Civil Service Aptitude test

belfastgal

Has anyone done an aptitude test for admin positions in the civil service? I have a test next friday and hav no idea about what kinds of questions they ask...

Also someone said it is extremely hard to get the test finished because there are too many questions for the time allocated. Is it better to get more correct answers but answer fewer questions or answer most questions but maybe with some error??

Any help is much appreciated

brandyslad

Hi there,

I took the civil service aptitude test (unsuccessfully) a few years back. It is not really difficult it was the time element that caught me. I didn't get finished. I googled civil service aptitude tests there and there are practice test online, now whether they are relevant to the NI ones I am not sure. Try and go through as many questions as you can, and if they allow you keep your mobile on your desk as a time keeper but set it to beep once two or three minutes from the end so you can race through and put at least a guess beside all the questions as time finished before I could even do this as I was that busy trying to get them right. If they don't allow you to use your mobile use a watch with an alarm and preset it to do one beep. Better to have something down that nothing at all.
Good luck!

zfrl

I took this & passed - it was a few years ago!
The idea is you read the question & if you can answer do, if not go on to the next question. If you have time at the end go back to any you have not answered. The trick is not to hang around on questions you are unsure of - make sure you answer all the ones you know.

Good luck.

jenny-wren

I passed the test a few years ago. It's rare that anyone completes all the questions so please don't worry about that. There is always the temptation to look around the room to see who's finished and who hasn't. The ones who finish before the time is up are undoubtedly the ones that don't get through!!!

The test is very structured. You will be given instructions on what will happen before each section of the test when you arrive. Listen carefully and work through each section at your own pace. If you get stuck on a question don't worry. Just skip it and go on to the next one. If you have time left you can always go back. It worked for me!

I hope it goes well for you.

Mar.cresham

Iv one to do on the 14th and not looking forward to it at all.

Dont have a clue what their going to ask in the test

jenny-wren

They normally send out a practice booklet so you know what to expect in the test. Make sure you go through it a few times to see what speed you should be working at and be sure you understand why you got answers wrong.

I found the general aptitude test so much easier than the graduate entry one (which needless to say I didn't pass!).

Try not to get flustered. If you can't do a question don't sweat it. Just move on to the next one. I remember being really worried that I hadn't answered all the questions in the time given but, as long as you keep calm and work at a steady pace, you should be fine.

NAR

The test is designed to test people to the extent of finding the most suitable candidates for the job. Read and answer as quickly as you can; guess those you don't know.
You may be amazed by the number of graduates that fail the test - I am not! :rotfl:

Indo77

There is no 1 civil service test but many. Depending on the job you are applying for it will be either easy or extremely difficult. The IT test I did 5 years ago was the worst exam I have ever did; I was prewarned.

thriftyminx13

don't do what i did and write on the booklet that said don't write here!!!! and take a watch!

weeclick

I actually worked for the NICS Hr department up until late last year before setting up my own business. I dealt with people going to tests everyday, so believe me when I say your not the only one who hasn't a clue what to expect.

The best thing to do is answer what you can as quick as you can, but dont rush so much that you make silly mistakes! There are loads of questions and you'd be surprised the amount of people that dont get a chance of finishing.

Once the test is over dont expect results striaght away, infact dont expect them for weeks! The contact centre used to get flooded with calls of people wanting to know if they passed, theres nothing more frustrating on your part that you spend so long passing security and getting your details up to be told you wont get your results for weeks yet. Its company policy that they don't give results out over the phone, you'll find out by letter, unless your really lucky and someone from recruitment team calls you directly!

Then youve got the interview stage to worry about! After interview, if your still lucky to be in the running you may have another few months wait - everyone has to get security cleared, the HR Connect dont deal with this directly, its sent off and can take anything up to 10 weeks to come back cleared. Basically the whole process is long and tiring!

If you dont get passed the test then I wouldnt worry to much, 1000s apply for each job, and many people have been applying for jobs for years in NICS before they finally get something lol.

All the best of luck, and if you have any more specific questions just PM me and I'll help you as much as I can!

p_a_u_l_3

Does anybody here have any information about the permanent aa competition (SB/51/08) that was advertised last October? I sat the test in December, but they only sent me the test result a few weeks ago, and asked me to complete security checks. Does this mean I’m definitely going to be made an offer or do they go through pre-appointment formalities with all candidates who pass the test?