Friday, February 4, 2011

More on Wonderlic Tests

In response to this blog post, I've had readers ask me about tips to do well on the Wonderlic test. Some of these readers have never contacted me before, and blog stats indicate I'm getting a lot of Google hits on the search word "Wonderlic."

So, for the tips, here goes:


1. Reading
I'm not talking anything but speed reading here. Be able to read fast. If you cannot read fast, perhaps a course in speed reading might be in order. The Wonderlic is 50 questions in 12 minutes. That's over 4 questions per minute - if you want to answer them all. That's about 15 seconds per question.


2. Math
Make sure your fundamental adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing are strong. Really strong. Be able to do basic arithmetic in your head, or with a scratch sheet of paper. Do calculations FAST.

I have a friend who is a supervisor in the construction trades. I would imagine he would do very well on the math part of the Wonderlic, as he has to do that sort of math all day long. As an example:

You have 20 beams. Each beam is 9.5 feet long. The cost is $12 per foot. How much did the beams cost?


3. Word association
Know the definitions of commonly written words. Know synonyms. Know antonyms. Be able to spot the different one FAST.


4. Strategy
The score is based solely on the questions you answer correctly. If you do not INSTANTLY know the answer, move on to the next question.
Go back, rapidly and fill in the answers to questions you can get quickly, but not instantly.
Go back and work on the harder questions after that.

Remember - 20 questions correct and you are thought to be average. Nothing wrong with that.
30 questions correct, and you are thought to be well above average.

By using the strategy of answering all easy questions first, then moving on, you set yourself up to be able to answer all questions. This is crucial.

Suppose you know you got 20 questions correct.
You think you got another 15 narrowed down to "pretty close" - but let's assume you got only 5 of those correct, though.
Now, if you put "B" in the remaining 15 answers - even without looking - you will get 1/4 correct (about 3 or 4 questions).
20 + 5 + 3 = 28. This means by using good strategy, you took an "average" score to well above average.

Wonderlic evenly distributes answer letters. Meaning, on average, a correct answer is just as likely to be an "A" as it is a "B" as it is a "C" as it is a "D."  So if you guess - it pays to keep all guesses the same letter.
Also, look back, do you have a lot that you know you answered correctly, marked as "B"? Put "C" as your guesses. Make it make sense.


5. Practice
It goes without saying that practice helps. In anything. Get some practice Wonderlic tests, and take them. Be honest - use no calculators, and set a timer. Take both the 8-minute, 30-question version, as well as the 12-minute, 50-question version.

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