Starting a new job or applying to a higher education institution is an exciting journey but the process of getting into the profession or schooling of your choice can prove to be quite taxing. Both companies and educational institutions are becoming more selective when filtering through their applicants. While education and community involvement may have been the standard for admission selection, the process has since become more complex, with some employers and schools choosing to include the Wonderlic Test score into the equation. To level the playing field and increase your odds of admission or job prospects, it is important that you first understand what the Wonderlic Test is and what score range will make you a desirable recruit.
What is the Wonderlic Test?
The Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test, or commonly referred to as simply the Wonderlic Test is a group of intelligence exams used to evaluate potential employees’ capacities in the areas of critical thinking and problem solving for a variety of occupations and industries. To put it into simpler terms, the Wonderlic Test is an example of the infamous IQ test meant to determine the overall intelligence and critical thinking ability to determine whether the applicant is competent for the position at hand. Primarily used by higher education institutions such as graduate schools, more employers are beginning to adopt this exam as part of the recruitment process.
The test consists of 50 multiple choice questions to be answered in 12 minutes or less. Each correct answer is worth one point and the questions become more challenging as the test progresses. The maximum score one can achieve is 50 points. Unanswered questions are scored at zero points.
What is a good Wonderlic Test score?
Similar to other IQ tests, the Wonderlic Test score is measured in ranges, from minimum, average, to maximum range. There is no fixed grading system for the Wonderlic exam. The exact scores for these ranges vary between industries and schools, as each industry has its unique standards. For example, the average score of an electrical engineer will be higher than the average score required to work as a security officer. But how do those standards vary by industry and what is generally considered a good score?
Nurse? should score 23+
While the exact ranges will vary by industry, there is a general rule of thumb when determining one’s IQ level. A person who scores 10 or below is considered to be illiterate, while a score in the ’20s is considered to be average performance and it may get you in the door of certain programs or occupations.
The industries with the highest average Wonderlic scores require high levels of critical thinking such as systems analyst and the various engineering professions (electrical engineer, chemical engineer). The average score for those industries is in the low 30’s. The professions with average test scores following these are ones involving a high amount of research such as teachers, analysts, and reporters, with an average score ranging in the high 20’s.
Wonderlic median score by profession
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