What are Talent Q Tests?
Talent Q is a global psychometric testing company.
Part of the Korn Ferry Hay group, Talent Q provides tests to help employers recruit the best talent for their businesses. The tests can also be used to spot development opportunities, help internal promotions and monitor progress.
As well as standard aptitude tests such as numerical and verbal reasoning, Talent Q provides more specialist exams such as personality questionnaires and logical reasoning tests.
Talent Q tests are popular with employers because they are 'adaptive'.
Adaptive tests adjust to the right level of complexity for each individual candidate they assess. In practice, this means that the questions get harder and harder until they surpass a level that the individual candidate can answer, at which point they recalibrate to the right level.
This makes it much easier for employers to realise the full potential of the people they're testing.
As with any aptitude test, it's essential to practice Talent Q tests in advance of taking one as part of a job application.
By putting the practice in, you'll get quicker, better and more confident and you'll be able to show an employer why you're the person they should hire.
What are the Different Types of Talent Q Tests?
There are a lot of different Talent Q tests, so it's important to find out which one you're taking to ensure you're focusing your preparation work in the right area.
As well as two different suites of tests known as Elements and Aspects, Talent Q also has a series of situational judgement tests, which assess how well you're likely to fit into the role and company you're applying to work for.
Elements Suite
Elements is primarily designed to assess ability, and is a strong indicator of future job performance. As a result, these tests are frequently used in the hiring process for both junior and senior roles.
Elements aims to help employers make reasoned, objective and accurate decisions about who would be the best hire from a pool of candidates.
Elements Verbal
You'll have a maximum of 15 minutes to work through the Elements verbal reasoning test, but the average completion time is around 12 minutes.
Questions will require you to interpret the passage of text in front of you in order to assess your reading and comprehension skills.
Roles that require strong communication, comprehension and analytical skills are likely to have a verbal reasoning test as part of the hiring process.
Elements Numerical
The Elements numerical reasoning test is designed to look at your data interpretation skills and your general mathematical abilities.
You'll need to look through a series of different charts containing data, before answering questions on what you've just seen.
Again, you'll have around 15 minutes to answer all the questions, but the average completion time is just 12 minutes.
Elements Logical
Logical reasoning tests look at your ability to think outside the box and problem solve under tight time limits, and the Elements test is no different.
Over the course of the test's 12 questions, you'll be shown a series of symbols that are incomplete. Using the limited information you have, you'll need to work out how to finish the sequence by selecting the correct multiple choice answer.
The average completion time for this test is just nine minutes. And the best way to work to this level, or even perform better, is to practice as many tests as you can before the one that counts.
Aspects Suite
Aspects tests are competency-based and designed specifically for recruitment purposes to help employers find the people best suited for the roles they need filled.
They're about ascertaining a candidate's fundamental skills and abilities, particularly for roles that are customer-facing.
Just like all Talent Q tests, Aspects tests are adaptive and therefore give employers a clear idea of the full potential of the candidates' they're assessing.
Aspects Ability
Aspects Ability are tests designed specifically for customer service roles across multiple industries.
In order to determine how suited a candidate is for a frontline, people-facing role, Aspects tests look at their verbal, numerical and error checking skills.
Aspects Verbal
This section of the test consists of 12 questions designed to probe how competent you are at reading through passages of text and extracting key pieces of information in order to reach the correct conclusion.
This helps an employer to see how strong your general comprehension and communication skills are.
Aspects Numerical
Just like the verbal test, you'll be required to answer 12 questions on the Aspects numerical test.
However, in this test you'll be looking through a series of different charts and tables containing data. You'll need to show that even under a tight time limit you're capable of accurately interpreting the information in front of you.
Aspects Checking
For most customer-service roles, an eye for detail is important.
In this test, you'll need to work through eight different information tables containing five or six rows of data that need to be compared so you can spot where the errors lie.
On average, most people complete this section in just six minutes.
Aspects Styles
Aspects Styles is a competency-based questionnaire designed to be used in the early stages of recruitment. It quickly analyses large volumes of candidates to ensure only those that are most suited to the role make it through to the next stage.
Employers can work with Talent Q to ensure the test is bespoke by selecting the 16 competencies that are most valued by their organisation and essential for the job role itself.
As a result, it's an incredibly efficient and effective tool for employers who don't want to waste time when it comes to recruitment.
Talent Q Situational Judgement Test
Situational judgement tests put candidates into hypothetical workplace scenarios to see how well suited they may be to the role they're applying for.
With the Talent Q situational judgement test, employers are able to design a test based on the requirements of the role they're hiring for. This gives them the best possible chance of finding the right candidate for the job, and candidates a really good idea of the type of challenges they will meet on a day-to-day basis.
Drives
Drives looks to probe people's motivations, values and beliefs to see how well they align with the company they're applying to work for.
The test recognises that performance is not just based on skill, but how engaged people are in what they're doing and why they're doing it.
As you might expect therefore, there are no 'right' or 'wrong' answers, but there are answers that will mark you out as more suited to the role. That's why it's really important you answer the questions on the test honestly, as it gives you and the employer the best possible chance of finding a good fit between candidate and job role.
Dimensions
Dimensions is Talent Q's personality questionnaire.
The questionnaire will ask you questions based on these three broad themes:
1. People and relationships
2. Tasks and projects
3. Drives and emotions
In practice, this means reading a series of statements about workplace issues and responding by selecting how completely 'untrue' or 'true' these are of your beliefs.
You'll answer these questions in blocks of four and be asked to arrange the statements from 'true' to 'untrue' to give an even more defined sense of your personality and what makes you tick.
Just like all of the Talent Q tests, it can be adapted to best reflect the personality traits that would be sought after in the individual role and workplace you're applying to.
Top tips to Pass Your TalentQ Assessments
1. Practice
Practicing past Talent Q tests is the best way to prepare yourself and to ensure you're as quick, accurate and confident as you can be. Make sure you take time to go through any wrong answers or weak areas when you practice — that's how you really see improvements.
2. Think outside the box
Practicing past tests can get a little dull. If you're finding it hard to focus, try and hone your skills in new and fun ways. For example, you could try a maths-based computer game or get a friend to test you on a passage of your favourite novel.
3. Read the questions carefully
This is an important point to remember in any test. It's crucial that you answer the question that's been asked of you, not the question you think you're being asked or the one you want to answer.
4. Don't get stuck on a problem
You don't have long to answer the questions and as the test is adaptive it'll adjust to the right difficulty level anyway.
5. Hard questions are a good thing!
Unlike many tests, the adaptive nature of Talent Q tests means that hard questions are a really positive thing — they show you're progressing through the levels of difficulty.
