Fifty aptitude interview questions that can help identify the right talent

An aptitude test is a standardized psychometric assessment of the natural strengths, skills, and abilities of candidates instead of their learned knowledge or academic qualifications. Aptitude test questions do not require familiarity with specific subjects as they focus on the inherent skills of an individual, as well as their ability to apply those skills in different situations.

Aptitude tests can be categorized as ability and behavioral tests, with the former measuring skills like logical, numerical, and verbal reasoning and the latter exploring behavioral tendencies like the working style and situational judgment of individuals. Some of the most popular aptitude test questions used in the hiring process assess candidates for their numerical and verbal reasoning, problem-solving, spatial reasoning, logical and abstract reasoning, and critical thinking.

Numerical reasoning

These questions evaluate candidates for their ability to work with numbers, analyze datasets, and interpret visually represented numerical information, like charts and graphs.

Mathematics questions

These types of questions help recruiters assess the proficiency of candidates in basic and advanced calculations and concepts of mathematics.

Spatial reasoning

These questions are designed to measure the ability of candidates to visualize and manipulate three-dimensional objects.

Mechanical reasoning

These questions focus on assessing the understanding of candidates in mechanical and physical concepts and their ability to work with machinery.

Verbal reasoning

These aptitude test questions are designed to evaluate the language skills, communication skills, and analytical skills of candidates, along with their comprehension of written information.

Problem-solving

These questions assess the ability of candidates to identify complex problems and solve them. They evaluate how well candidates can think and how they function under pressure while coming up with creative solutions to real-world problems.

Decision-making 

These aptitude test questions assess the ability of candidates to make effective, rational decisions in any situation. The questions can be used to evaluate their logical reasoning, sense of judgment and their ability to compare different options to choose the optimal one.

Save time and resources

Hiring managers should include aptitude test questions in the process to understand if a candidate possesses the innate skills and abilities required to perform well, learn, and succeed in a particular job role. This can help save time that would otherwise be spent sifting through resumes. Additionally, aptitude test questions and answers help shortlist the right talent, ensuring that only skilled and well-suited candidates progress to the next rounds of the recruitment process.

Reduce the chance of bad hires

Relying solely on screening resumes may be ineffective in identifying the right talent, as recruiters may be unable to verify if the candidates have the abilities and skills required for the job role. Using aptitude test questions and answers in combination with domain and role-specific skills tests helps recruiters screen candidates and ensure that the applicants moving forward have the skills and aptitude required, effectively reducing the chances of a bad hire.

Identify hidden talent

Aptitude test questions also offer one of the best ways to uncover the hidden talents of the candidates and to see where their strengths lie, especially before they are placed into specialized job roles. Apart from helping in recruitment, aptitude test questions can also be used to assess the natural abilities and hidden talents of the existing workforce.

Strengthen the employee brand 

Using the results and insights gained during aptitude test questions helps improve candidates’ experience with the organization, strengthening the employer brand. Candidates appreciate transparency regarding where they stand in the recruitment process, why they were not selected, and guidance about their areas of improvement.

Improve hiring decisions

Unconscious biases affect the hiring process at any stage, whether it is screening or interviews. Utilizing pre-employment assessments, including aptitude tests, can help reduce chances of bias and offer insights required to make objective hiring decisions.

1. If given the annual expenses and revenue of an organization, how can a candidate calculate the profit margin for the year in the form of a percentage?
2. If there is an ongoing 25% discount on an item, and a customer comes in with an additional 10% off coupon, how will the final price of the item be calculated?
3. What number is as greater than 45 as it is less than 77?
4. Why are numbers important?
5. If the ratio of the ages of two people is 6:7 and after five years, it will be 7:8, how old are they now?
6. If only a few tables are fish, no fish are desktops, and all desktops are pen, does it mean that some tables are not desktops or that all tables being fish is a possibility?
7. All apples are buns, a few buns are cups, and all cups are dancers. Does this mean that all apples are cups or that some dancers are buns?
8. If only books are pages and no pages are bundles, does it mean that some books can be bundles or that all books can be bundles?
9. What is the formula for finding the average of the first ‘n’ number of natural numbers?
10. What is the vector form of distance?
11. Identify the pattern of the number series: 2, 3, 12.5, 31.25, 78.125, 195.3125.
12. If Joey is to Kangaroo, a calf is to what?
13. If Goa is to Panaji, Gujarat is to what?
14. Out of Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, which country is the same as Myanmar, Bhutan, and Nepal?
15. Badminton is related to court the same way cricket is related to what?
16. As semantics is to language, what is to skull?
17. If a constable is recommended for a suitable reward in recognition of the sincere duty performed in busting several criminal gangs responsible for incidents of loot and pickpocketing, which of the following statements would be correct?
    • The superior office is sure that the recommendation will be denied.
    • The constable apprehended an exceptionally high number of criminals.
    • The constable has demanded monetary compensation.
    • The superior is setting an example for other juniors.
    • Rewards are given to recognize the accomplishments of policemen.
18. In a scenario where private airlines increase their fares by almost 60%, should the people be advised to use only buses and trains for travel, or should the airfares be regulated by the controlling authority?
19. What will be the right arrangement of the words Varanasi, Asia, Uttar Pradesh, Earth, and India?
20. Arrange the words heptagon, square, circle, hexagon, triangle, and polygon in a meaningful sequence.
21. If gear A has double the number of teeth as gear B, which is attached to it, how many revolutions will gear B make in 50 revolutions of gear A?
22. If all politicians are public speakers and some public speakers are lawyers, are all lawyers politicians?
23. If all flowers in a garden are red roses, is the statement ‘No flowers in the garden are not red roses’, correct?
24. What is the probability of drawing a red and a blue ball without looking when two balls from a bag that has 12 red balls and eight blue balls are pulled?
25. While managing a restaurant, the owner receives complaints about slow service. What will be the focus of the owner, on cutting food costs, increasing the menu choices, hiring additional waiters and cooks, or revamping the restaurant’s décor?
26. To improve declining sales, what will be achieved first: launch of a marketing campaign, change of the layout of the store, decrease in working hours for employees, or evaluation of customer feedback?
27. If someone introduces a girl, saying, “She is the daughter of the son of the mother of my aunt,” how is that person related to the girl?
28. Arrange the terms country, member, state, city, community, and family in a meaningful sequence.
29. What is the odd one out in bank notes, debit cards, cheques, letters, coins, credit cards, and stocks?
30. On receiving 60 orders for pasta, the chef takes 30 minutes to cook paste and season one-third of the orders with some jalapeno. How many pastas can a chef cook in two hours?
31. If someone buys an item worth 150 INR at 40% off and another item worth 50 INR at 20% off, what percentage is the savings on the total price?
32. Out of disgusting, aesthetic, delightful, decorative, and friendly, which word means “odious”?
33. What is wrong with the statement “I couldn’t get there early because it had been rained since last night.”?
34. Spot the error in the statement, “It has been proved multiple times that Sarah is an honest girl.”
35. If today is Friday, what day will it be ten days from now?
36. How long will a boat take to pass an island if it is moving at a speed of eight meters per second in a river that is flowing in the opposite direction at a speed of four meters per second?
37. Can the statement “Does this sentence need any improvement? If yes, improve the sentence: “The dog sat on the couch.” be improved?
38. “Heavy rain flooded city streets.”, “Residents have to evacuate their homes because of flooding.” Which statement is the cause, and which is the effect?
39. What is a spirit level used to ensure? That a surface is flat, straight, horizontal, aligned, or parallel?
40. How to deal with an enraged customer?
41. Explain a situation where the candidate took an innovative approach to solve a problem.
42. How to meet important deadlines?
43. What is the opposite of imperious: arrogant, moody, quiet, subservient, quiet, or stormy?
44. If Chirag is shorter than only Bharat, and Dinesh is taller only than Alok, who is the tallest?
45. There are five boys being photographed. Suresh sits on the left of Ramesh and the right of Bharat. Mukesh is to the right of Ramesh, and Ishan is sitting between Ramesh and Mukesh. Who is second from the right?
46. If a car covered 60 km in two hours, what was its average speed?
47. What is 8% of 16?
48. If a plot has a 25-meter length and a 25-meter width, what is its area?
49. Out of May, June, July, and August, which one is the odd one out?
50. What is the probability of drawing a red card from a deck of cards without jokers?

Identify the right types of tests and implement them at suitable stages of the recruitment process. Every candidate doesn’t need to take every test, which makes it important to first analyze the requirements of the job role and then determine which tests should be administered and when. It is also important to customize the aptitude test questions that are used to assess candidates based on the specific requirements of the job role as well as the requirements of the organization. Creating a sample PDF of aptitude test questions and answers for different job roles can help recruiters gain a better understanding of the process.

Using aptitude test questions can significantly enhance the screening process, helping recruiters objectively assess the core strengths and capabilities of candidates and their likelihood of succeeding in a specific job role. Mercer | Mettl is the leading pre-employment solutions provider that offers a range of data-driven, scientifically validated assessments for varying needs. Hiring managers can choose from a set of pre-built pre-employment assessments for evaluating the problem-solving, critical thinking, decision-making, numerical reasoning, and other skills of candidates. This range of assessments can be customized to suit the hiring needs of the organization.