Aptitude Test has so many types...

...name the job and You will have a different aptitude test!

A fast-changing world means the nature of jobs changes too quick. New posts appear all the time as a result of technology advancements. As with such changes comes the need to employ the correct staff. Consequently, today, the variety of types of aptitude screening tests has never been higher. Here I want to run you through a good selection of these.

Early types of the aptitude Test

Identifying the earliest forms of ability test is hard. For a start, you have to work out what exactly you are testing. Which aptitude? Is it physical capability or mental agility?

In the early days, the bias was towards dexterous rather than mental ability. Businesses were simple, and many were predominantly labor-intensive. An ‘office job’ is more 20th and 21st century. A primary education in the eighteenth and nineteenth century might see you getting work as a clerk.

In the early 1800s, Sir Francis Galton was the first person to create a specific ability test. It related to mental agility. Fifty years later his work was expanded on by two men, Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon. Eventually, in 1915, they produced the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale. The motive behind these types of tests differed from those of today.

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Today you may take an ability test to establish how capable you are in a particular job. Back then the tests were carried to determine how developmentally disabled children were. The philosophy was the same, and the implementation was what differed. Eventually, the work progressed to the USA

In 1916, the first Stanford-Binet intelligence scale was created and adopted by the US military. It was then followed by the well-known SAT, or Scholastic Aptitude test, which is still used today.

The GATB or General Aptitude Test Battery was developed in 1947 from over 100 separate tests for different jobs. The GATB saw these 100 tests condensed into twelve different tests. In turn, these measured nine different aptitudes.

An Aptitude for almost anything

Early on there was a struggle to identify the difference between aptitude and intelligence. Once understood, floodgates opened for the creation of many different types of aptitude or ability tests. Let’s look at what was involved in the GATB. It should give you a good idea of what a test comprises.

GATB takes into account nine principal aptitudes while analyzing your skills.  These included general learning ability and verbal talent. Also, there was spatial aptitude, motor coordination, form perception and finger dexterity. Finally, there was numerical aptitude, clerical understanding, and manual ability.

Today’s type of ability test concentrates on five main aptitudes. Spatial reasoning tests your ability to manipulate specific objects visually. A numerical reasoning aptitude or ability test is often time restricted. Surprisingly, this test has nothing to do with mathematical knowledge. Instead, the test is designed to see how you can interpret figures, graphs, and charts. You may be asked to give your opinion on trading figures. 

A mechanical aptitude or ability test is usually self-explanatory. This type of test examines merely your ability to understand mechanical problems. The verbal aptitude or ability test is again typically a timed test. This will test your skills at analysis. A typical example is for you to be given specific information. You then have to answer questions based on the information provided. The idea is to make you ‘think on your feet.'

Then there is the abstract reasoning test. This is a test where many prospective employers look for good results. The abstract reasoning test is also called a conceptual reasoning test. It is used to measure your ability to think laterally. It also tests to see how well you can see patterns and trends.

So, there are a good number of types of aptitude tests. However, that doesn’t mean there is only this number of actual experiments. Different jobs each have their specific aptitude test. A mechanic’s analysis will differ from a hairdresser’s. An office manager needs a different aptitude to a bus driver. As you can see, no two tests will be the same.

Just think about it. Don’t you want to do something you know you can be good at? You’re more likely to enjoy something you have an aptitude for. There are many types of aptitude test available today. You have nothing to lose by taking one or two. They will help you decide on your future.

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