Learning & Education
Aptitude Test Sprint: 30 Days to Pass the Screening
Intermediate | 1 whiteboard page · Task board: 5 columns (5 parent tasks, 10 subtasks)
Intermediate: Method names appear, but the whiteboard explains the key points. Use the examples as a guide and fill it in, thinking it through for your own situation.
An aptitude test prep plan turning thirty days into a route past the screening cutoff, opened a month before the main hiring round when applications pass but the test ends the run. The whiteboard holds the cutoff and your test dates, a matrix sorting each area by frequency against your accuracy, a week-by-week target grid, a five-step loop from format to final check, and rules for timeouts and careless slips. Five parent tasks cover formats, a baseline mock, weak areas, timed drilling and the real sitting - every card starts in Not started, so pull only this week's areas into Learning.
Once you have a free account, you can copy this template from the marketplace
Whiteboard preview
Read the whiteboard text as plain text
Aptitude Test 30-Day Sprint
How to use: (1) Decide on the whiteboard which areas to attack and how long you study each day → (2) Move only the areas you are working on this week into Learning
The cutoff you want to clear and the sittings ahead
- The line you want to clear Example — hold around 70 percent across every area by the sitting 30 days out. The real cutoff is never published, so rewrite this as your own target.
- Daily study time and dates One hour on working days, two on days off. The first sitting is 30 days out, with another employer roughly every two weeks after that.
- Why you keep falling out Applications pass and then the test ends the run. Numerical runs out of clock and the back half stays blank, while verbal loses marks on vocabulary.
Which areas to attack first
Vertical axis: Your accuracy right now (low to high) / Horizontal axis: How often it appears (low to high)
- One check a week Accurate enough but rarely asked. Solve a set once a week to keep the feel and spend the rest of the time elsewhere
- Protect this scoring base Always asked and already strong. Check it timed twice a week so it never slips, and answer it first in the real test
- Leave it this sprint Rarely asked and weak. Skip it for these 30 days and decide now that you will pass over it on sight in the real test
- Half your study time This is where the failures come from. Give it half your hours, learn the recurring methods, and redo every miss the next day
Weekly targets by area (the personality profile is about familiarity, not prep)
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verbal | 30 vocabulary items a day | Five gist reads a day | Redo missed words twice | 80 percent on the real format |
| Numerical | Learn 10 core methods | 20 table readings a day | Redo the types that stall | 70 percent inside 60 seconds |
| Logical | Sort the deduction patterns | 10 ordering items a day | Redraw the diagrams you failed | Reach every item inside the limit |
| Profile | Try the format once end to end | Name three answer anchors | Answer without contradicting | Finish at full speed |
The five-step loop to clear the cutoff
- Know formats Check the test format, areas and time limit for each employer and flag the areas they all share
- Mock test Before any prep, sit one timed run and put real numbers on your accuracy and timing per area
- Drill weak Give half your study time to the frequent, low-accuracy areas and learn the methods step by step
- Time it Set a pace per item, keep a timer running, and practice the decision to skip as part of the drill
- Day before Add no new material the day before. Review the methods, the pace, and the setup you will sit with
Rules that stop timeouts
- Skip an item once it passes your pace
- Use the same calculator and paper as the test
- Keep the timer beside the screen while drilling
Careless slip patterns
- Dropped units and misread digits
- Skimming past a NOT in the question
- Locking an answer before reading all options
Notes after each sitting
- Log the areas and item counts that day
- One line on the type that stalled you
- What to carry into the next employer
Task board contents
Not started 15 items
Check test formats
List which test each employer uses and when you have to sit it. Drilling a workbook before you know the format is the biggest detour available.
Note the test dates
List the employers with their deadlines in date order and copy the nearest one onto the goal frame.
List topic areas
Note the areas each format covers — verbal, numerical, logical, personality — with the time limit, and flag the ones they share.
Try the profile test
The personality questionnaire is about familiarity, not prep. Fix three answer anchors and practice answering to the end without contradicting yourself.
Take a mock test
Before any prep, sit one full test under the real time limit and work out your accuracy and timing per area. Those numbers decide every priority that follows.
Sit one timed run
Use a workbook or online practice set under the real limit and finish it without opening the explanations.
Log score per area
Write your score and time per area, then move those numbers onto the vertical axis of the matrix.
Fix the weak areas
Give half your study time to whatever landed in the high-frequency, low-accuracy corner and learn the recurring question types as fixed methods. Assume one pass will not stick.
Learn core methods
Learn the ten most common methods — ratios, speed and distance, table reading — by writing the steps out as you go.
Redo them next day
Flag every miss and redo it the next day without the explanation to check your hand no longer stalls.
Practice timed sets
Set a target number of seconds per item, put a timer down, and drill. The point is not accuracy alone but whether you can decide inside the time you set.
Set a per-item pace
Divide the time limit by the number of items, set a pace per area, and write it on the rules frame.
Practice skipping
Drill twenty items where you skip anything past the pace, and record how many you skipped and your final accuracy.
Sit it and review
On the day of the real sitting, note which areas came up, which items stalled you, and how much time was left, then reorder your priorities for the next employer.
Log how it felt
The same day, write three lines on the areas and item counts, the types that stalled you, and the time left, then post it on the learning frame.
