Why might dyslexia cause you difficulties?

Dyslexia can cause difficulties in reading, writing and spelling. It has also been associated with impairments in working memory, processing speed, perception and motor skills.  These skills and functions are called upon when potential employees are asked to complete aptitude tests as part of the recruitment process.  It is possible then that candidates with dyslexia are somewhat disadvantaged in this process, particularly when undertaking literacy-based psychometric tests (e.g. verbal reasoning and verbal comprehension tests).

How can you help the employer help you?

In line with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, employers are aware of their legal responsibility to select candidates through a fair and non-discriminatory system.  However, as a candidate, there are a number of steps you can take to help your potential employers make the necessary amendments.

Firstly, it is important to inform the organisation as soon as possible that you have dyslexia. They may want to ask you further details on your diagnosis and the severity of your difficulties. It is commonly understood that dyslexia affects each individual differently and so it is likely that your potential employers will want to know the specific impact on you and your test performance. It may also be useful to inform them about adjustments made for you during previous test or exam situations (e.g. increased time allowance or the use of a scribe).

What next?

Finally, it can be beneficial to familiarise yourself with the types of aptitude tests you will be expected to complete. At AssessmentDay, we have a range of practice papers that will enable you to experience different kinds of psychometric tests; including verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning and inductive reasoning. This will allow both you to anticipate what, if any, difficulties you may encounter on the assessment day and will give you a great opportunity to practice your skills.

4th-5th October 2011: Students from the University of Oxford attend a simulated numerical reasoning test and Q&A session facilitated by AssessmentDay.

Oliver Savill from AssessmentDay recently visited the University of Oxford to deliver two practice numerical reasoning sessions. A simulated test formed part of two whole-day assessment centre bootcamps organised by the university Careers Service. On each day students learnt more about the assessment centres used by graduate employers, and also go to practise the types of exercises used.

The simulated numerical reasoning tests were held in the ISIS computer lab where students got to sit an online test and receive feedback on their score. The practice tests were followed by a ‘top-tips’ presentation and a question-and-answer session. Most graduate employers use psychometric testing as part of their selection process so the students were keen to find out more about the tests. Below is a video clip from parts of the two practice test sessions.

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For more information about this event, including having AssessmentDay visit your university, please contact us on 02074 333166 or info@assessmentday.co.uk.

At Assessment Day, we are well aware that finding a job is not as easy for everyone. Not only is finding a specific job that is likely to stimulate and edify you going to be hard, but once you find those few rare potential careers, you are likely to be up against a huge amount of competition.

We also know that there are ways to help you in such a situation. From visiting us to take a free psychometric test in preparation for the interview process to actively expanding your experience and qualifications, everything from the skills you have to the way in which you conduct yourself in an interview will make a major difference to how easy or hard it is to get a job.

Therefore, how hard it is to find the right job will be different for everybody. With more and more people leaving university with strong degrees, the competition for every single job is tougher than ever and standing out is more and more important. The more you can do to give yourself the edge, the easier it will be to get your foot in the door.

As such, more and more companies are actively using online aptitude tests to more easily distinguish between otherwise extremely similar candidates. By having as much experience and as many qualifications as possible, and by practicing the likes of numerical reasoning tests you are far more likely to look right on paper and prove yourself to be right in practice too.

When you are looking to fill a vacancy, you are likely to be faced with a wide variety of applicants. Finding out which one is going to be the perfect candidate is not always easy since loyalties towards those already in the company along with the ability of other applicants to ‘blag’ their way through interviews can all mean that the true perfect candidate can be totally overlooked.

Seeing someone’s ability within your own company may well blind you as to whether or not they are suitable for a different role, and understanding if certain skills can be utilised in other areas can be difficult.

In both situations, online psychometric tests can help. These tests can instantly help you to see past any bravado or certain gifts for the gab to see the core potential of an individual. Whilst someone may have the perfect skills to see them excel in a role, they might also get nervous in interviews which could obscure their potential to those who are conducting an interview. The right online tests can establish everything from their levels of abstract reasoning to simply how their personality is likely to fit in with your current team.

Using the right tests will help to put candidates more at ease and remove a great deal of the stress of a normal interview environment, allowing you to see far more effectively just how they perform, whether you need to understand their skills of verbal reasoning or just how well they are likely to interact with others.

So, you’ve been told that you need to take an aptitude test for a job you have applied for. If you have never taken such a test, you are probably not going to know what to expect. So just what are these tests used to establish?

Firstly, it is worth noting that not all tests are going to be the same. Whilst a great many will be used to discover more about a candidate’s personality traits along with their strengths and weaknesses, other tests can be far more specific, focusing on anything from numerical reasoning to contextual understanding.

They can be very specific in the way that they are used, allowing employers to very succinctly gauge a candidate’s suitability to a specific role and they can also simply be used to work out how easy a person will fit into a certain work environment.

For those who have never taken such tests before, it can be very beneficial to find out exactly what is going to be in store. At Assessment Day, we offer you the chance to practice psychometric tests to understand exactly what you are likely to be faced with. Not only will practicing such a test help you to feel more relaxed by removing uncertainty but practicing such tests can also simply help you to get better at them too.

By being prepared for such a test, the levels of stress and anxiety on the day are likely to be vastly reduced meaning that not only are you likely to better at any test, but also that you will be more relaxed during any interview you are given too.

With any vacancy which a candidate is applying for, no matter what the number of people interested in this position is it should be remembered that the person who wants to work in a particular environment needs to demonstrate that they have the required skills in order for them to impress even at a pre-interview stage and, when the time comes, meeting the employer face to face. One way in particular in which this can be achieved is through aptitude tests and this is a service which we are more than able to provide an excellent service in but just like any type of testing there are multiple versions of aptitude testing with each of them having a different purpose.

Inductive reasoning is designed for those who need to be tested on their logical problem solving skills. This mental calculation is carried out in highly skilled environments such as technical sectors which include engineering. Inductive reasoning tests can be completed at AssessmentDay and we can prepare you for the style of test which you are about to experience. Being prepared for any test means we can suggest both tips and the questions which will be offered to you so that when the time comes your level of preparation means that the test which will need to be completed will not cause untold quantities of stress as attending an AssessmentDay would have helped immensely.

Being readily available for whatever your aptitude test has to offer not only makes good common sense but it creates a great first impression.

For businesses to maximise their profits their profit margin needs to be heading in the right direction, and this can be achieved thanks to psychometric tests that can range in price from free of charge to moderate amounts.

Assessment centre advice is fast becoming popular with many businesses and organisations as well as individuals who might want to improve their skills before completing their actual test that will determine if they have obtained a particular position. A psychometric test can be carried out in assessment centres that employ dedicated members of staff which allows for our skills and expertise to come across perfectly which can assist those who might be nervous about completing their psychometric test. In an assessment centre, exercises allows for the nerves of these candidates to be lessened to such an extent that we are proud to say we make it our priority to make all of the candidates feel comfortable about this future experience.

At an assessment centre, advice can also be given as well. If a candidate has not passed the test, tips and suggestions on what to do differently can be provided and the test can then be retaken. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect and at an assessment centre we are able to provide this popular service.

By regularly testing a person’s ability to complete their job successfully means that the person who might have worked at a particular company for several months or years can find out if their skills have improved or need altering so that they are able to provide an effective performance in an environment which might be very high pressured.

We are able to provide online psychometric tests for companies, businesses and organisations of any size. Whether it is conducting or filtering to find out the best candidate for a particular position or for whatever reason that tests a persons’ skill, an online psychometric test provides this value for money service that shows a certain type of dedication which produces excellent efficiency levels.

There are many versions of an online psychometric test and one of these is numerical reasoning practice tests. Unlike when a person completes the actual test, a practice test means that they will become further familiar with what they are about to expect. We understand completely that taking tests is not to everyone’s taste as they might be nervous but through our own online tests this allows for someone’s numerical skills to fully materialise.

Verbal reasoning practice tests are similar to their numerical neighbours but this allows for a candidate working in an environment which requires verbal reasoning with high profiled customers or clients to take full command as they will know exactly what to say and how to do this successfully time after time. This is a skill which can be improved and through a verbal reasoning practice test this allows for exactly that.

Depending on how many people apply for a particular listed vacancy, it doesn’t matter if it is five or five hundred people which apply by seeking the best person for this position not only makes good business sense but it means that holding another round of interview costs time and money. However, in order for this to be reduced then there is a way forward for any business or corporation finding out for themselves about the many useful ways in which online psychometric tests are helping towards cutting down the cost of employing a or a multiple number of candidates.

An online psychometric test can come in many forms and some are available which allows for the score to not determine the final result of a candidate’s online psychometric score. A practice psychometric test allows for those who take the tests to become familiar with their surroundings before deciding to take the final online test that will determine what their score is. Practice psychometric tests allow for a person to not be nervous about what they are about to experience and are generally known to improve the score of the actual online psychometric test. A practice psychometric test demonstrates a companies’ dedication to finding the right candidate and as we offer this test this makes any companies goals achievable and reachable.

Free psychometric test advice is available as well and we have extensive experience of providing this for many. Any of our free psychometric tests allows for those interested to become further familiarised with what they are about to undertake.

Companies are constantly looking for ways to reduce their expenditures and remove waste of any kind, this can be achieved through many ways but one other useful and commercially viable method that this can be achieved is through conducting online aptitude tests.

As with all aptitude tests, an online aptitude test means that we can help businesses and organisations to test candidates for whatever reason they feel fit. If a business works in an environment which is led by numeracy, numerical reasoning allows for the candidate taking the test to find out how good their own personal numeracy skills are. Even if the person has been working for a company for an extended period of time, their skills in this area might have dwindled for one reason or another but through numerical reasoning tests means that this testing can be conducted in a positive environment which allows for the candidate to feel completely relaxed, therefore giving them the foundations for the most positive scores to be achieved.

Then again, if a business operates in a sector in society which means that it is needed for communication with high-profile customers and clients than a verbal reasoning test is the choice made by many. This type of aptitude test allows for their verbal skills to be examined, such as the way in which they reason and understand a client’s body language, and this allows for any potential areas which would need to be worked on so that full maximisation of the candidates talents emerge.