What Is a Caliper Exam and Who Should Qualify?

Updated on December 13, 2021

The Caliper Exam is an assessment test that is taken before employment to get an insight into how well a potential employee would do on their job. It is indeed a unique tool in the sense that it has various uses. It can be used at the pre-employment, it can be used to determine if an employee should be promoted, for planning within an organization, as well as for building a great team. This comes as no surprise especially because it measures performance, motivation, and the characteristics of a person in relation to a role.

Content of the Caliper Exam

This tool has a total of 180 multiple-choice questions. However, the questions, scenarios, and puzzles that make up this number are divided into two parts—the cognitive part and the personality part. In the end, these sections would help determine the performance, motivation, and characteristics of the person being tested.

The Cognitive Section

This segment will check the participant’s intelligence by basically testing their capability in terms of pointing out patterns from given scenarios. You will deal with lots of numbers in this section. The questions in this section include:

·       Number Series: A sequence of numbers would be given, based on a mathematical rule. It would be up to the participant to identify that rule, and pick what the next number in the sequence should be.

·       Figural Matrices: Here, the rows and columns of a matrix would be arranged, and the participant would have to determine the pattern or shape that would come up next in that series.

·       Figural Analogies: Here, two shapes with a commonality will be outlined for you. Then, the participant will get a new shape, and would be left to determine what it has in common with the already outlined shapes.

·       Figural Series: Here, there would be several shapes that would come with a logical rule. It would be up to the participant to figure out the rule and pick the next shape that would come up in the series.

The Personality Section

This segment evaluates the personality of a person, just like the title states. This segment also has its question types. They are as follows:

·       Agree or Disagree: These questions are quite straightforward. There would be a statement, and it would be up to the participant to determine if they agree or disagree with the statement.

·       Most to Least: These questions really reveal a person’s beliefs at their core. The participant would typically get four statements, and it would be up to them to arrange those statements in the order of which statements aligns to their beliefs the most, to which ones align to their beliefs the least.

·       Degrees of Agreement: Here, the participant would be required to rank (using a scale of 1-5) their degree of agreement to a statement. 5 would imply that they strongly agree, while 1 would imply that they strong disagree. As expected, 3 would mean sitting on the fence.

How to Determine Who Qualifies

So, when can it be said that a candidate has qualified when the caliper exam is used, and what is the implication of that?

Basically, the result of a candidate is usually compared against standardized scores, and these scores have their implications. The scores range from 1-99, and a higher score is indicative of a better performance, and the fact that a candidate is better suited for the role in question. Irrespective of this, have no fears, this test can be aced using practice tests like the prepterminal.com Caliper Test Practice. Here are the scores and what they imply:

1-39: Not a great fit for the role. Will need a whole lot of training to be fit for the role.

40-59: Needs some training to be a great fit for the role.

60-99: Excellent candidate for the role.

Conclusion

While the Caliper Exam costs an employer some money ($250 per candidate), this option remains far cheaper than hiring the wrong candidate. 

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