What Is a Concentration Test And How to Prepare for It
The concept of a concentration test might be foreign to you, but they are actually commonly used in certain hiring processes. Designed to test how effectively you can focus on repetitive tasks that are mundane but very crucial, concentration tests can set apart the ideal candidate from the rest.
Let’s look at how you can prepare effectively for a concentration test and what it often consists of.
Table of Contents
What Is a Concentration Test?
A concentration test is designed to evaluate how effectively you can concentrate on a task.
This task is often repetitive but critical, which is why it can be challenging to maintain full focus over a period. Often, there are distractions all around, too, so the candidate has to possess the ability to have precise focus, ignoring all diversions and interferences around.
There are certain careers that hinge on the ability to focus and pay attention over long periods. Often, the employee might even feel bored or exhausted. Yet they must muster enough energy, focus, and attention to concentrate on the task.
Such intense focus is crucial for careers where mistakes can be disastrous. Some examples include pilots, truck drivers, train drivers, and other administration careers.
These careers might not seem that complicated at first; however, they really do require absolute focus all the time.
For example, driving might seem like a mundane daily task that is not too complex. However, truck drivers often have to drive for most of the day, which increases their levels of exhaustion and reduces their ability to be completely attentive.
This is why you will find that many transportation businesses often incorporate a concentration test into their hiring process to sift out the best drivers who can maintain a firm focus over long hours.
How Do I Prepare for a Concentration Test?
First, it’s crucial to understand what skills or qualities are being assessed in a concentration test. Only then can you try to improve the areas where you are lacking and further enhance the areas that you already excel in.
- Focus: This is an obvious one. Your ability to maintain firm attention on the task is critical.
- Coordination and Management: People who struggle to concentrate are often weaker in coordinating, organizing, and managing tasks.
- Evaluation: Can you evaluate problems critically and come up with effective solutions?
- Reasoning: Since focus and attention involve the brain’s executive performance, companies like to look for people who tend to be expressive, fluent, and articulate
Looking at the qualities that are being evaluated above, which ones are you stronger or weaker in? Focus on the skills that you are weaker in so those related components in the test do not bring down your overall results.
Job Test Prep offers a Concentration Test PrePack with all the resources you need to help you prepare adequately. You will get access to all the tools you need, so you will not waste time focusing on the wrong aspects. It is certainly better to work smart and boost your chances with Job Test Prep.
What Is Included in the Concentration Test Assessments?
Basically, there are two main components to your concentration test; the SCAAT and the Group Bourdon.
Group Bourdon
The Group Bourdon test can be done digitally or on paper, so don’t be surprised if you are asked to do either type.
Consisting of five sheets, you will be given 2 minutes for each sheet. This comes up to a total of 10 minutes for the entire test.
Each sheet has 21 rows that have 25 groups. You will find a range of dots, from 2 dots to 6 dots. What you have to do is find groups of four. After a while, it can be rather confusing staring at the sheets consisting of a whole matrix of dots and letters.
Your focus might also slowly erode, which is normal, but bear in mind that this is the whole aim of the test. The point is to sift out the excellent performers who can maintain their focus throughout.
In the Group Bourdon test, testers are looking for:
- Precision: Are your answers mostly correct or full of careless mistakes?
- Time Taken: During the 10 minutes given, how many questions did you answer? However, bear in mind that you need to balance speed with precision. Answering questions quickly but wrongly will work against you.
- Omissions: Did you miss out any groups?
- Wrong Answers: Did you get any incorrect answers? Incorrect answers are counted towards your final score.
SCATT Test
The SCATT Test is also known as the Safe Concentration and Attention Test, and it is very common in industries where it is critical to focus for many hours on a repetitive task. The one thing that stands out with the SCATT test is that the questions start easy, then become progressively more challenging.
Conducted in both digital or paper formats like the Group Bourdon test, you get a minute for each page. When you hit a minute, you will progress to the following page. So with the SCATT test, time management is crucial.
You have to be consistent with each question and will not get the chance to spend longer on a question. At the same time, remember that you still have to focus on accuracy and try to get as many correct answers as possible.
The SCATT test consists of three exercises that each span three sheets. Each sheet is filled with shapes and figures with differences that are not very apparent. Different figures are featured between each line which mixes things up and can become confusing.
The point of these exercises is to test how accurately and effectively you can detect changes and details. This is meant to mimic the nature of certain jobs, especially driving jobs. For example, a bus driver will find that his or her daily bus route is rather uninteresting and mundane.
However, when there are any incidents, it can be extremely disastrous. This is why the driver has to maintain focus and be quick to spot changes or react appropriately on a daily basis, even when the routine gets boring or dull.
Using Job Test Prep’s SCATT PrepPack will enable you to familiarize yourself with the nature of the test. You will be able to take practice tests in real-time, so you will know what to expect. This is the best way to help better your chance of excelling in the test.
Job Test Prep will give you invaluable guidance on the best ways to score well, giving you answers and feedback so you know how to improve.
Sample Questions
Here is an example of how the SCATT test is administered:
- First Set: You will be instructed to identify a specific shape on a page.
- Second Set: Now, you will be tasked with spotting two targets instead of just one. You are expected to do this in the same amount of time as the first set.
- Third Set: The most challenging of the lot, this set requires you to spot a dynamic or changing shape in each line. You will still have to identify the target shape in addition to this new task.
It is crucial to understand that you might not complete every page. All you have to do is try to answer as many questions as you can quickly and accurately.
How Do I Pass The Concentration Test?
- Rest Your Eyes: While you are under immense pressure from the time limit, you should still rest your eyes now and again. Glance up even for a few seconds. It might just give you a new perspective or just give your mind a quick rest.
- Label It: The power of association is real so when it’s time to remember a shape or pattern, it will help to label it with a name in your mind or relate it to an object you can easily remember.
- Get Adequate Rest: It is no surprise that adequate sleep the night before will enable your mind to perform optimally when it comes to focus, speed, and accuracy — all of which are crucial during the test. So try to sleep early the night before so you are mentally and physically well-rested and ready for the test.
- Be Active: Being active before sitting down for your test can help improve your focus. It is best not to be studying or reading right before the test since you might already be tired when the test commences. Instead, take the time to do some light exercise or go for a stroll before you take your test and give it your complete focus.
Conclusion
Certain jobs can feel mundane and repetitive. However, due to human lives or significant money or machinery and equipment involved, it is absolutely imperative that employees stay alert at all times. Losing focus on the job can have disastrous consequences indeed.
Concentration tests are meant to evaluate how suitable you are for such careers, assessing how effectively you can perform in repetitive tasks over long periods.
Give yourself the best chance of succeeding by visiting Job Test Prep to get all the tools and guidance you need for your concentration test. By knowing what to expect, getting ample practice and receiving feedback to improve, Job Test Prep enables you to be well prepared so you can excel in your test.
Sarah is an accomplished educator, researcher and author in the field of testing and assessment. She has worked with various educational institutions and organisations to develop innovative evaluation methods and enhance student learning. Sarah has published numerous articles and books on assessment and learning. Her passion for promoting equity and fairness in the education system fuels her commitment to sharing insights and best practices with educators and policymakers around the world.
