10 Important Facts about Wonderlic Test

This post provides detailed and major facts about the Wonderlic test, to help you learn what the exam entails and how to prepare and take it to make a good score.

It also shows the average Wonderlic test score for various professions that you need to make to be successful in the exam and be considered for hiring by the recruiter/employer.

Please, read on:

Why Take Wonderlic Test?

The purpose of the Wonderlic test is to measure the general mental ability of the applicant as well as the ability to understand instructions, learn, solve problems, and take care of the mental demands of the position.

Before coming to the important facts about Wonderlic test, let’s explain what Wonderlic test really is.

It’s the commonest cognitive ability test done before an appointment is granted to the qualified candidate.

The test enables employers to make quick decisions about whom to employ and whom to eliminate, as it has become very common with employers to always send unqualified applicants home.

There are different types of Wonderlic tests created by Wonderlic Inc., some of which include Wonderlic Basic Skills Test and Wonderlic Personality Tests, and the list goes on.

The Wonderlic Personnel Test, which can also be called the Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test, is the most familiar pre-employment exam and that’s what we’re here to discuss.

Don’t get disorganized whenever you hear the word, “Wonderlic test”. You should rather understand that this actually refers to the common Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT-R) you already know.

The Wonderlic Test Has Four Major Subjects

There are four major areas you will be tested in when you take the Wonderlic test. These include:

Reading Comprehension

Here, your understanding of the English language and your grasp of word order, word usage, spelling, and grammar will be measured.

Numerical Reasoning

Your ability to conduct simple to complex operations needs to be measured in the numerical reasoning section.

Logical Reasoning

You will also have to go through the measurement of your ability to discern shapes, patterns, and solve logical and deductive reasoning-sort questions.

Graphical Reasoning

You will be required to get your ability to interpret statistical and graphical data measured in this segment.

You will be helpful to yourself studying these broad and difficult subjects before sitting for the Wonderlic test.

Students usually make good use of a Wonderlic SLE practice test to get familiar with the subject matter and question format of the exam, especially at prestigious colleges where acceptance score is high.

Guessing is Allowed and Encouraged

There are some questions that only guessing can solve due to their complexity and time consumption.

It is a known fact that only a small fraction of test-takers can complete all the 50 questions, while the rest rely on guessing for assistance.

Only one point is awarded to both difficult and easy questions, and staying too long on one question is not a good exam tactic.

That is the reason you need the guessing technique, at least to avoid leaving the question blank.

Wonderlic Test Has a Very Short Time Limit

Wonderlic test is popularly known for its restriction and short-time limit. Whether it’s the Wonderlic Scholastic Level Test or any Wonderlic-kind test you are taking, you must be required to answer the questions within 12 minutes.

As the test contains 50 questions in total, you are only given 14 seconds to answer one.

That alone should tell you that staying too long on one question can affect your results negatively.

A lot of Wonderlic Questions are Designed to Waste Your Time

Some of the questions in the Wonderlic test are specially designed to trap you and kill your time.

It could be a math question, graphical data, or a logical reasoning question you are finding difficult to calculate.

The reason for this lies in the fact that the Wonderlic test also aims to measure the critical thinking skills of the test-participants, apart from the skills already contained in the four subjects.

These time traps make test-takers focus on easier questions where they can generate points to increase the fourteen seconds given for answering one question.

Test takers can get distracted by time traps to stick too long to a complex question.

The Wonderlic Test Has Two Versions

There are two versions of the Wonderlic test, they include:

Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Pretest

Employers use the Pretest to determine who to select. They want to make sure you are qualified before choosing to invite you to an interview.

The Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Pretest is used by companies to see if you have the skills and abilities needed for the job you applied for.

The Pretest is self-administered and required to be completed over the internet without any supervision.

In the Wonderlic Pretest, you are offered 30 questions that last for 8 minutes.

Wonderlic Contemporary Cognitive Ability test

Employers use this test to measure your overall mental capability and your ability to understand instructions and solve problems, as well as adapt to, learn about, and deal with the demands of the job.

In this test, you will be offered 12 minutes to complete as many questions as you can out of 50 multiple-choice questions.

The Wonderlic Scholastic Level Exam

The main function of the Wonderlic Scholastic Level Exam (SLE) is to measure quantitative and general verbal skills.

The Wonderlic SLE is just like the IQ test used for pointing out the best candidate that is suitable for training and college programs.

Wonderlic Test Score

Good Wonderlic test scores vary from company to company. At least, any person that makes a Wonderlic score of 10 believes they are literate.

Moreover, some organizations would rather utilize a shorter version of the Wonderlic test, known as the Wonderlic Personnel Quick Test (WPT-Q), in which you have only 39 questions to answer but within a limited time of 8 minutes.

Your success or failure on the Wonderlic exam depends upon the scores of your competitors and the company or school offering the test.

A lot of employers and schools fix their score to the acceptable minimum, but that varies by the company, the type of job, and other factors.

Average Wonderlic Scores by Profession

The following are the average scores for various professions according to the Wonderlic group.

Average Wonderlic Score out of 50:

Chemist 31
Electrical Engineer 30
System Analyst 32
Engineer/programmer 29
Reporter/Teacher/Executive/ Accountant 28
Librarian/Copywriter/Investment Analyst 27
Sales Person 25
Nurse/Electrician/Drafter/Dispatcher 23
Receptionist/Machinist/Clerical Worker/Cashier/Firefighter/Train Conductor 21
Security Guard/Welder 17
Warehouseman 15
Janitor 14.

The Wonderlic Test Offers Word-Based Questions

Word problems show very significantly on the Wonderlic exam. The candidate will be required to calculate ratios, percentages, distances, averages, or times.

Here is an example of the kind of question you might see in a Wonderlic test:

Five friends gather their finances together to invest in a real estate venture. A invests $30,000, B invests $20,000, C invests $15,000, D invests $25,000, and E invests $35,000.

The friends agree to share the profits from their investment in a way that is proportionate to their original investment. What will P’s share of the $75,000 be if their investment generates a profit of $75,000?

a) $12,500
b) $20,000
c) $15,000
d) $19,500
e) $11,000

The answer to this question is “$15,000.”

Wonscore Test

This is the most up-to-date test created by Wonderlic. The test is made up of the Personnel, Characteristics Inventory, and the Motivation Potential assessment.

Employers use this test to assess incoming applicants. The three test segments include:

Personnel
Personal Characteristics
Motivation Potential

Conclusion

There are several ways that people choose to tackle the Wonderlic test. Some choose to guess themselves through the test while some study hard to get a good score.

Whichever way you choose to tackle your test, you should remember not to waste too much time on one particular question.

Utilize your time on the easy questions first and then come back to the difficult ones to see if you can complete them.

>> Learn how to make a great score in Wonderlic test; prepare for the exam with free but effective practice test.