Trade and office job tests: which ones have a pass mark, and which ones you can practise

Utility jobs use Edison Electric Institute batteries. The lineworker CAST has four separately timed tests, and spare time never carries over. The power plant operator POSS adds figural reasoning. The elevator EIAT is pass or fail at 70 percent, with mechanical and math sections.

Union apprenticeships set their own rules. Ironworker locals each set a written test and often an agility test. UA plumber and pipefitter locals use different exams, some with a 70 percent pass.

Two skills carry most of the marks: arithmetic without a calculator (fractions, decimals, simple algebra) and mechanical principles (levers, gears, pulleys and pressure). Section clocks are short, so pace matters as much as knowledge.

Take our mechanical aptitude test once to find your weak principle, and drill arithmetic daily for the week before. If your local uses the IBEW test, see our IBEW aptitude test page.

Customer service hiring often uses long behavioural profiles with consistency checks, typing tests and call simulations. Bank teller tests focus on counting, making change and catching errors. Administrative assistant tests score typing on error-adjusted speed and set Word and Excel tasks in a simulated window.

Sales assessments combine personality tools with validity scales and, often, a cognitive test such as the CCAT. The cognitive part is the one practice moves, so take our CCAT practice test once before your sitting.

The USPS Virtual Entry Assessment arrives by email with 72 hours to finish. Its sections are Work Scenarios, Tell Us Your Story and Describe Your Approach, with a Check for Errors section on handler and processing versions. Results come back as eligible, ineligible or a score. Answer consistently and with safety and reliability in mind.