Freaking out over aptitude testing math – what actually works?
I’m honestly starting to panic a bit about aptitude testing and wanted to see if anyone here has been in the same position.
My CV is solid, I interview well, and I’m confident talking through deals and motivation. But I keep getting stuck at the online aptitude test stage, especially the math and mental arithmetic sections. It feels like this is the one thing consistently holding me back from SA and off-cycle applications.
I’ve tried the usual online practice tests before the actual test, but they feel like a waste of time. They don’t seem to resemble the actual tests firms use, and I don’t feel like they meaningfully improve my performance under time pressure. I can usually work things out given enough time, but once the clock is running I fall apart.
I’ve got a Mapped cognitive ability test coming up and I’m not even sure how to prepare for it properly or how people actually improve at these tests. I’m willing to put in the work, I just don’t know where to start anymore because I keep failing and it’s getting pretty demoralising.
I don’t think I’m stupid, and I’m fine with finance and analysis in real settings, but fast mental math has always been a weakness.
I’d really appreciate any guidance. This stage is starting to feel like a brick wall.
Thanks in advance.
Which test prep service are you using? I used to find jobtestprep invaluable for these aptitude tests but if I remember correctly they changed the service a bit so not sure if it's as good.
Thanks, appreciate the suggestion. So far I’ve mainly been using free mocks online or the practice tests that some providers offer before the actual assessment. I’ve heard of JobTestPrep, but from what I can see they don’t have anything specifically tailored to the Mapped cognitive ability test, which is what I’m trying to prepare for right now. If you think there are any particular tests or packages that generalise well to the type of math and time pressure used across these aptitude providers, I’d be very willing to pay for proper prep rather than relying on random free resources. I feel like I’ve missed out on a lot of good opportunities purely because of this stage, so I’m keen to fix it properly.
The practice tests before the assessment are basically to show you the structure of the test and not the difficulty. To get real practice you need to pay.
I've been out of the recruitment for a while so I have no idea what mapped is but JTP used to have all different varieties. There's also assessmentday but I've never used it.
Yeah if you're struggling on IB mental math tests there isn't much we can do for you
Just use AI bro
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