As with all pre-employment tests out there in the market, it is not uncommon for most applicants to assume that such exams are only designed to see how compatible they are with taking on the duties and responsibilities of the job that they are applying for.
Of course, some assessments are made to do just that: to figure out if they have the skills needed for the profession like good numerical reasoning skills for accountants and a good understanding of mechanical concepts for mechanics.
However, when you are made to take the Wonscore assessment, the company is doing more than just measuring an applicant’s job-related skills.
No matter how stringent the company is with the qualifications and work experience for the available position, there will still be dozens of qualified applicants that will ‘fit the bill’, giving the hiring manager and HR a lot to worry about because they need to make sure that they don’t hire the wrong person for the job.
You read that correctly: even if they are qualified, there is still a good chance that the applicant is not someone that they would want to hire both for the position and for the company as a whole.
This is where each section of the Wonderlic Wonscore assessment comes into play.
Let’s take a look at each of them in detail to see how they help organizations in picking the right person to hire.
The Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Exam
Also known as the Wonderlic Personnel Test, this part of the Wonscore assessment aims to measure three skills: your cognitive abilities, decision-making skills, and time management skills.
It does this by presenting each test-taker with a 50-item exam, which includes questions revolving around numerical, verbal, logical, and graphical reasoning.
These subjects are linked to key work-related skills such as an employee’s ability to make simple to complex calculations in their head, their ability to read and understand instructions given to them either in spoken or written form, their ability to solve problems when the solution is not immediately available, and their ability to understand charts, graphs, and statistical data.
The applicant will need to answer as many questions as they can within a 12-minute time limit all the while keeping in mind that the company will have a minimum score in mind for the job that they want.
This means that even if they’re the most qualified applicant in terms of work experience, among other things, they will be turned away if they fail to meet the minimum score or got the lowest score when compared to that of other candidates.
Due to the strict time limit, most test-takers are forced to skip a lot of questions just so that they can try and answer others.
It also doesn’t help the fact that some questions are intentionally made to be incredibly difficult in an attempt to actively make them fail or lose time.
To mitigate this, smart job hunters take advantage of a Wonscore Assessment practice test so that they can prepare for this cognitive test and gain an advantage over others.
Wonderlic Personal Characteristics Inventory (PCI)
Known as the personality test of the Wonscore Assessment, applicants are made to answer a 150-item survey in order to figure out if their personality or behavior is compatible with the job that they are applying for as well as the core values of the company.
Questions will come in the form of statements containing a phrase to which they must select the degree on how they agree or disagree with it.
This is included in the assessment because they need to make sure that the candidate that they want to hire for a customer service position isn’t aggressive or unhelpful while the one that they want for an accounting position is sloppy and inattentive to minor details which can cause a lot of mistakes in financial statements.
In order for you to be seen as the ideal candidate, your personality profile must be similar or at least somewhat similar to the one that the company wants for the position.
Wonderlic Motivation Potential Assessment
This part of the Wonderlic Wonscore Assessment seeks to figure out the extent of each applicant’s motivation and what drives them to achieve or do things with the help of a survey-type questionnaire.
The motivation potential assessment was created due to companies hiring candidates that managed to pass their cognitive and personality test only for them to discover that they are only effective at their job in the short term or if a reward or bonus is present.
In order to save them the trouble of having to give severance pay for terminating them early, companies now want to make sure that the person that they want to hire is not only competent and has the right mindset or personality for the job, but can also perform well consistently in the long run.