The JobBank Descriptive Guide for the
Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT)

The Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT) is one of the most widely recognized tests of general cognitive ability and represents the culmination of over 60 years of research conducted on the test results of over 700,000 persons worldwide. First developed in 1937, the WPT is the most extensively used and highly regarded cognitive ability test for employee selection in the world. Available in 12 languages, it has been continuously upgraded and over 100 million job applicants have been screened by this test.

The WPT is primarily used by businesses and governmental organisations to evaluate job applicants for employment and occupational training. The WPT measures the level at which an individual learns, understands instructions and solves problems. It provides quantitative insight into how easily individuals can be trained and how well they can adjust and solve problems on the job.

A short form test of general cognitive ability, the WPT is available in alternate forms. All forms are based on identical methods of test construction; each contains 50 questions to be administered and scored in the same manner.

Each Wonderlic test form incorporates a wide variety of problem types. The questions include:

Word Comparisons
Disarranged Sentences
Sentence Parallelism
Following Directions
Number Comparisons
Number Series
Analysis of Geometric figures
Story Problems requiring either mathematics or logic solutions

The test questions are carefully arranged in order of difficulty, beginning at a modest level and gradually increasing.

Scores
The Test Score is the total number of questions answered correctly. The Percentile Score indicates the percentage of the normative population above which the candidate’s Test Score ranks. Higher scoring individuals will not only gain more from formalized training, but they are also more likely to learn effectively from on-the-job experience. Modest scoring individuals will need more detailed instruction, hands on practice, more time and repetition and close supervision.

Procedure
The WPT may be individually or group administered and is available in both pencil-and-paper and computer-administrated versions.

The assessment is timed and it is administered in 12 minutes.

The test comes in several equivalent forms thus making it easy to conduct a retest if necessary.

The scores for all candidates are provided on a spreadsheet showing Test Scores and Percentile Scores of each individual.