Aptitude Tests at Ernst and Young

Ernst and Young Application Process

When your application is processed if initially considered you will receive an email from Ernst and Young inviting you to take their online aptitude tests within seven days of receiving the email. It has been said that if you are taking the tests and you lose your internet connection you will be offered the chance to retake but this is not a situation candidates will want to find themselves in.

Ernst and Young's aptitude test system is judged on the percentile system rather than individual scores, so if you manage to score well enough to get into the top 30% of candidates the consensus amongst previous applicants is that you should be in with a reasonable chance of progressing to the next stage.

Ernst and Young used to operate system whereby the candidate had to complete 32 numerical questions in 35 minutes, this numerical test was produced by SHL. However in recent times this has been superceded by a new aptitude assessment system.

E and Y's current aptitude test approach is to present users with 8 questions from each of the three types of test (numerical, verbal and diagrammatic). We believe this is the Saville Consulting style of aptitude test. You have six minutes to complete each section, it used to be eight minutes per section but this has been reduced to six. Before the live questions, you are given the opportunity to take practice three practice questions, which you are given three minutes to complete. At the end of the practice session, you are shown answers, including working to give you some pointers. Within each of the three sections, the questions are divided into two "testlets" of 4 questions. You have 3 minutes to complete each testlet, if you do not complete the section within the alloted time then the browser will time out the question you are on and move you on from that section. This means questions must be completed when presented, there is no going back to a harder question later on in the test.

All 3 parts of the assessment must be completed in one session, however from our understanding you can take breaks between the sections due to the practice tests being part of the set up. Theoretically, this means you could complete the whole E&Y assessment process within half an hour, though it is not recommended to rush through the process, so taking short breaks between the sections to clear your mind and focus on the next set of questions is a good idea if possible.

Difficulty of Ernst and Young Aptitude Test Assessments?

It has been remarked that compared to other big four firms and financial institutions, Ernst and Young's aptitude tests are much easier than those in use at the likes of Deloitte, PwC and KPMG. Some advice previously given for the numerical test is to make sure you can process percentage changes quickly and also to known synonyms for different numerical and mathematical terms so you may wish to get the thesaurus out.

Making it past E and Y's Online Aptitude Tests

Responses informing you of your success or failure typically will arrive by email anywhere between two days later but can take as long as a week. If you have not heard from Ernst and Young after a week it may be advisable to give them a call. If you are successful in passing the initial online aptitude assessment then depending on what programme or position you have applied for, you will be asked to a combination of the following: First interview, assessment centre and partner interviews. At the assessment centre you are likely to face aptitude tests similar to the online versions, but these will be more difficult. We may add further information about this part of the application process in the future.

Practice For Ernst and Young Aptitude Tests

As usual, PracticeSHLTests.com recommends the practice tests available from SHL themselves and from Assessment Day, who are the longest running providers of practice numerical, verbal and diagrammatic reasoning tests on the internet. To give yourself the best chance possible go and see what they have to offer you, it could make all the difference between getting through to assessment centre and getting rejected.