2023 EEI SASS Test Study Guide & Practice Questions
Have you been searching or applying for jobs in administration or other related fields? Are you struggling to pass the employment exams or worried about an upcoming exam? If so, you’re in the right place.
The Support and Administrative Selection (SASS) test is an exam that assesses a potential employee’s administrative and clerical skills as part of the hiring process.
In this article, we’ll go over the SASS test and how you can prepare for it.
Table of Contents
What Is the SASS Test? How Was It Developed?
Careers that involve administrative and clerical skills will most likely never go out of demand. Because of their high demand, properly assessing abilities directly related to a person’s job is essential to bringing high-quality workers into a company.
Edison Electric Institute, the test developer, is a well-established company that employs many workers in this sector. They created the SASS Test after conducting decades of research on administrative and clerical positions using data from over 3,000 different organizations.
Ultimately, they found that the previous tests used to assess these skills were outdated and irrelevant to the current workforce. As technology evolves, there is a clear need for continually updating the information on the test. The old version of the test, the Clerical Assessment Battery, was replaced with the SASS.
How Many Sections Are on the Test, and What Are They?
There are three sections on the SASS test, each with its subsections. Below is a description of each and what you can expect the material to be like.
Each test section includes instructions and a practice session, which is reflected in the total time spent.
1. Basic Competency Assessment Battery (BCAB)
To start the test, you will take the introductory competency assessment section, which assesses a range of administrative skills at entry level. There are four subsections:
- Filing and Sorting Test – Here, you will be asked to file and sort items based on a set of directions. You have one minute to appropriately “file” the paperwork (or another object/information) in the correct category. In total, there are six questions. Including the start and end time, this section should take you no more than 10 minutes to complete.
- Basic Mathematics Test – Structured a bit differently from the other sections, the math assessment consists of five problems with three-four questions. Knowing essential math functions such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division will help you on this test. You won’t be asked to do any high-level math questions, fortunately. In total, this section should take 25 minutes to complete.
- Spelling/Grammar Test – This section requires you to practice what you learned in grade school about spelling and grammar. Like many other similarly structured tests, you’ll be given paragraphs to read and pick out the errors in them. There are 50 errors in total that you have to identify. In total, this section should take you less than 25 minutes to complete.
Classifying Test – For this section, you will sort through information like names, addresses, numbers, and codes to put them in categories based on “rules.” The rules will be given in a question format, so there may be several different ones. You have a total of 12 minutes to complete four lists of 25 questions. In total, this section should take 25 minutes.
2. Basic Keyboard Skills Battery (BKSB)
The second section looks at your ability to enter data into a system or spreadsheet quickly, and how fast and accurate you can type. These two sections go by fairly quickly, with the entire test taking less than 40 minutes. Because the point of the section is to see how you work in a fast-paced environment, be sure to consider this as you’re practicing.
For the data entry subsection, you will be given a form and enter information from a short paragraph or story. There are three forms to complete, taking around 23 minutes to complete.
For the production typing test, you will be given a piece of paper with information and will have to record it within seven minutes. You will be judged on how fast and accurately you can enter the data into the computer. The section should only take 15 minutes or less to complete.
3. Advanced Competency Assessment Batteries (ACAB)
Because the level of difficulty increases with each section, expect the Advanced Competency Assessment battery and its subsections to be the most challenging out of the three. There are four different subsections to this test:
- Simulation Work Sample – For this part of the test, you will perform tasks like data entry, looking up information in databases, solving problems, basic calculations, answering phones, and responding to emails. This section aims to see how well you can balance doing multiple things at once, so you will be multitasking between any of the tasks mentioned above at any given time. Knowing how to do this is essential for any administrative position, so scoring well is vital to passing the test and looking good to a potential employer. You have to participate for 30 minutes in the session actively. In total, it will take you 60 minutes to complete everything in the session.
- Data Entry/Database Work Sample – As the title of this section states, it assesses your ability to enter data and data systems. Three tasks should take you around 70 minutes or less to complete. First, you will need to enter two handwritten purchase orders manually. The second task gets a bit more challenging, as the two purchase orders will have missing information that you will have to figure out. You’ll be given instructions on doing so, but most of the interpretation will be your responsibility. The last task has you review a completed purchase order to ensure that all the information is correct and necessary changes. Each task will take you anywhere from four to six minutes to complete, individually.
- Word Processing – Similar to the typing test in the second section, the Word Processing assessment looks at how well you can accurately perceive and type information. The first subsection requires you to work within a word processing system to proofread, edit, and type information given to you via a sheet of paper. You only have five minutes to ensure everything is correct, so reading and interpreting the information quickly should be a skill you practice. The second subsection has you use the functions within the word processing program such as search, change font size or color, copy, paste, or cut. You will have five questions that have to be answered within 1.5 minutes. The entire section will take you around 50 minutes to complete.
- Spreadsheet – Lastly, you must demonstrate that you can accurately use a spreadsheet and its functions. The first task will be to enter information into a spreadsheet, similar to what you have to do on the word processing test. Then, you have to use formulas to change things on the spreadsheet. Finally, you will review an already completed spreadsheet and compare it to other paperwork to ensure that it is correct. This section will take you 65 minutes to complete or less.
How Is the SASS Test Graded?
For sections that have either right or wrong answers, such as the sections in the BCAB portion of the test, questions are graded by whether they are correct or not. Points are not taken off for wrong answers. For tests based on efficiency, accuracy, and speed, a score is calculated based on those three factors.
How Can I Prepare for the SASS Test?
There’s an easy answer to that question: study, study, study! Because there are so many components to the SASS test, it is recommended to review material and practice as early as possible.
While many of the tasks you can practice within your home, such as typing quickly and multitasking, others require a much more in-depth knowledge of specific methodology and functions within programs like Word or Excel.
Without this knowledge, you have a much lower likelihood of scoring high on the test. Keep in mind, the higher of a score you can achieve, the better you will look to potential employers.
When you first find out that you are required to take the EEI SASS test as part of your hiring process, go straight to the Job Test Prep website and purchase one of their PrepPacks. These specially compiled study materials are the ticket to acing the SASS test. For its specific PrepPack, you get all of the following materials for a reasonable price:
- 15 math tests
- 12 data entry tests
- Three clerical aptitude tests
- 6 English language tests
You also get hundreds of sample questions that mirror what the actual test will look like. All materials are available online and are accessible 24/7 for the duration of your package purchase. You can purchase packs in 1 week, one month, or 3-month increments. By using these materials, you will be more prepared than the majority of the candidates.
Related Prep Guides
Bailee, MSW, is a freelance writer and editor. She specializes in career, social work, tech, B2B, marketing, and medical, health, and wellness content. She has experience as a job coach, DEI consultant for companies, community-project manager, and clinical researcher. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Georgetown College in 2018, and studied neurolinguistics and developmental psychology at the University of Oxford. She earned her Master’s in Social Work at the University of Kentucky in 2021. Her scientific research has been presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference and published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Associated Disorders.
