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The Ultimate Guide to CAPP Assessments: Types, Preparation, and Tips

The CAPP Assessment (also known as Cappfinity) is used by a wide range of companies to test the suitability of candidates during the job application process.

Testing job applicants’ critical thinking abilities, their verbal and numerical thinking skills, and assessing their situational skills, CAPP Assessments are considered to be among the more difficult pre-employment tests.

Take the CAPP Assessment Practice Test to improve your score.

For the candidate who is faced with the prospect of a CAPP Assessment, an invitation to take the test can be seen as a call to intensive preparation.

To get an understanding of what a pre-employment test is like, try your hand at this free sample critical thinking test.

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What are CAPP Assessments?

CAPP Assessments are designed to test for the particular strengths a specific employer may be looking for.

There are a number of different CAPP assessments:

  • Numerical Reasoning
  • Verbal Reasoning
  • Critical Reasoning
  • Situational Strengths Tests SST

Part of Cappifinity’s mission statement is to help companies identify the talents they need in their workforce and to provide them with tests that identify those talents in applicants.

The different types of CAPP test

CAPP Numerical Reasoning

In the numerical reasoning test, you are presented with information and using the information to come up with answers to questions. Like a lot of pre-employment tests, the questions may be multiple choice.
However, on some tests, you may come across questions where you have to come up with some information yourself.

Considering that you are going to be focusing on speed as well as on getting the correct answers honing your numerical skills before the test will help you to reach a standard of accuracy prior to doing the real test.

Try your skills with this free sample numerical reasoning test.

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CAPP Verbal Reasoning

In the verbal reasoning test, you will be presented with a passage to read. You may then be given a series of multiple-choice questions where you have to replace missing words.

Alternatively, you may be given a series of sentences to put in the correct order to come up with a summary of the passage.

As in the numerical reasoning test, accuracy and speed both play a part in acing this test, so intense practice on sample tests is required here.

To make a start on this preparation, try a free sample verbal reasoning test here.

CAPP Critical Reasoning

Can you judge arguments, evaluate evidence, come to logical conclusions, identify when somebody is making an assumption?

If you can, then this test should pose you little difficulty. But if like most of mankind, these areas present you with difficulty, the CAPP Critical Reasoning Test is one you are going to have to prepare for.

Working on a series of exercises, like the one below, will train you to follow the flow of an argument and to assess if the writer is being logical or is making unproven assumptions in their article.

In this test, you can expect to be presented with a passage followed by a statement. Your task will be to work through the passage and decide if a statement made is a rational conclusion to draw from the passage or if it is merely an assumption.

To assess your own critical reasoning abilities, try the following sample question.

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CAPP Critical Reasoning example question:

After decades of research, effective drugs have been developed that treat over 60% of patients with depression. Individuals that suffer from common depression often respond better to drug therapy than the minority group who suffer from ‘reversed symptom’ depression. Experimental research indicates 12 weeks of drug therapy significantly reduces several symptoms, including loss of appetite, sadness, lack of energy, anxiety, and feelings of guilt.

People who suffer from moderate depression respond better to drug therapy.

In your opinion, does the conclusion follow naturally from the passage or not follow?

CAPP Situational Strengths Test

The SST you will be asked to take is designed with your prospective employer’s needs in mind.

In collaboration with the testing company, he has outlined the strengths he needs his employees to have and they have provided the employer with a test to identify who among the applicants has those strengths. For that reason, SSTs differ greatly from one another.

However, you can expect to be tested on your time management skills, your ability to prioritise tasks, your ability to efficiently delegate work and your willingness to sacrifice some of your own time should the need arise.

Some companies will also be interested in how you deal with situations where work responsibilities clash with your own needs.

To get an idea of an SST try your hand at the following exercise.

Capp SST Practice Question:

You have recently joined a big accountancy firm as an accounts trainee. You have been assigned several tasks, including vendor invoices, paying bills, and creating invoices for numerous clients. You are therefore committed to several deadlines.

An experienced partner in your team, with whom you usually have lunch, approaches you. He asks you to join him at a conference next week as a representative of the company, presenting detailed information regarding the exclusive services your firm has to offer. This would be a great learning opportunity for you, but it will keep you out of the office for two whole days.

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What would you do in this situation?

Please rank the responses below on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being what you are most likely to do and 5 being what you are least likely to do.

  • Skip the opportunity, as you must meet your deadlines and feel that, as a trainee, you are not yet qualified to represent the company in such a situation. Make a note to yourself to be more prepared for such an opportunity in the future.
  • Thank your partner and agree immediately to go, as this is a great opportunity. Try to move some of your deadlines and ask your fellow trainees to help you prepare for the conference.
  • Agree to go. Work extra hard during the weekend to meet all your deadlines and put in a few extra hours to prepare yourself adequately for the conference.
  • Thank your partner for his offer and try to find out more about your expected role in the conference. Then, figure out if you can meet your deadlines before the conference, and if you can, notify the partner you will join him.
  • Thank your partner and agree to go. Delegate your tasks equally among your fellow team members so you won’t overload one individual person with all your tasks and ensure these will be completed in time.

CAPP tests are adaptive – what does this mean?

Another factor that adds to the uncertainty of the tests for the applicant is that they are adaptive.

This means that the questions you are given to do vary in difficulty level depending on how you performed on the previous question you have done.

For example, if you perform well on a question, the system will present you with a more difficult question in the following exercise.

In a similar fashion, if your performance on a question is not very good, you can expect the following question to be easier.

Obviously, it is in your interest to get the more challenging questions, and adequate preparation is needed to ensure that.

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Who uses the CAPP Assessment?

If you are applying to work at any of the companies listed below, then a CAPP Assessment may lie ahead for you.

Click the links to find tailored preparation materials for each company from Job Test Prep.

As you can see from the list, banking institutions, accountancy firms, insurers, and even suppliers of retail products and service companies all use the tests. This means that you are likely to come across CAPP Assessments at some point in the future.

Is the CAPP test timed?

Like all pre-employment tests, the CAPP tests are timed but in a different manner.

Unlike other tests, you may take as long as you need to do a test. However, when your scores are being calculated, the length of time you have spent on a test is taken into account.

What does this mean for the candidate?

Rather than racing against the clock as you do the test, you are racing against the speed at which other applicants work and that in itself is an unknown quantity.

The emphasis in scoring your test is on the correctness of your answers. However, be warned, if you get the same answers as another applicant, they will achieve a higher score than you if they complete the test more quickly than you do.

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Can I prepare for the assessments?

Preparation for all assessments is essential, but in a system with as many variables as those outlined above, it is doubly so.

For your preparation, it is important to rely on the help of a job test preparation company. For this, we recommend relying on the resources offered by Job Test Prep.

Using their services, you are guaranteed accurate and reliable information about the CAPP tests and access to sample test papers modelled on the real tests.

Using the sample papers for your preparation, you are working on papers that are similar to the real tests.

This will allow you:

  • To become familiar with the tests before you attempt the real ones
  • To hone your answering skills
  • To master your use of time in the test situation
  • To check your scores from test to test and identify areas that are causing you difficulty
  • To approach the tests knowing there are no unpleasant surprises waiting for you

Using a test prep pack from the company, you will also receive comprehensive explanations of the questions and answers as well as detailed study guides.

To get an idea of the types of tests Job Test Prep can supply you with, try your hand at a free sample verbal reasoning test here.

Tips for effective preparation

  • To ensure you get the most out of the time you spend preparing, try the following tips:
  • Delegate a distraction-free zone for all of your preparation.
  • Work to a timetable to ensure you are prepared some days before the tests.
  • Work in short-50 minutes- blocks of time
  • Take adequate breaks. Taking a short break after every 50 minutes of preparation will ensure you retain material more easily
  • Keep an eye on your physical well-being. Your brain will work better as a result.
  • Keep the day before the tests free for a brief review of the material and to get a rest

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Doing the assessments

  • Approach the assessments:
  • Clear-headed and well-rested
  • Confident. You have done the work and know you deserve this
  • Assured there will be nothing in the tests to take you by surprise

If you are due to take a CAPP Assessment, you will find all the resources you need to ace the assessments here.

Written by Elizabeth O Mahony

With 25+ years’ experience as a teacher and state examinations corrector, Elizabeth now writes for the education and careers industry. Her experience preparing students for examinations and running an academy for supplementary education give her invaluable insights into what it takes for job seekers and graduates to succeed in assessments.