went back for verbal evaluation, audio checking, and the personality test.

Before we started, one of the other applicants asked if they could use a calculator during the math section.. should have seen the look on the SHL guy's face.

Cujo3398 · Post by **Cujo3398** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 3:18 pm

I wrote my test 2 weeks ago wore a sweater and jeans. got an interview, was thinking of wearing one of them jamaican hats with the dreads sewn in

matth · Post by **matth** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 2:54 pm

Well just past the 4 week mark, and I heard back from NC. They tried to contact me to schedule an interview, and sent an email stating such.. along with a call-back number. I've completely lost my voice from a wicked cold, so I am not sure how well I'll sound when I give Chantal a call in the morning.

invertedattitude · Post by **invertedattitude** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 4:25 pm

Just explain to them you're sick, I wouldn't worry much about it.