Assessment elements

Aptitude test areas in pilot selection

The aptitude tests are with some exceptions quite similar whether they are administered online or on paper. They cover a more or less standardized set of capacity areas like:

  • General Reasoning
  • Numerical Reasoning
  • Spatial Orientation
  • Speed and Accuracy of Perception
  • Reaction Time (online test)
  • Technical-Mechanical Comprehension
  • Multitasking
  • Memory functioning
  • Manual coordination and precision
  • Competence in English

Aptitude tests are standardized tools, measuring both speed and quality of the given answers and responses. The time limits for each test may vary from 3 – 20 minutes or more, depending on what kind of test it is. Some tests are called «Speed tests», typically with quite simple tasks in a repetitive format and the focus is on how much the tested person is able to produce correctly during a short time. Other tests are called «Power tests», typically with more time, but also with more complex tasks that require more analysis and reasoning.

With very limited time for the test and usually not a second chance, it is important to pay full attention to the given test instructions and also to really understand the given examples before the actual test begins. With online tests there is opportunity to replay instructions and examples. With paper tests the test administrator can repeat instructions and explain if there are questions.

Advices to the applicant:

  • If you have no experience with aptitude tests, search on the web and get some ideas about it. You will probably not get exactly the same tests and tasks, but you will learn something.
  • Don’t overdo the aptitude test preparations; you risk building a lot of tensions, and be more stressed in the real test situation than you otherwise would be.
  • Don’t try out new or risky strategies, use the ways of work you usually prefer and stick to.

Personality testing in pilot selection

Most personality tests in use today are based on the Big Five model. This model has five main factors and captures most of the variation in personality. Different tests use different labels or names on these factors, but they are basically aiming to measure patterns in behavior, feelings and attitudes related to: «General Well-being», «Extroversion», «Openness for new experiences», «Agreeability» and «Conscientiousness». For each of these factors there are also sub-variables. The personality tests comprise as many as 2-300 items, and the responses are given by agreeing or disagreeing to whether the item is a valid description of the tested person or not.

Personality tests are generally not as reliable as the aptitude tests. People may interpret items differently, they have different references because they have grown up and live in different families, sub-cultures and environments. Sometimes the responses are also more guided by models of how they would like to be than what they usually do and who they really are.

Attempts to consciously fake on the personality test will often be evident in the resulting profile. The profile is «too good to be true» or not corresponding to other information and behavior. Faking good or answering according to some image of an ideal pilot, is not a promising start for the interviews and assessments.

The personality test is only used as a tool for hypotheses about how the applicant is functioning, it is not giving the one and only truth. Secondly, and most importantly; pilots have different personalities. That is both how it is, and how it should be. When answering a personality test, the clearly best advice is to be as honest as possible and not to make it more complicated than necessary.

The interview with the aviation psychologist

With results from the aptitude and personality testing and the CV, the psychologist has information needed for creating hypotheses about suitability. But it is still many pieces missing before the puzzle can be completed and conclusions made. The interview has several objectives, but the core issue is for the psychologist to learn who the applicant is and why she or he sit in for this interview. The applicant’s task is to provide both the missing pieces and the glue that creates a coherent picture.

Being a bit nervous and stressed in front of an interview is very normal and sometimes even a positive thing because it may well represent a turning point in a career development. The interview will represent unknown challenges, but at least in the mind of the psychologist the goals are shared with the applicant. A valid and correct assessment is the best outcome both for the applicant and the recruiting company or flying training school.

The interview is semi-structured; there are certain areas that have to be explored and questions to be answered. At the same time, the interview is a dynamic and unique dialogue, never exactly similar to another. Some questions address hypothetical scenarios, but the greater part is about what the applicant do and have done.

Some of the traditional themes in the interview are:

  • Career and life experiences; important decisions and events
  • The motivation for this application
  • Behavior and actions during stress and demanding situations
  • Social and teamwork preferences and experiences
  • Values and attitudes guiding relations, behavior and goals
  • Leadership experiences
  • Interests and activities apart from school & work
  • Criminal record, alcohol and drug habits

The interview with the SIAP psychologist also includes a test/exercise exploring multi-tasking and handling of high mental workload. We will explore and discuss the personality profile, the aptitude test performances, and finally the applicant gets preliminary feedback.

Advices to the applicant:

  • Prepare however yourself well by collecting information about the position and company you apply to. Use your professional network, and you may call the company, HR-operatives or people in operative positions, but be careful not to overdo it.
  • Present yourself as you are. Trust that you have what the company want. Be honest, tell your story, be as open and frank as you can. Cheating, faking, and to withhold relevant information the interviewer obviously should be told are examples of high-risk behavior.
  • Keep in mind that both the psychologist and the recruiting company want you to succeed. They look for opportunity to recommend, not to turn you down.