An increasing number of companies are now expanding the range of selection methods they use in the recruitment process and, in particular, are using object-based tests, in addition to the face-to-face interview process. It is important to be aware of what they involve.
The general rule is that bigger companies use tests more than smaller ones and, the higher the position, the more sophisticated and complex the testing is likely to be.
The tests break down into 3 types:
1. Personality questionnaires, which set out to provide a profile of your personality and motivation.
2. Ability tests, which attempt to assess your general abilities against a benchmark of similarly graded employees
3. Specific tests, which set out to assess skills and experience that are specific to the role applied for
Personality questionnaires
Personality questionnaires are easy to sit and are generally multiple choice. You tick the box that most accurately describes your preference in a given situation. They set out to identify specific personality traits (such as self assured versus apprehensive). Your results can be compared with averages taken from the general population or any selected peer group. Further analysis and other tests establish broad personality patterns.
Occupational personality questionnaires are designed to assess your typical or preferred behaviour as it relates to work. For example, are you orientated towards introspection or team building? One might suppose there are no right or wrong answers and therefore you should not pass or fail these tests. However, would a potential employer wish to recruit a tense and introverted person into their internal audit department?
The warnings that go with these tests invariably suggest that if you attempt to lie in your responses, you will be found out: your results will reveal inconsistencies, invalidate the test and to the extent you can fail, you will. In reality it would be perfectly reasonable given time and resource to obtain the commonly used tests and scoring methods and acquire a more desirable personality.
Ability tests
Tests that benchmark your general skills and intelligence are many and varied. Numerical and verbal reasoning tests are the most common and are almost invariably multiple choice, such as what number comes after 2, 4, 6? From simple tests, they can move onto more sophisticated ones like critical reasoning tests where inferences need to be drawn from data or diagrammatic tests of logical reasoning presented in the form of abstract shapes and diagrams. Other tests will require you to read a narrative under time pressure and answer a series of what may appear to be ambiguous questions. Under this category some tests are more task orientated. In and out tray exercises expect you to react efficiently to a flow of paperwork and directives that make conflicting demands. Case studies may be set which have nothing to do with internal auditing but test your ability to think through and react to complex challenges.
Specific tests
As an example of the different types of specific tests which are used, here are 3 types of specific tests commonly used in internal audit recruitment.
1. Report writing - you are given an audit scenario and then asked to draft a report detailing, for example, salient control features or audit recommendations.
2. Presentations - most likely given to the Head of Audit or other managers. It is not unusual for a company to provide the subject of the presentation before you attend the interview.
3. Role playing – this might cast you as the auditor and a member of the department's management team as the auditee. Having provided you with the relevant information, you may need to enact an audit closing meeting.
All these tests are designed to provide companies with further evidence of the capabilities and potential that you have. Very often you are benchmarked not just against skills required for a position in internal auditing, but against a norm for a management grade. In some tests, for example verbal and numerical reasoning, there will be a minimum score, which you must exceed. Other tests provide evidence that is qualitative rather than quantitative but are no less important in a company's decision-making process.
