What are Sova Tests?
Sova is a UK-based psychometric test publisher that creates pre-employment assessments used in a variety of industries. Most often found in corporate recruitment, employers as varied as Primark and British Airways make use of a range of tests that provide reliable indicators of how well a candidate will perform in the future, and how suited they are for the role.
Data-driven and based in organisational psychology, Sova combines reasoning tests with situational judgement and personality assessments to give a 'whole person' view, allowing the recruitment team to see which candidates have the required skills, competencies and personality traits to make them successful in the advertised role.
Businesses can choose to create a bespoke package of tests or use the 'off-the-shelf' version - but all Sova assessments are optimised for precision and fairness, whether they are being used in pre-employment screening or as a tool to understand the developmental needs of staff already in the role.
What are the Different Sova Tests?
The Sova tests are designed to assess all aspects of a candidate. This holistic approach makes Sova tests reliable for the recruiting company, and are a simple and straightforward assessment for you to take.
Ability Assessments
The ability assessments are a combination of several different ways of receiving information, understanding the data and using this to find the answer to a question.
These assessments are not timed, but they are scored by how many questions you answer and how quickly you answer them, so successful candidates must answer both quickly and accurately.
Numerical Reasoning
The numerical reasoning assessment is not a maths test, but it does assess your ability to read, understand and analyse numerical data in the form of a table or graph.
You will be presented with a table or graph full of numerical information, and asked a question about it. This question will usually mean you will have to perform some basic general arithmetic or work with percentages and fractions to answer.
Each question has multiple choice answers, and you will have four options to choose from.
Verbal Reasoning
Theverbal reasoning questions assess your ability to quickly read, understand and apply information presented in a passage of text.
The passage is usually in formal language, but it is not a test of your English comprehension - instead, you will be presented with a statement about the passage, and have to decide if it is true, false, or cannot say based on the content.
To be successful in the verbal reasoning questions, you need to be able to extrapolate the key information quickly and accurately, using only the data provided in the text.
Logical Reasoning
Making sound logical deductions is an essential skill in many workplaces, and good logical reasoning skills are an excellent indicator of competency in problem-solving and critical thinking.
In the logical reasoning questions, you will be presented with data in a sequence. This might include graphics, images, numbers or even words. Each sequence will be governed by a rule or a pattern, and you will be asked to find the missing piece of the sequence based on the pattern.
These multiple-choice questions assess your inductive logic - your ability to take specific information and make methodical, logical conclusions.
Situational Judgement Test (SJT)
In the SJT, you will be presented with a series of scenarios. These might be in the form of images, videos or animations that are designed to place you in a work-related situation and assess your decision-making and problem-solving skills.
Each scenario will have a number of possible actions, and you need to choose the most and least effective option - based on how you would deal with the situation.
There are no right or wrong answers, and there may not be an option that most accurately describes what you would do - but it is an opportunity for the recruitment team to assess your work behaviour and some of your personality traits that will dictate how well you suit the role you have applied for, and how well you will fit into the company culture.
Personality Questionnaire
This assessment is looking for particular personality traits and measures a number of different work-related behaviours like innovation, decision making, resilience, learning and engaging with others.
Presented as a number of statements, grouped in four, you will be asked to rate each statement on a five-point scale from “most like me” to “least like me”.
As with the SJT, there are no right or wrong answers, and the most important thing you can do with this test is answer honestly and go with your first instinct - you want the job role you have applied for to suit your needs too, and answering in the way you think the recruitment team wants you to (rather than truthfully) could end up with either an invalid test or you scoring a job that you actually are not suited for.
How Can I Prepare For My Sova Assessment?
1. Practice
Although psychometric assessments are not designed to need specific knowledge, it is important that you get familiar with the way the tests are formatted, how the questions are worded, and how they should be answered.
You can get familiar with the tests through practice assessments, which can be found online.
2. Preparation
As Sova tests are designed to be completed remotely, you need to make sure that you have everything ready before you start. You will need to be somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed, and turn off notifications on your devices.
You will also need a strong, reliable internet connection. For the Sova assessments, you can use scrap paper to make notes, and you are allowed to use a calculator if you need one - so be sure these are close to hand.
3. Research the Company
If you know as much as you can about the company before you apply for a role, you should get a better idea of what they are looking for in a candidate, and what skills and competencies are of particular importance.
This knowledge will help once you have passed the screening stage of the process too, as you can use the information in interviews, too.
4. Read the Questions
Just because you have already completed a number of practice tests and feel like you are completely prepared, be sure to read each question carefully before jumping in to answer.
Remember that none of the Sova assessments are a test of your previous knowledge, and all the information you need to answer the questions is provided on the page.
