Quantitative Aptitude Tests

Preparing for a written test

Points to remember

What we plan to cover How to prepare for and attempt a QA paper Most common QA topics How QA papers for sales and finance

companies differ Sample questions that companies have asked

in the past for hiring Other aspects to prepare for written tests

Various sections in the paper Typically a written test paper would have one

or more of the following sections Quantitative Ability Data Interpretation Verbal Ability Logical Reasoning General Awareness Awareness of the company applied for

How to allocate time between the sections You must be aware of your strengths –

DI/QA/VA/LR/GA Your objective must be to MAXIMISE your score

in your strength areas and CLEAR A MINIMUM CUT-OFF in the other sections

Typically the cut-off is 30% marks in each section

Attack your strength sections first- read each question once and solve all those that you can

Allocate the remaining time equally between the other sections and within this time period, attempt as many questions as you can

Quantitative Ability

Various kinds of QA questions asked (in order of importance)Aptitude test for Sales companies

Aptitude test for Finance companies

1. Time and distance2. Profits3. Geometry4. Percentages5. Ratio, Proportion

and Variance 6. Averages

1. Permutation, Combination and Probability

2. Functions3. Venn diagrams 4. Numbers and number

systems5. Work and Time

Time and distance formulae Only 2 formulae to remember

Distance = (Speed x Time) Km/hr = 5/18 m/sec

Time and Distance A man goes from city A to city B situated 60 kms apart

by a boat. His onward journey was with the stream while the return journey was an upstream journey. It took him four and half hours to complete the round trip. If the speed of the stream is 10 km/hr, how long did it take him to complete the onward journey?

(1) 3 hours         (2) 3.5 hours     (3) 2.25 hours     (4) 1.5 hours

A man moves from A to B at the rate of 4 km/hr. Had he moved at the rate of 3.67 km/hr, he would have taken 3 hours more to reach the destination. What is the distance between A and B?

(1) 33 kms         (2) 132 kms     (3) 36 kms    (4) 144 kms

Profits Formulae Only 2 formulae to remember

Profit = S.P. – C.P. Profit % = Profit/C.P. *100

Profits A shopkeeper purchases several articles are

the rate of 11 for Rs.10 and sells them at the rate of 10 for Rs.11. What would be the profit earned by him?

    a) 11%     b) 10%      c) 21%        d) 20% 

By selling an article at a loss of 7%, a dealer loses Rs.42. What is the cost price of the article?

     a) Rs.700    b) Rs.600    c) Rs.800     d) Rs.900 

Geometry Area formulae Volume Formulae Surface Area formulae Circle formulae Perimeter Formulae

Geometry A triangle has a perimeter of 50. If 2 of its sides

are equal and the third side is 5 more than the equal sides, what is the length of the third side?

In a quadrilateral two angles are equal. The third angle is equal to the sum of the two equal angles. The fourth angle is 60° less than twice the sum of the other three angles. Find the measures of the angles in the quadrilateral.

Farmer Ramu put a square fence around his vegetable garden to keep the deer from eating his corn. One side was 10 m in length. If the posts were placed 2 m apart, how many posts did he use?

Percentages formulae No formulae as such, just a lot of logical

deduction Just remember 20% = 20/100 Simple interest

I = p× r × t Compound interest

I = p (1+ r/100)^t

Percentages The monthly salary of a person gets increased

by 5%, thereby becoming Rs.15120 per annum. What was his earlier salary per month ?

a) Rs.1440     b) Rs.1200    c) Rs.1320    d) Rs.1240

What is X percent of Y divided by Y percent of X?

A man takes loans of Rs.1000 at the beginning of each year at 5% per annum compound interest. Find the accumulated amount to the nearest rupee, he will thus have at the end of 3 years.

Ratio and Proportion formulae No formulae to remember

Ratio of x and y is x/y expressed as x:y Proportion

a:b= c:d is expressed as a:b::c:d

Ratio and Proportions The ratio of the ages of two sisters today is

1:3. However, after 4 years, the ratio would be 2:3. What is the age of the elder sister today?

     a) 12 yrs     b) 8 yrs       c) 6 yrs        d) 4 yrs 

Averages formulae Average = sum/n Weighted average =

Sample Questions What is the average of x, 2x and 6? If on a test 3 people answered 80% of the

questions correctly and 2 people answered 90% of the questions correctly, what was the average score on the test?

How to attempt? Identify your strength areas. Lets say it is time, speed

and distance. Your aim should be to first solve all time, distance and

speed questions. Then move over questions one by one. Identify the sitters

Either they have very easy calculation Or they have such varied choices that the answer can be

identified by elimination Ignore the speed breakers

They have complicated calculations They have too many tricks

Come back to the speed breakers after having finished the sitters!

Practice! Practice! Practice! The only way to identify your strength areas

and make them stronger is to practice Take section tests from mock CAT/MAT papers

(section tests of approx. 30-40 questions) Time yourself accurately After having finished a paper, revisit it and solve it

again. Identify the sitters and speed breakers.

Other sections in written tests of sales org Data Interpretation

Tables Bar graphs Pie charts

Logical Reasoning Venn diagrams Code language Logical deduction Series completion

Sales aptitude General awareness – Brand names, logos, taglines,

ambassadors Sales planning and review Channel management Retail scenario in India

Caselets to solve Caselets intended to understand critical

competencies such as Presence of mind Application of theories Creative problem solving skills Decision making

Sample caselets You are a sales rep in Rural Uttarakhand and have

5 salesmen in your team. Your sales manager has asked you to develop a scoreboard to evaluate the performance of your salesmen and identify the star performers so that they can be promoted. On what parameters will you evaluate them?

You are the sales rep of your company and work as team with the merchandiser in the field. The merchandiser is old and reliable and you have a great understanding with him. Recently, however, you have started receiving complaints from outlets about the merchandiser stealing stocks. What will you do?

All the best!