5 logical recruitment tests that say more than a CV

Recruitment tests are many and varied. When the position to be filled requires reasoning and analytical skills, logic tests are of great interest to recruiters.

But what are these tests like? What are their advantages and disadvantages? We answer all your questions in this article.

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Logic tests in recruitment: what are they?

To explain what a logic test is, let's start by looking at the two elements that make it up. As you know, a test is a kind of trial designed to assess a person's psychological or physical abilities. Logic is a science that focuses on reasoning.

Logic tests were developed to assess people's reasoning abilities. As part of a recruitment process , they are used to

• ensure that candidates are capable of reasoning reliably and effectively;
• measure the behavioural skills of future employees in the workplace.

Note: it is not necessarily the final results that are decisive. Instead, recruiters seek to assess the way in which candidates tackle the various problems posed by the logic tests. So it's not always a question of right or wrong answers, but rather of logical reasoning or not. ✅

In practical terms, these tests are used to assess :

• Critical thinking
• Mental agility
• Reasoning ability
• Ability to identify and solve problems

To which category do logic tests belong?

There are several types of psychometric test. Each assesses specific skills and personality aspects of candidates. Like IQ tests, logic tests belong to the family of intelligence and reasoning tests.

Personality tests can be used to assess elements of great interest to recruiters. These include emotional intelligence and organisational skills.

🎯 Designed to measure knowledge specific to the job in question, aptitude tests are based on :

• technical
• IT
• and language tests.

Read also: What is talent really worth? 10 professional English tests to find out

Recruiters use behavioural assessments to study candidates' reactions to specific situations. Many use these tests to measure decision-making skills and to observe how candidates handle crisis situations.

Our advice: as a recruiter, you can combine several psychometric tests to cross-check the interpretation of the results and refine the assessment of different profiles.

Advantages and disadvantages of logic tests in recruitment

Logic tests are useful for recruiters, provided that they do not base their decisions solely on the results. Many other criteria need to be taken into account when deciding how to proceed with an application.

The benefits

Logic tests are a simple and inexpensive way for recruitment agencies and employers to test the skills required for a particular job. For each candidate, they not only test technical skills, but also reasoning abilities.

Offered at the start of the process, these tests save time by providing an upstream assessment of behavioural skills. Even if they are not decisive, the data obtained secures the recruitment process by providing essential criteria for a complete assessment of the profile of the various candidates.

With a secure recruitment process, the margin for error is reduced, enabling agencies to make savings.

Finally, the results obtained can help to separate two candidates who have many similarities.

The disadvantages

Now that we have discussed the advantages of logic tests, let's turn to the disadvantages.

However qualitative they may be, these tests do not dispense with human judgement. Are we in the process of identifying an area in which human reflection cannot be replaced by artificial intelligence?

Whatever the case, the results of these tests require expert analysis. Only professional recruiters are in a position to interpret them before confirming them in a one-to-one interview with the candidate.

Another disadvantage to consider is that logic tests cannot be used as a key element in recruitment. If a firm relied mainly on these tools, it would obtain a selection of very similar profiles. But diversity is an important part of the recruitment process!

5 examples of logic tests in recruitment

There are various logic tests. Depending on the skills to be assessed, recruiters choose mystery sequences, codes to find, intruders to identify, rotation analysis, symmetries or logical reasoning. For most of these tests, practice is key. The more candidates practise, the better they perform.

Here are some of the logic tests most commonly used by recruitment agencies.

Raven matrices

One of the most widely used psychometric tests, Raven's matrices take the form of multiple-choice intelligence tests. There are two possibilities:

1. candidates must complete a figure by choosing a missing part from a given selection
2. or find the law of progression for a series of graphs or a matrix.

Dominoes

Logic tests involving dominoes are useful for assessing a candidate's overall intelligence. To find the solution to the question posed, they have to use their inductive reasoning skills.

The exercise takes the following form: a series of dominoes is placed in front of you, and you have to find the value of the last domino.

Video example:

The playing cards

Once again, cards are lined up in a logical sequence. Also useful for assessing logical reasoning skills, these tests invite candidates to determine the colour and number of the missing card based on the characteristics and order of the previous cards.

Number sequence tests

Used to measure an individual's ability to reason with numbers, these cognitive tests propose a sequence of numbers to be completed. In most cases, only one digit is missing, and the reasoning is based on basic operations. Sometimes the progression exploits the properties of numbers (prime, even, odd, etc.).

Another video example:

The Wonderlic test

This psychometric assessment asks 50 questions that candidates must answer within a given time. A shorter version, the Wonderlic Quicktest, consists of 30 questions.

Available online, this test assesses general knowledge, basic mathematical skills, verbal comprehension and, of course, logic. Presented in the form of a multiple-choice questionnaire, the Wonderlic test poses its questions in a precise order. Candidates are not obliged to follow this order. Each question scores the same number of points, so they can choose the easiest ones.

3 best practices for incorporating them effectively into the recruitment process

To be effective and enrich the recruitment process, logic tests must be used wisely.

Consider the soft skills of the position to be filled

Choosing the right logic test means clearly defining the skills required for the position to be filled. If you don't carry out this analysis beforehand, you won't be able to assess the skills you're looking for. In that case, the test will be useless.

To avoid making a mistake, list all the psychological and behavioural skills you are looking for, then choose the test or tests that will assess them.

Offering tests at the right time

Depending on the skills they assess, recruitment tests are not offered at the same time. While tests to assess technical skills are essential at the first interview, personality and logic tests generally follow on from this.

While specific skills are often decisive for the outcome of an application, this is not always the case for psychometric tests.

☝️ Nevertheless, they do provide important information that should be collected without too much delay. If the results are positive, the recruiter can present the candidates to the company that has called on his or her services.

Preparing candidates

It's best to inform candidates when they first make contact. To enable them to approach the tests with confidence, explain the principle and the objectives. This transparency is essential to create a climate of trust and enable candidates to take the tests in the best possible conditions.

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Logic tests in recruitment: what should you bear in mind?

As you can see, the logic test is one of the essential tools for recruiters. Its results provide invaluable help in the decision-making process. The ability to reason, logic and mental agility are skills that can make all the difference.

To make the most of the advantages of these short psychometric tests, make sure you use the one that is best suited to the position to be filled and the company's expectations, while allowing you to get a good feel for your candidate.