Qantas group psych testing. (SHL)

[CAPTAIN-C2H5OH]

Hi all.

I recieved an invite by a Qantas group company to complete an online SHL verbal reasoning and numerical test.
In the letter they stated that you do this in your own time and that you may be required to do it again under supervision down the track. Has anyone got tips on the SHL tests, eg how many questions, and have you had to do it twice? I guess this is to stop you getting someone else to do it!!

Any info would be appreciated


C2H5OH

[michael36]

From memory there are about 18 numerical questions, 25 minutes to complete but I could be wrong on that. Verbal testing was 30 questions with around 20 minutes to complete. In both cases you needed the entire time limit. Its not necessarily about how many you can answer it is about how many you can actually get right from the ones you answered. Obviously try and get the majority done. The personality and motivation questionnaire is fairly straight forward, no time limit there are quite a few questions to answer for each roughly 100.

[grrowler]

I'm pretty sure they don't give you an interview and sim unless your skill/ psych is up to their standard, seems like a waste of everyone's time. At least that used to be the case.

[EW73]

In my experience with this psych test with Qantas, as far as getting them all finished is concerned.
They always give you more than you can reasonably complete, otherwise they can't know exactly how many you can attempt in the time allowed.
The trick is to decide whether you want to:
1/ attempt to complete lots, with a subsequent loss of accuracy, or
2/ slow down a little, complete less, but the accuracy score will be better.

As has been mentioned earlier, treat this seriously, they do!

[Centre of Pressure]

To answer the 2nd part of the question. I have had to do the SHL a 2nd time under supervision on the day of the Interview, and have heard of other people doing the same.

[Wally Mk2]

........I read this crap & gotta ask, do they actually want pilots or clever circus monkey's/puppets??
It's so sad that the airline business has boiled down to 'tricking' those that are away with the fairies in the first place!


Wmk2

[CAPTAIN-C2H5OH]

Wally,
I agree.
What a load of crap. A couple of capt friends of mine in various aussie airlines say they would not get through these tests. Yet they do their jobs just fine. Thanks all for your replies. C2h5oh
:ugh:

[Wally Mk2]

'Capt C2ETC' it's like us oldies who have & are living in two worlds. One world back when common sense & freedom existed & discipline was allowed in schools also where you where taught to fly a plane, make command decisions etc based on raw experience the rest you figured out as you went along, on the job so 2 speak that's how our aviation background was built on. The other world we now live in is infested with rules & regs so far remote from common sense that only Philadelphia lawyers can understand them along with the new breed of Uni guru's & Psycho types who couldn't turn a screwdriver who now also run the world from behind several degrees so we can all 'feel' better!

It's a brave new world out there in aviation where job security, having hands on skills & common sense are now all only to be found in the annals of our past sadly:sad:


Wmk2

[Horatio Leafblower]

We implemented some psych stuff at an airline I worked for; it was extremely useful for filtering out Cockpit Psychopaths, who had a tendency to make CRM training a bit redundant as they trampled all over the more sensitive FOs.

The screening was validated against a profile of every captain in the company, and we identified the "desirable" and "less desirable" and then picked new recruits accordingly.

It worked for us. Of course, it was dumped when they merged with Cinderella :ugh:

[HappyBandit]

I have been trying to work out your last part of your name capt c2h5oh and finally dawned on me capt ethanol (chemical formula). I digress, there are actually companies out there that have practice exams or as someone else mentioned just search online numeric and verbal tests. Pm if you like. I was once involved in conducting these forms of tests in a previous life and have to agree that accuracy is far better than speed if comparing those 2 variables alone. Your score is benchmarked against a range of things including questions answered, question difficulty, your peers etc. It is only one part of the recruitment.

[aussie027]

I have to do these SHL tests this week or next at the latest.
SHL lady said you cannot go back to answer any Q u missed or passed on in the timed verbal and numerical tests.
So what do u all suggest, go for accuracy even if it slows u down more or try to stick to a set time for each Q to try and get as many done as possible with a lower accuracy?? ie if your time on a Q is up choose between the best 2 answers u have hopefully narrowed it down to and move on to next.

[DeltaT]

An old thread (http://www.pprune.org/pacific-general-aviation-questions/519902-shl-results-qf.html) here about the SHL testing.

And I will say here what I said there too:
For those interested, an informative read (http://www.nicheconsulting.co.nz/secrets_lies.htm#lie3)
The Ipsative Test, as used by Qantas group, and a variation by Tiger, is not advisable for Recruitment!!!
Essentially, for those who want a quick study, this type of personality testing is a comparison of traits to other traits, or scored 1-5 by you, which is a internal comparison for you the individual only. Your overall scoring is then compared to a Sample group that has been made to fit a bell curve distribution. For a High Achiever a low score trait could be high by comparison for someone else. I doubt you will find any high achievers or bright sparks getting through because they don't match the scoring of average Joe pilot.

As an aside; Network, Jetstar, Qantaslink charge $187 all using SHL, while Tiger charge a whopping $288 for theirs from Testgrid.
I wonder if SHL will let you pay for doing the test under your own request and store the results for reference? Then you can just pay the ONE fee and not all over again for the other airlines should you need to. :E

I would encourage any of you about to fork out money for testing to ask HR if your 'experience level' is a factor in the decision process from the psychometric testing point onwards, because you always get that little gem at the end when you don't get through making reference to your 'experience level' as part of the reason, when they knew what it was before getting you to pay for the assessment!!
Isn't that simply money grabbing?! Or would a Lawyer call it false pretences? It might just save you some cash when you realise what is going on.

[Wally Mk2]

'Delta' as you say it's a money grab as there's now a whole industry set up to 'screen' anyone getting almost any job never lone aviation which is a circus act in it's own right just to get a start!
Security, pre employment checks, Psycho crap without it all there would be a lot more people on the dole!!



Wmk2

[Altimeters]

What I don't get is that I wasn't smart enough to get through the Qantas psycho testing (that's who I applied for first) however they said my results were good enough for Jetstar...This was back in 2008. :confused:

[Capt Fathom]

What a load of crap

Are you going to tell them that C2H5OH, or are you going to play the game and do the test? :rolleyes:

[Altimeters]

Yeah ok putting that aside, I'd still be flying a jet for the same group and it would be straight to FO, obviously not an SO. That's what I don't get. Was it just me? Or did anyone else get the same offer?

[Mr.Buzzy]

They're just testing that you're made of "the right stuff"
Being a stage-coach driver for 6 years before moving to a window seat is tough and requires great mental resilience!

Bz zzbzzbzbzbzb

[Altimeters]

Ahhh thanks mr buzzy!! Got it! :ok:

[DeltaT]

O yes, forgot to say, by purchasing the testing, you are covered by the consumer rights when buying goods and services via internet trading, and for the princley sum of $30 can take a claim to the Small Claims Court, where no lawyers are permitted...should you feel agrieved and want your money back. ;)

As a point of interest for you all to consider, here is something from the Limitations section of the Manual for the Tigerair Personality Test.
However, all comments or interpretations should be tested against the experiences of the candidate as well as against the experience of those who know the candidate. No single questionnaire, even an extensive questionnaire, should be used alone. Information from other sources should be part of the data gathered and used, including other reports, workplace reports, interviews, and appropriate comments.

Therefore, where candidates disagree with a given interpretation of one or two of the 34 categories, and perhaps after checking with others in case the candidates are "blind" to their own impacts on others, the report comments would normally be disregarded for those characteristics.

Were you asked about your other experiences as compared to the results, and or your referees as part of that round, before progressing to the phone interview?

[CAPTAIN-C2H5OH]

Capt Fathom,

I told 'em what a load of crap.

They said their banana stocks are plentiful right now, and the monkey's keep coming- so don't bother

By the way, I have a friend with over 1000hrs command on their type, and went straight to an interview and avoided the SHL testing.

what a mugs game

[Wally Mk2]

'CaptC2etc'....you only just realized that it's a mugs game?....sheeeze where have ya bin?:)
In this dirty back room business it's not what you know but whom you know!


Wmk2