5 recruitment logic tests that speak louder 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 how do these tests work? 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 with 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, on the other hand, is the science of reasoning.

Logic tests have been 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;
• to measure the behavioral aptitudes of future employees in the workplace.

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

In concrete terms, these tests are used to evaluate :

• Critical thinking skills
• 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 organizational skills.

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

• technical,
• computer
• and linguistic tests.

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

Recruiters use behavioral 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-reference the interpretation of results and refine the evaluation of different profiles.

Advantages and disadvantages of logic tests in recruitment

Logic tests are useful for recruiters, provided they don't rely solely on their results. Many other criteria need to be taken into account when deciding how to proceed.

The benefits

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

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

With a secure recruitment process, the margin for error is reduced, saving agencies money.

Last but not least, the results obtained can help to distinguish between two candidates who share many similarities.

The disadvantages

Now that we've 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?

In any case, the results of these tests require expert analysis. Only professional recruiters are in a position to interpret them before confirming them in an individual interview with the candidate.

Another disadvantage to consider is that logic tests cannot be used as a key element in recruitment. If a firm were to rely mainly on these tools, it would end up with a selection of very similar profiles. And yet, diversity is an important notion in the recruitment process!

5 examples of logic tests in recruitment

There are a number of different 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 practice, the better they perform.

Here are some of the most popular logic tests 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 of a graphical series or matrix.

Dominoes

Logic tests involving dominoes are useful for assessing a candidate's overall intelligence. To find the solution to the question posed, the candidate must call on his or her 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 :

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 color 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 reasoning is based on basic operations. Sometimes, the progression exploits the properties of numbers (prime, even, odd...).

Another video example:

The Wonderlic test

This psychometric assessment asks 50 questions which candidates must answer within a given timeframe. 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 earns the same number of points, so they can choose the easiest ones.

3 best practices for effectively integrating them 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 this case, the test will be useless.

To make sure you don't make a mistake, list all the psychological and behavioral skills you're looking for, then choose the test(s) that will assess them.

Offering tests at the right time

The timing of recruitment tests varies according to the skills they assess. While tests to assess technical skills are essential at the first interview, personality and logic tests generally follow this exchange.

In fact, while specific skills are often decisive in determining the outcome of an application, this is not always the case for psychometric tests.

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

Preparing candidates

It's best to inform candidates as soon as they make initial 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 to remember?

As you can see, the logic test is an essential tool for recruiters. Its results provide invaluable decision-making support. 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 little psychometric tests, make sure you use the one that best suits the position to be filled and the company's expectations, while allowing you to get a good feel for your candidate.