Barclays Capital sample apitude test

7/23/2019 Barclays Capital sample apitude test

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Barclays Capital

September 2002


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Why are aptitude tests used?

There is good evidence that tests, which are professionally used and evaluated, can provide

objective, reliable and relevant information concerning the likelihood of job success and

satisfaction.

Tests can help you:

be fairly assessed in a competitive situation

find out more about your own strengths and weaknesses

select a career path for which you are suited

to be comprehensively assessed for selection, development or counseling purposes

Tests enable the employer to: select people best suited to the demands of the job

identify areas of weakness for staff development

counsel staff appropriately

place personnel appropriately within the organisation

This collection of sample tests introduces you to the types of aptitude measures used by

Barclays Capital in their graduate recruitment. This document should help you familiarise

yourself with the types of questions that you will be asked at the test session.

What sorts of tests might I have to do?

The tests you will be asked to complete will measure skills relevant to the job, position or

responsibilities for which you are being considered. Different jobs make different demands

on individuals. However, extensive analyses of many managerial and professional jobs have

shown that competence in verbal and numerical critical reasoning is a common

requirement.

To see whether you feel you have the relevant skills required, work through the following

questions as quickly and accurately as you can. Please bear in mind that given enough

time, most people can complete the samples correctly. We are looking to test your natural

ability and as such you should be able to complete the samples quickly. In a test session,

you will have tight time constraints. You can use a calculator for the numerical reasoning

tests.

You will only be asked to take the diagrammatic and syntax checking tests if you are

applying for a role in technology.

The answers to the examples can be found on the back page. Results of the sample tests

will not be collected.


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Verbal Reasoning Test 3 Sample Questions

This test consists of three passages. From each passage you will be given 3 statementsrelating to the text in the passage. You will be asked to respond to each statement with

true, falseor cantsay.

Answer trueif the statement is evidently true given the information stated in the text, or

follows logically given the information contained in the text.

Answer falseif the statement is evidently untrue given the information stated in the text,

or the opposite follows logically given the information contained in the text.

Answer cant sayif you are not able to categorically answer true or false to the statement

given the information held in the text.


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Instructions

All of the tests are multiple

choice. For each question you

are given a number of possible

answers.

Only one answer is correct in

each case. Select your answer

and fill in the appropriate

circle on the answer sheet

provided.

Sample 1:

The government declared a state of disaster to deal with critical food

shortages, authorising emergency measures to assist food distribution.

The proclamation blamed the prevalent drought, but relief officials

said that agricultural disruption caused by government-sanctioned

farm invasions had worsened the problem. The country was once a

net grain exporter, but now more than half the population of 13

million urgently needs food aid. (The Economist)

1. Relief officials cited the government as contributing to the state of

disaster.

2. Food shortages are caused primarily by Governments sanctioned

farm invasions

3. Emergency measures to combat the critical food shortage include

food distribution strategies

Sample 2:

When business models dont work, its because they fail either the

narrative test (the story doesnt make sense) or the numbers test (the

P&L doesnt add up). The business model of on-line grocers, for

instance, failed the numbers test. The grocery industry has very thinmargins to begin with, and on-line merchants incurred new costs for

marketing, service, delivery, and technology. Since customers werent

willing to pay significantly more for groceries bought on-line than in

stores, there was no way the maths could work. Internet grocers had

plenty of company. Many ventures in the first wave of electronic

commerce failed simply because the basic business maths was flawed.

4. On-line grocery shopping was not the only type of e-commerce to

fail.5. On-line grocers failed to take into account increased costs in

offering their products via the internet.

6. Grocers usually operate on a 1.5 to 3 percent margin.


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A = True

B = False

C = Cant Say

Answer Sheet 1

Verbal Reasoning Test

A B C

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Sample 3:

Researchers said they suspect properties found in black and green tea

may be protecting the heart. The heavy tea drinkers in the study --

those who drank two or more cups of tea a day -- had a 44 percent

lower death rate following their heart attack, compared with

nondrinkers. The study found even a benefit in moderate tea drinkers.

Those who drank fewer than 14 cups a week had a 28 percent lower

death rate. In the study, researchers asked 1,900 heart attack

survivors about their tea consumption before their heart problem and

followed them for up to four years. Researchers said there's good

reason to believe it's the flavonoids antioxidants found naturally in

various foods derived from plants -- that are protecting the heart by

relaxing the blood vessels so blood can flow more easily. There's also

evidence to suggest flavonoids may prevent LDL cholesterol -- the so-

called bad cholesterol -- from becoming really bad cholesterol. The

study did not ask patients about decaffeinated tea use, but there's no

reason to believe caffeine makes a difference in the benefit. However,

herbal teas would not provide the same benefits since the chemical

makeup is different to that found in black and green tea. Dark beer,

wine and whiskey also contain flavonoids but in amounts lower thanthat found in tea.

7. Decaffeinated tea contains no flavonoids.

8. Dark beer is likely to be as effective as tea in helping people survive

heart attacks.

9. There is a linear relationship between tea consumption and

surviving heart attacks.


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Critical Reasoning Test - 1 Sample Question

You will be presented with a situation from which you will be asked 3 questions. Read the

questions carefully and select one of the 5 options given in each case.

Only one response is correct for each question.

Instructions




answers.





provided.

Answer Sheet 2

Critical Reasoning Test

A B C D E

1

2

3

Sample 1

The XYZ building is bigger than the Town Hall, which is bigger

than the Convention Center.

The Train Station is bigger than the XYZ building.

The ABC building is the newest building in town and the Bus

Depot the oldest.

The Post Office is newer than the Town Hall, but older than the

Train Station.

The Department Store is newer than the Post Office.

New buildings are always bigger than older buildings.

1. Which is the smallest building in town?

a. Department Store

b. Bus Depot

c. Town Halld. Convention Center

e. Cant say

2. Which is the second newest building in town?

a. Post Office

b. Train Station

c. Department Store

d. XYZ building

e. Cant say

3. Which of the following is not true?

a. The department store is bigger than the Convention Center.

b. The Town Hall is bigger than the Convention Center.

c. The Convention Centre is bigger than the Post Office.

d. The XYZ building is smaller than the ABC building.

e. The post office is bigger than Town Hall.


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Numerical Test Section 1 3 Sample Questions

You will be presented with 3 questions, each of which has 5 options from which to choose.

Only one response is correct for each question.

Instructions




answers.





provided.

Answer Sheet 3

Numerical Reasoning Test

A B C D E

1

2

3

Sample 1:

1. X is one-half as big as Y. Z is three times bigger than Y. How many

times bigger than X is Z?

a. 6

b. 7

c. 8

d. 9

e. 10

Sample 2:

2. One company adds employees at 3/5 the rate of another. If both

companies combined add 800 employees in four years, how many

employees does the faster growing company add in two years?

a. 150 employees

b. 225 employees

c. 250 employees

d. 300 employees

e. 500 employees

Sample 3:

3. When the rocket has burned 1/5 of its fuel, it has enough fuel left

to fly for another 24 seconds. How much longer will it have to fly

when it has burned 2/3 of its fuel?

a. 4 seconds

b. 6 secondsc. 7 seconds

d. 8.5 seconds

e. 10 seconds


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Numerical Section 2 3 Sample Questions

You will be presented with information in the form of tables, charts and text. You will be

given 3 questions relating to each piece of data, each of which has 5 options from which to

choose. Only one response is correct per question.

Instructions

All of the tests are

multiple choice. For

each question you are

given a number of

possible answers.

Only one answer is

correct in each case.

Select your answer and

fill in the appropriate

circle on the answer

sheet provided.

Sample 1:

College Year 1 Enrolment Year 2 Enrolment

Business 2007 2196

Education 1148 1263

Science & Social Studies 1102 1233

Fine Arts 809 617

General Studies 1304 1189

6370 6498

1. The College of Educations Year 2 enrolment increased by?

a. 5 percent

b. 7 percent

c. 11 percent

d. 10 percent

e. 9 percent

2. Which two colleges had the same number of students change their

enrolment between their Year 1 and Year 2?

a. Business & Education

b. Fine Arts & Education

c. Fine Arts & General Studies

d. General Studies & Education

e. none of the colleges

3. Overall enrolment change __________ per cent in Year 2?

a. increased 1

b. increased 1.5

c. increased 5

d. increased 2

e. increased 2.5


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Sample 2:

Red and Blue Plant Production Data

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

1998 1999 2000

Defects

Red Plant

Blue Plant

1998 1999 2000

Units Produced (m) 2 2 2.2

Turnover (%) 23 20 15Red Plant

Training Costs (,000s) 220 350 460

Units Produced (m) 1 1.5 2

Turnover 11 9 8Blue Plant

Training Costs (,000s) 80 80 50

4. Which of the following statements may not be true?

a. the blue plant is more productive

b. the red plant has higher training costs

c. defects & training costs have an inverse relationship

d. the red plants turnover costs are decreasing

e. none are false

5. The most efficient use of training in reducing defects occurred in:

a. the blue plant in 1998

b. the red plant in 1999c. the blue plant in 1999

d. the red plant in 2000

e. the blue plant in 2000

6. Assuming each defect costs the red plant $10,000, in what year did the

cost of training to eliminate defects exceed the costs of the defect?

a. 1998

b. 1999

c. 2000d. never has

e. always has


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Answer Sheet 4


A B C D E

1

2

3

4

5

6 7

8

9

Sample 3:

JADT Mining Summary Statistics

1997 Mine A Mine T Mine D Mine J

Revenue 17,943,092 12,002,993 7,255,092 23,034,782

Expenses 17,290,332 12,449,002 7,295,321 21,889,052

Employees 822 668 422 832

Tons Excavated 48.5 31.7 18.8 53.9

Gold Extracted 2.35 1.25 0.92 2.69

Silver Extracted 5.65 3.27 1.23 6.01

1998 Mine A Mine T Mine D Mine J

Revenue 18,562,910 11,478,659 8,522,202 23,592,228Expenses 17,840,772 11,866,002 7,963,729 22,190,442

Employees 856 631 456 848

Tons Excavated 50.2 30.0 20.7 54.4

Gold Extracted 2.12 1.55 1.01 2.79

Silver Extracted 5.82 3.44 1.35 6.06

7. Which mine showed the greatest absolute increase in revenue from

1997 to 1998?

a. Mine Ab. Mine T

c. Mine D

d. Mine J

e. Mines A and D had the same increase

8. Which mine produced the most gold as a percent of tons

excavated in 1997?

a. Mine A

b. Mine T

c. Mine D

d. Mine J

e. Mines T and D produced the same percentage.

9. Which mine produced the greatest gross profit in 1997?

a. Mine A

b. Mine T

c. Mine D

d. Mine J

e. None of the mines were profitable


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Diagrammatic Reasoning

In this test, you are shown a number of diagrams in which figures in

boxes are altered by rules shown as symbols in the circles.

The rules can alter each figure by changing its colour, its size or by

turning it upside down. Paths through each diagram are shown as

black or white arrows. You must follow paths which include only one

type of arrow. Work out what each rule does and then answer the

questions below each diagram.

Look at the example below.

In the diagram, working horizontally, the white square becomes a black

square so X must be a colour-changing rule. Working vertically, the

white triangle becomes a black circle. Since we know that X changes

the colour of a figure, // must be a shape-changing rule. Applying

these rules to the question, it is possible to identify that the white circle

becomes a black triangle, so D is the correct answer to the question.

See how many you can do in 5 minutes.


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Answer Sheet 6


Test

A B C D E

1

2

3

4

5

6


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Syntax Checking

In this test, you will find lines taken from a mock programming

language. Some lines do not conform to the rules of the language.

Your task is to find which rules (if any) have been broken.

The rules for building these lines are found in the boxes below. There

are two sorts of lines: those specified by an X and those specified by a

Y. Each sort of line has its own set of 3 rules.

Using the appropriate set of rules, you must check which, if any, of the

3 rules have been broken. If a rule has been broken, fill in the

appropriate circle on the answer sheet. More than one rule may be

broken, so you may need to fill in more than one circle. If no rule has

been broken fill in circle D on the answer sheet.

Look at the following example:

X Feature 16; update file list

This is an X line, so look at the Rules for Building X lines. Rule A

has been broken, as there is no semi-colon at the end of the line. Rule

B has been broken because the number 16 does not appear inbrackets/parentheses. Therefore, circles A and B should be filled in, as

below.

Example

Now see how many of the following questions you can complete in 3

minutes.

Rules for building X lines Rules for building Y lines

A. Lines must end in a semi-

colon

A. Lines must begin with the

word Comment

B. Numbers must be in

brackets/parentheses

B. Numbers must be in

quotation marks (e.g. 9)

C. All characters may be used

except for #

C. All characters may be used

except for . @ &


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Answer Sheet 5

Syntax Checking Test

A B C D

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Remember, fill in circle D if no rules are broken.

1 X Set Var PQ to 10;

2 X Change character set to modern Greek;3 Y Comment Flag next 5 lines.

4 Y Comment. Move (file) To Directory (new)

5 Y Comment Read Value From Register (2);

6 X Stop run if ABC < (23);

7 Y copy All Strings equal to 6 & 7 letters to buffer 1

8 Y Comment Let String 10

9 X Allocate Demarcation (#) Bounds

10 Y If A Greater Than 10, Replace Value A With Upper Value B

11 X Enables Automatic Printing, Speed # 200;12 X Cut file (XY) from line (8) to 921);


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You will find the correct answers on the back page of this document.

The sample questions give an indication of the difficulty of the tests you will be given at a

test session. If you are able to perform at this level, you stand a good chance of succeedingat the first stage of our recruiting process. Past experience tells us that if you are unable to

complete the majority of the sample questions correctly, you are unlikely to be successful in

your application to Barclays Capital. Please take this into consideration when deciding to

register for a test session.

Be prepared for the test session

Get a good nights sleep before the tests.

Give yourself plenty of time to get to the test session.

If you wear glasses or a hearing aid, be sure to take them with you.

Make sure you take a calculator to the test session.

At the Session

Listen carefully to the instructions.

Dont be afraid to ask questions.

Read each question carefully before answering.

Work quickly and accurately Each test has a time limit and you will be advised in

advance how long you have for each test.

Results obtained from tests will be kept confidential.


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Answers

Answer Sheet 1

Verbal Reasoning Test

A B C

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Answer Sheet 2

Critical Reasoning Test

A B C D E

1

2

3

Answer Sheet 3


A B C D E

1

2

3

Answer Sheet 4

Numerical Reasoning

Test

A B C D E

1

2

3

4 5

6

7

8

9

Answer Sheet 5

Syntax Checking Test

A B C D

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Answer Sheet 6


Test

A B C D E

1

2

3

4 5

6

Barclays Capital sample apitude test

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