What are TalentLens Tests?
TalentLens is a test publisher that’s part of Pearson plc. The global talent assessment body publishes psychometric tests to help different businesses find the best candidate possible for roles spanning a diverse range of sectors.
The TalentLens tests give employers a deeper understanding of your skills, experiences, motivations and aptitude.
As well as recruitment tests, they also produce tests that can be used to further career development or assess career readiness.
Each TalentLens test is designed to be challenging, so practice and preparation is essential if you want to succeed.
The Structure of TalentLens Tests
There are a huge variety of different TalentLens tests:
Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal
The Watson Glaser critical thinking test assesses how well you can separate fact from inference, and how strong your innate critical thinking skills are.
There are two different versions of the test, but the most common one lasts around 30 minutes and can be taken online or with pen and paper.
Situational Judgement Tests
Situational judgment tests place you in hypothetical workplace scenarios, and ask for your reaction or response to these scenarios to gauge the type of person you are, and how well you’re likely to fit into the role you’re applying for.
Work Style Lens
This test looks at different work styles and soft skills. Broadly speaking, you’ll be assessed across these four key categories: relating to people, dealing with emotions, approaching work and thinking style.
It’s not timed, but it usually takes around 25-35 minutes to complete.
Versant English Test
This test assesses the strength of your English language skills by looking at how you listen and speak.
The 15-minute test covers everything from sentence structure and story retelling, to reading and open questions.
Raven’s Adaptive
Raven’s adaptive looks at how quickly you can learn new information, the strength of your lateral thinking skills and how well you can solve complex problems with little information.
Overall, it’s a good indicator of your cognitive and problem-solving abilities.
Numerical Data Interpretation Test
Many roles require candidates with strong numerical skills. This test helps employers understand how well you can interpret, analyze and manipulate data.
Questions will give you the chance to showcase how you can work with tables, graphs and charts; calculate decimals and fractions; and draw conclusions based on the data in front of you.
Workplace Personality Inventory
Employers use this test to best fit candidates with the role they’re hiring for. Long-term, it can make for better matches which leads to improved staff retention.
The questions on the test assess your individual attributes and your personal working style across these core areas:
Achievement
Social influence
Interpersonal skills
Self-adjustment
Conscientiousness
Practical intelligence
Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test
This technical aptitude test aims to better understand the depth of your mechanical understanding, spatial visualization, understanding of physical and mechanical laws and technical grasp of how machinery works.
Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices
The Raven’s tests look at non-verbal skills.
The standard version of the test is around 45 minutes long and requires candidates to analyze patterns and sequences to fill a missing space.
The standard version is suitable for entry-mid level roles.
Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices
If you’re asked to take the advanced Raven’s test, it’s because you’re applying for a senior level role where problem solving and critical thinking is key.
Just as with the standard version, your non-verbal skills are put to the test against the clock.
On this version of the test, you’ll need to answer up to 23 questions in just 42 minutes.
TEA-Occ
This unique test looks at your attention levels (TEA stands for ‘Test for Everyday Attention’), which is really useful in roles where concentration can be critical for safety such as driving or construction.
It will look closely at your selective attention, sustained attention, and attentional switching.
Rust Advanced Numerical Reasoning Appraisal
Commonly known as RANRA, this test lasts 20-40 minutes and is designed to assess high-level numerical and statistical understanding. It’s a challenging test, usually set for roles that require advanced math skills.
Giotto
Giotto measures integrity. It’s usually set before the interview process begins, and gives employers a chance to see what your behavior in the workplace is likely to be like by looking at values, motivations, behavior and attitude across seven core areas.
Core Abilities Assessment
This all-rounder of a test looks at the strength of your verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning skills and is used for many different entry-level roles.
It’s a short test lasting only 15 minutes, but in that time you’ll need to answer 20 questions (seven numerical, six verbal and seven abstract).
Sosie 2nd Generation
This test looks at an individual’s values.
It looks at the personal and the interpersonal and aims to build up a picture of your individual values that gives employers a broader depth of understanding of you than a simple personality test would.
DAT Next Generation
DAT stands for ‘differential aptitude tests’. It measures cognitive ability.
Cognitive ability is a great indicator of performance, so this is a popular test across a variety of roles and sectors.
You’ll be asked to answer verbal, numerical, abstract and spatial questions against the clock.
Emotional Quotient Inventory 2
This test measures emotional intelligence.
There are four potential tests and accompanying reports: leadership, individual, 360 and group. The test takes around 30 minutes to complete.
Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test
This emotional intelligence test uses different creative tasks to measure your emotional intelligence levels by looking at how you perceive, use, manage and understand emotions.
It should take between 30-45 minutes to complete.
Tips to Pass TalentLens Assessments
Read the instructions carefully
It's essential to carefully read and understand the instructions provided before starting any assessment. This ensures that you are aware of what is required and what is expected of you. Skipping the instructions may lead to unnecessary mistakes, which can affect your overall score.
Practice beforehand
TalentLens assessments can be challenging, so it's crucial to practice beforehand. Taking practice tests can help you become more familiar with the types of questions you may encounter and give you a better idea of how to manage your time effectively during the assessment.
Focus on time management
Time management is crucial during TalentLens assessments. You need to work quickly and efficiently to answer as many questions as possible within the given time frame. To do this, you may want to prioritize easier questions and leave more challenging ones until later.
Stay calm and focused
TalentLens assessments can be stressful, but it's important to remain calm and focused. Taking deep breaths, stretching, and taking breaks can help you stay calm and focused during the assessment. Remember to pace yourself, don't rush through the questions, and double-check your answers before submitting them.
