AIB aptitude test

kormak

Anyone have much info on the above or indeed can recommend any books, sites, etc... to help.
I have to sit the I.T. aptitude test for AIB next week.
I sat it before and failed by about 10%... believe me it's a bitch of a test!!
Been given a 2nd chance but this is the last so I'm told!!! :eek:
It uses an old IBM test which is broken down to 3 sections:
letter sequences, diagrammatic patterns and percentages/maths.
I know I know... you can't prepare for these things but if I could even get a really good book or something to get the brain thinking on it's feet...

Help!!

Noelie

What test was it, did it include Grain Silos and things like that. and then a section on maths based problems like sequences and series?

If it's that one. I found the Seq&Series questions to be easy enough. However the questions about the Grain were quite hard, I found the questions very hard to understand.

I did get past the test only to be told I didn't know enough about the company. Also I go the impression they only wanted people who had a good level of Java. I was more a C++ boy.
When I went for the interview about 3 years ago I was told how AIB was totally revolutionising there banking system. when I asked what they were doing I was told they were implementing it in Java from then on. I'd hardly class that are revolutionary!!

If you have a PSP or DS, they both have brain training game on them, which are good for these kind of test. gets your brain thinking and thinking fast.

kormak

Cheers Noelie!
That sounds like you done the aptitude for graduates?
A guy I work with is always going on about the one he did had questions on grain and slios, yadda yadda...
this test has questions like.
there's £20 to write a 100 page document. typist a can do 74 pages and typist B can do 26... how much should typist A be paid?

Maths was never my strong point..!

however I must hook my PSP now... are they demos online or what?

digitally-yours

there's £20 to write a 100 page document. typist a can do 74 pages and typist B can do 26... how much should typist A be paid?

20 devided by 100 = Cost of per page

Multiply the cost of page with the number of pages and you have an answer

kormak

yeah cheers!

smart arse...

Slippers

digitally-yours wrote:

20 devided by 100 = Cost of per page

Multiply the cost of page with the number of pages and you have an answer

I would do that one by multiplying 74 by 2 and then positioning the decimal point so as to be in the range of 74% of £20, i.e. between the 4 and the 8. Making £14.80.

digitally-yours

Slippers wrote:

I would do that one by multiplying 74 by 2 and then positioning the decimal point so as to be in the range of 74% of £20, i.e. between the 4 and the 8. Making £14.80.

You definately are very good in explaining things in simple way :rolleyes:

I can understand ur point but a layman needs to hire an accountant to interpert that !

Slippers

I just think there's less chance of making a mistake if you multiply 74 by 2 in your head than if you multiply cost-per-page by 74 in your head.

Pythia

A lot of companies use SHL tests for their grad recruitment.

Timmy_d

Pythia wrote:

A lot of companies use SHL tests for their grad recruitment.

what are shl tests?

Pythia

Timmy_d wrote:

what are shl tests?

A particular brand of tests.

Jumpy

As in a specific company? or a specific type?





And dare I ask where the lickable title came from?

Pythia

It's a company who produces specific types of tests. I've done some verbal and numeric ones and know I've done very well in them (as I've been told so!).
I think this is their website
http://www.shldirect.com/example_questions.html

And the most lickable thing came about because the members of boards.ie have voted me as such, back in April 2006. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054911824

parsi

Slippers wrote:

I just think there's less chance of making a mistake if you multiply 74 by 2 in your head than if you multiply cost-per-page by 74 in your head.

Well if it's fee or interest calculation then there's no problem as long as the mistake is in the bank's favour.

I see on another thread that the Murex aptitude tests seem to be much more complictaed and intense.

fret_wimp

Getting into AIB is not all about passing the test. Back in college, two of my mates got work placement for 6 months in AIB. on leaving college about 6 of us went and done the aptitude test. Guess who got the jobs in AIB? Im not saynig they failed the test, but out of all of us, its funny that the two that originally worked there got back in...

Placebo

Noelie wrote: »

What test was it, did it include Grain Silos and things like that. and then a section on maths based problems like sequences and series?

If it's that one. I found the Seq&Series questions to be easy enough. However the questions about the Grain were quite hard, I found the questions very hard to understand.

Can you tell (or someone else) give me an ide
a of the style of the questions about the Grain? Was there any 'think outside the box' stuff, or was it more a case of questions like (Sentence: 'it's not uncommon that grain is lost'- Question: true of false: it is common that grain is lost?)
i have this test next week, cheers!

Noelie

It was a long time ago that I done, about 3 years. but they were maths based question, I don't recall any true/false answers. There were a number of sequence and series ones, similar to most aptitude test they weren't that hard. but the grain ones were tricky, you had to analyse pie charts against tables of grain types and pick answers. I'm can't really remember the questions though as it was so long ago.

I think the test was broken up into sections the sequences were one and the grain questions were another. I don't recall and grammer/ English questions but there may have been some

I think you are given about 30 seconds per sequence/series question, which i found to be just enough to answer them all.

Giblet

Jaysus, it was pretty difficult at the end there. More so because of time. Got through 2/3 of the questions, which I think i got right. But who knows!

amen

I joined AIB way back in 1994 on the graduate program (IT) and we had those tests as well.

I went with several friends. All of them completed all sections of the test.
I didn't complete any section. I was the only one who got called to interview (none of them) and I got the job!

on some of these test you are not meant to be able to complete and if you did something is wrong

farva

I had it the other day, it was the grain one and it was way tougher than I was expecting! I found the questions very ambigious and spent more time trying to work out what they were actually asking me than answering the questions...but I guess that was half the point! Its very different to any other aptitude tests that I've done.

irishguy

I did the grain aptitude test last year, very strange and confusing, they give you extra information that you don't even need. I got the sample question wrong, which totally threw me. I then ended up completing the whole thing and getting the job. I would love to know how i got on in it...

kuraudo

I've got the test coming up this week and had no idea what to expect. Found this thread through a Google search and it's been a great help. I still have one question I was hoping you might clear up: what's the dress code for the test? I assume it's smart casual, but I'm worried about turning up and being the only person not in a suit.

Thanks in advance.

irishguy

Trust me you will never be inapproiately dressed in a suit for any job hunting, especially in AIB. Everyone wears at least a shirt and tie and lots wear a suit. The aptitude tests are done in a big centre with loads of people, you wont even talk to any AIB staff they just give you the exam and you are out in under 1hr.


But wear a suit if you have one.

Giblet

It won't make a difference what you wear, they herd you in and out like cattle

aphex™

Are there any financial terms used in the tests? I mean things like gross profit percentage, acid test ratios etc. ... or maybe basic accounting?

Giblet

Not at all. You don't need to know anything but basic maths and reading comprehension. You can't even use a calculator.
The hard part of the test is answering everything correctly in the time given. Most people who finish the test would have a good few wrong, because you have an average of 90 seconds per question and some require reading 3-4 information sheets. The average person is only supposed to be able answer roughly half of the questions correctly.

aphex™

Giblet wrote: »

Not at all.

Thanks I got landed with a hard test during another interview recently so I'm a bit paranoid.

cazzy

kuraudo wrote: »

I've got the test coming up this week and had no idea what to expect. Found this thread through a Google search and it's been a great help. I still have one question I was hoping you might clear up: what's the dress code for the test? I assume it's smart casual, but I'm worried about turning up and being the only person not in a suit.

Thanks in advance.

you dont have to dress up for an aptitude test. Only for an interview or a full day testing that would involve role plays, scenarios etc and in this case they usually say business attire required.

No one takes your pictures or even know who you are for this type of test - its purely marked on the boxes you ticked and the top percentile from all tested are called back for interview. (Top percentile of what the company wants)

If there is anyone there in a suit its prob cause they dropped in from a job (prob pretending to go to the dentist)


You can wear jeans for this type of test. Just make sure to wear a suit and look smart for the interview. Good luck with it.

cazzy

aphex™ wrote: »

Are there any financial terms used in the tests? I mean things like gross profit percentage, acid test ratios etc. ... or maybe basic accounting?

No aptitude tests test your aptitude which is not these sort of things which are specific ratios.

The IT tests are different but a general banking one will test verbal reasoning, numberical reasoning and one other test which is more of an IQ test than a specifc test on financial terms. Some banks might test accuracy by say giving you a lot of 8 digit account numbers and asking you to pick the number again from a list etc etc

You dont need to know anything specific going into it. Easons sell a range of books where you can test your own aptitude and rate yourself. Id recommend you try some of these.

I heard that the AIB Graduate aptitutde test is a bit different though - I heard about the grain and silos also. Apparently its not like a standard bank aptitude test. The other banks use a more standard one afaik.