Graduate Recruitement Graduate recruitment is one of the classic areas where psychometric methods have much to offer. PRD, and before its launch in 1985 its founder Dr Steve Blinkhorn have always been at the forefront of new graduate aptitude test design.
VA3 Verbal Critical Reasoning, designed in 1977 for the embryonic Saville & Holdsworth Ltd., was the first of the now ubiquitous style of verbal test that every test publisher seems to need to emulate. At the time, its design was considered so unconventional that the publishers included a special note in the manual to reassure nervous potential users.
The GMA Series (Graduate and Managerial Assessment), which combined the same style of verbal test with a novel approach to the assessment of numerical reasoning in context and an utterly new style of abstract reasoning test, is a long-running test publishing success story, designed in 1983 and published in 1985. Much copied, in name, format and theoretical underpinnings, it remains unique in having two exceptionally closely parallel forms. GMA was previously published under licence by ASE. The online version is available from its dedicated website.
The development of Structured Learning Exercises gathered pace in the 1990s, and two large projects, one for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and one for the Northern Ireland Civil Service were particular landmarks so far as graduate level testing were concerned. Three tests in the ABLE series, Business Decision Analysis, Critical Information Analysis and Critical Business Planning, are particularly relevant to the graduate recruiter whose needs do not extend to having a bespoke development or a computerised test. The ABLE series is published under licence by OPP. Other tests, specifically designed for online use, which share characteristics of the ABLE series are available from PRD (contact PRD).
We continue to expand and explore the logic of Structured Learning Exercises, in further commissions for the Northern Ireland Civil Service, and Allied Irish Bank amongst others too shy to be named.
Best advantage of the format is gained through computer-delivered examples, using our Diablo software platform. Contact us to discuss your requirements and get a copy of our free demonstration software.
