Quick takeaways
- Practising the wrong test: Preparing for the wrong provider or format is the most common and costly mistake.
- Ignoring instructions: Skipping the rules on timing, navigation and scoring leads to avoidable errors.
- Poor time allocation: Spending too long on hard items starves the easier questions you could have answered.
- Reviewing scores, not reasons: Tracking only your score — instead of why answers were wrong — stops you improving.
- Faking behavioural tests: Trying to game personality or SJT assessments usually backfires against consistency checks.
This page catches users who worry they made a mistake or want to avoid predictable failures. It focuses on behaviour: poor timing, wrong practice, ignoring instructions, overusing calculators, and misunderstanding scores.
This TestSolve guide is written for candidates preparing for online assessments, graduate tests, pre-employment screens, and provider-specific assessments such as SHL, Aon, Korn Ferry/Talent Q, Criteria/CCAT and Watson Glaser. It is not a live-test answer service. The purpose is preparation: understanding the format, practising similar questions, reviewing mistakes, and going into the real assessment with less uncertainty.
Quick answer
Mistake 1: practising the wrong test
Many candidates prepare for the wrong assessment. They search for generic aptitude questions when their invitation is for Talent Q Elements, Aon digitChallenge, Watson Glaser, Criteria CCAT, SHL Verify, or a personality questionnaire. The result is wasted preparation time. The fix is to read the invitation and identify the provider, test name, question type, timing and device rules before choosing practice material.
Mistake 2: ignoring instructions
The instruction page is not admin fluff. It tells you the timing, calculator rules, navigation rules, whether you can go back, whether unanswered questions count, and sometimes how the scoring works. Candidates lose marks by assuming that every test works like a school exam. Some tests reward speed; others punish careless guessing indirectly through low accuracy; some are adaptive; some have section-level timing. Read the instructions slowly before the timer starts.
Mistake 3: poor time allocation
Time pressure is one of the most common candidate complaints. Aon’s candidate material includes several very short assessments, and Criteria’s CCAT gives 50 questions in 15 minutes. In these tests, getting stuck is expensive. A common mistake is spending too long trying to perfect one answer while easier points remain later. The better strategy is to set a rough pace, move on when a question is not yielding, and use estimation or elimination where appropriate.
Mistake 4: reviewing only scores, not reasons
A low practice score is useful only if you know why it happened. Candidates often retake practice tests without analysing errors. That creates activity but not improvement. Review the reasoning path: Was the concept unfamiliar? Was the calculation wrong? Did you miss a wording trap? Did you misread the graph? Did you panic under timing? TestSolve can help here because explanations turn a wrong answer into a reusable lesson.
Mistake 5: trying to fake behavioural assessments
Personality, work-style and SJT pages need a different warning. A common mistake is trying to guess the “perfect” employer answer for every item. That can produce inconsistent responses and unrealistic profiles. For SJTs, learn what good workplace judgement looks like: prioritise safety, honesty, customer impact, communication, evidence and appropriate escalation. For personality and work-style tests, answer truthfully but professionally. The goal is role fit, not pretending to be someone else.
How this connects to provider-specific tests
Provider names matter because each assessment family can use different timing, scoring and question design. SHL publishes candidate practice categories such as numerical, verbal, checking, inductive, deductive, mechanical and situational judgement. Aon’s candidate preparation material lists short timed formats across numeracy, logic, concentration, planning and personality/work-style style assessments. Criteria’s CCAT candidate material is especially explicit about timing and calculator rules. Korn Ferry/Talent Q material points candidates toward verbal, numerical, logical and checking practice. A good TestSolve page should therefore avoid pretending that one rule applies to every provider. It should explain the general principle, then tell candidates to verify the specific rule in their invitation and assessment portal.
How TestSolve can help before the real assessment
TestSolve is most useful during preparation, not during a live employer assessment. A candidate can use it to understand practice questions, check the reasoning behind an answer, compare a slow method with a faster method, and identify repeated mistakes. For numerical, abstract, diagrammatic, logical, mechanical, checking and critical-thinking practice, this means turning confusing questions into step-by-step explanations. For SJT, personality and work-style preparation, it means understanding the intent of question types and learning to answer consistently and professionally. The public copy should be clear about this boundary: TestSolve helps candidates train and learn; it should not be positioned as a way to cheat, impersonate, or compromise an employer test.
Mistake 6: treating practice answers as memorisation
Good preparation is not memorising answers from practice websites. Real assessments can change item pools, use adaptive delivery, or present unfamiliar versions of the same skill. If you only memorise answer patterns, you may fail when the surface details change. Instead, learn the method. In numerical reasoning, learn how to set up the calculation. In abstract reasoning, learn how to test possible rules. In verbal reasoning, learn how to justify an answer from the passage. In critical thinking, learn the difference between inference, assumption and conclusion. Method transfers better than memorised answers.
Mistake 7: panicking after the test
After a test, candidates often replay every question and assume the worst. That can lead to poor interview performance or unnecessary emails to recruiters. If the test is complete, record what you remember for future preparation, then shift attention to the next stage. If you experienced a technical issue, document it clearly and contact the employer or provider quickly. If you simply found the test hard, remember that many assessments are designed to feel time pressured. Difficulty alone does not prove failure. The useful response is to prepare for possible interviews, keep applying elsewhere, and use any feedback to improve.
Mistake 8: ignoring accessibility and technical issues
Another avoidable mistake is waiting until after a failed or incomplete assessment to mention a legitimate access issue. If you need accommodations, have unreliable equipment, or know that the platform may conflict with your device, raise it before the test where possible. If a technical problem happens during the assessment, record the time, take a screenshot if allowed, note the error message, and contact the provider or employer promptly. Do not confuse a difficult question with a technical issue, but do not stay silent when the platform genuinely prevents completion.
Related guides and skill hubs
Provider guides
Frequently asked questions
Should I practise with official provider material first?
Yes. Official tutorials and candidate guides are the safest starting point because they show the provider’s intended format and rules. Use third-party practice only after you understand the official format.
Are psychometric tests the same for every employer?
No. Employers can choose different providers, test batteries, time limits, benchmarks and follow-up steps. Even the same provider can offer multiple assessment types.
Can TestSolve guarantee a higher score?
No. No responsible preparation tool should guarantee a score. TestSolve can help you understand practice questions and improve your preparation process, but the real outcome depends on the assessment, employer benchmark, your current skill level and test-day performance.
Is it okay to use AI during a live employer test?
Do not use live-test assistance unless the employer explicitly allows it. Use TestSolve before the test for practice, review and learning.
What should I do the day before the test?
Confirm the test rules, complete a short realistic practice set, review your common errors, prepare your device and environment, and avoid exhausting yourself with last-minute cramming.
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