IB Psychometric Assessment Pass/Fail?

Just took a psychometric assessment (quantitative, verbal, and abstract reasoning) today at one of Macquarie's offices. From what I could glean from HR, those who perform well are advanced to final interviews.

Does anyone have any clue as to what is considered a passing grade for these kinds of tests? Perhaps people who have taken this test for Macquarie before?

Really just curious as to how well you need to do. You had to complete 28 abstract reasoning questions in 14 minutes, 30 verbals in 15 minutes, and 21 maths in 21 minutes. Given the intense time constraints, I rushed through most questions and I am sure I got at least several wrong in each section.

41 Comments
 

I did the same test today... the time constraint really isnt that bad. The questions are really easy. Just your typical SHL test. Didnt you get the personality and sales preference test too?

 

Very few people can answer all the questions on that test, so don't get too down on yourself if you didn't finish or had to rush and made a few mistakes. I believe they take your scores and compare them with everyone else currently in the company (ie you placed in the top 5% of current Macquarie employees in quantitative reasoning, etc). From what I understand, based on your scores you are given one of two labels. Either "recommended for hire" or "not recommended for hire". They'll consider your test score and your first round when deciding to send you to a final round.

 

HelloGoodBye:

I got a 100 question personality assessment at the end.

I'm pretty sure I messed up at least 2 of the 3 currency exchange rate questions on the math section- for some reason I couldn't get the damn pounds sterling/rupees/yen conversion numbers to work out- which left me very flustered and I was forced to select "cannot say/not listed" as the answer.

did you have any issues with the currency exchange problems at all?

 
Affirmative_Action_WalrusHelloGoodBye:

I got a 100 question personality assessment at the end.

I'm pretty sure I messed up at least 2 of the 3 currency exchange rate questions on the math section- for some reason I couldn't get the damn pounds sterling/rupees/yen conversion numbers to work out- which left me very flustered and I was forced to select "cannot say/not listed" as the answer.

did you have any issues with the currency exchange problems at all?

you convert rupees to yen, and then yen to sterline.. it's definitely not "cannot say"

 
hellogoodbye
Affirmative_Action_WalrusHelloGoodBye:

I got a 100 question personality assessment at the end.

I'm pretty sure I messed up at least 2 of the 3 currency exchange rate questions on the math section- for some reason I couldn't get the damn pounds sterling/rupees/yen conversion numbers to work out- which left me very flustered and I was forced to select "cannot say/not listed" as the answer.

did you have any issues with the currency exchange problems at all?

you convert rupees to yen, and then yen to sterline.. it's definitely not "cannot say"

that's what i did- couldn't get numbers to match answer choices, so i marked "not listed." oh well

what did you mark as the change in the yen's value from yesterday?

 

so if i missed 3-4 on the math section (out of 21) am I screwed?

does anyone know if the test gives equal weight to the results from all 3 sections or if it gives more weight to math due to the more quantitative nature of IB?

 
Affirmative_Action_Walrusso if i missed 3-4 on the math section (out of 21) am I screwed?

does anyone know if the test gives equal weight to the results from all 3 sections or if it gives more weight to math due to the more quantitative nature of IB?

who cares? You cant change anything at this point. sit back and relax

 
hellogoodbye
Affirmative_Action_Walrusso if i missed 3-4 on the math section (out of 21) am I screwed?

does anyone know if the test gives equal weight to the results from all 3 sections or if it gives more weight to math due to the more quantitative nature of IB?

who cares? You cant change anything at this point. sit back and relax

yeah i know. but i just like to know these things for some reason...

 
Affirmative_Action_Walrusso if i missed 3-4 on the math section (out of 21) am I screwed?

does anyone know if the test gives equal weight to the results from all 3 sections or if it gives more weight to math due to the more quantitative nature of IB?

I'm sure missing 3-4 is fine. Is IB really that quantitative? It doesn't sound like it to me, but I don't know that much about IB, and I probably have a skewed opinion of quantitative compared to most.

 
AnonymousDudeIs this in Australia? Because I would question the legality of these "psychometric" exams in the US.

There are some laws about this sort of thing, but I'm not sure what they are specifically. I just know that certain tests are considered illegal for screening employees, IQ tests being one of them. I could be wrong, but I think the law has something to do with racial discrimination, so before a test can be used on potential employees, it has to be shown that race is not a predictor of test scores.

 

I am taking the test on Tuesday, how can i prepare for it? (I know that Macquarie said its not something we can prepare for, but if I can see the format of the test, I can at least adjust me mentality)

 
CanYouHearMeNowI am taking the test on Tuesday, how can i prepare for it? (I know that Macquarie said its not something we can prepare for, but if I can see the format of the test, I can at least adjust me mentality)

increase your IQ by 50 before Tuesday

 
CanYouHearMeNowI am taking the test on Tuesday, how can i prepare for it? (I know that Macquarie said its not something we can prepare for, but if I can see the format of the test, I can at least adjust me mentality)

search this forum using "psychometric" and several threads about this assessment should pop up. a few of them have useful links.

 

I just took the practice test on SHL's website. I'd say the only constraint is time, and some questions were definitely to involved to be completed in 1 min or less. I'd like to know what the average banker score on these tests though.

 
no homo
Affirmative_Action_Walrusdid you hear back? they told me they were waiting until everyone who was being considered for the office i was interviewing for had taken the test before they made invites.
Yeah, it's going to be on Wednesday.
which office?
 

wow I totally failed my psychometric exam. they just offered to interview me for operations instead. Obv, I did horrible

 
skybluewow I totally failed my psychometric exam. they just offered to interview me for operations instead. Obv, I did horrible
lol are you being facetious?

i can't imagine them offering ops after you were in consideration for front office IB. That's just a low blow.

 

Aut suscipit dolorem magnam et natus. Beatae libero suscipit impedit suscipit. Qui vero ullam exercitationem quos ea consequatur qui. Exercitationem eum suscipit nihil aliquid ut iusto.

Tenetur sunt laudantium dolores. Maxime minus tempora in.

Quisquam esse possimus sunt excepturi earum itaque tempora. Eum eaque dolorem nam culpa est quae doloremque sit. Unde provident quam non sed. Ratione quas sit numquam odit inventore est sed. Et nihil rerum ab quis laudantium commodi id.

Atque consequuntur ex consequatur ratione nihil. Pariatur saepe aperiam cumque atque vel. Iusto possimus deleniti ut numquam sit deserunt hic. Corrupti et vel deserunt ducimus aperiam cum. Quis non eaque dicta nulla ullam.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”