In almost all recruitment processes that take place where symbol interpretation is a requirement in the position, testing is a significant factor. The testing is generally done on personality traits and cognitive ability, either in combination or as stand-alone tests.

Cognitive abilities represent a very general mental capability. This capability involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, interpret symbols and absorb, process and implement complex information.

Cognitive abilities are not to be understood as possessing knowledge in itself, which is supported by the fact that cognitive abilities do not increase with age or education. Rather, they reflect a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings “catching on” or “making sense” of things. In a recruitment context the recruiting organization uses the tests to asses if the applicant is able to the handle the position in question but also to assess potential for progression to more challenging tasks in the future. The general cognitive ability will indicate how well the candidate will adapt in a given position and acquire knowledge on the job.

Cognitive tests come in a variety of shapes with the most widely used being SHL, Wunderlich, People Logic (PTL), PLI/PI CA and Cubiks Test.

You can meet the tests all over the globe as it is used by companies and organizations that are leaders in their respective fields such as:

Maersk, Coloplast, Danske Bank, IKEA, Shell, Saxo Bank, Ørsted, Primera Air Scandinavia, Nestle, Salling Group, Samsung, Energinet, The Flying Tiger Copenhagen, easyjet and more

Rubic's cube, 1998

The Optima Tests are simulations of the PLI Test that provides you the opportunity to test, train and learn with the same structure and categories of questions. The questions are drawn from a growing database of more than 5000 questions that are regularly checked for validity. These questions are combined into tests based on the parameters listed above and the generation of tests ensures that you will never face the same test twice.

The Test is a multiple choice test with 50 questions and 12 minutes to answer as many questions as possible. The questions consist of three major categories (Verbal, Numeric and Abstract Reasoning) and nine sub-categories (Analogies, Antonyms, Verbal Analysis, Number Series, Math Word Problems, Number Value, Visual Analogies, Visual Series and Common Features) with 5-6 questions per Sub-category. The average difficulty of the questions is 3 on a range from 1 to 5 with random distribution throughout the test.