Authors: Harry Tolley and Ken Thomas
Price: £8.99
Publisher: Kogan Page
ISBN: 0749446668
Any book that helps candidates feel confident and prepared for a selection procedure is worth reading, and this covers a lot of useful ground.
It systematically takes the reader through a range of tests, including missing words, word links, word swaps, sentence sequences, text comprehension and verbal logical reasoning. These are all the common types of intermediate level tests which will be helpful to applicants for junior and middle management roles.
Every chapter starts with a clear introduction to a particular type of test, explains what is being asked for, and then offers advice and specific techniques to tackle it. It’s particularly helpful as there are a large number of examples to work through, allowing for adequate practice and improvement. Each section is highly focused, written in straightforward language, and gives a good grounding in each type of test.
Verbal logical reasoning tests are covered in the final chapter. My one criticism of the book is that it missed an opportunity to help readers with more challenging exercises. Test-takers have to consider a set of conclusions derived from descriptions of imaginary events and decide which are true, false or impossible to say, from the information given. Readers might have benefited from explanations of each of the answers.
Apart from this, the book is definitely worth buying for applicants confronted with the prospect of having to attend an assessment centre or undertake another selection exercise.
Useful? Five out of five stars
Well-written? Five out of five stars
Practical? Five out of five stars
Inspirational? Two out of five stars
Value for money? Four out of five stars
Overall? Four out of five stars
Reviewed by Alyson Burn, talent management consultant, ABMD
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