The Caliper assessment, or Caliper Profile, is a challenging pre-employment test that measures your personality traits and thinking skills. Its results are used by employers to select candidates whose personality profile best fit the job requirements.
The Caliper assessment test contains 98 multiple choice questions of two kinds: cognitive, and mostly behavioral.
While the Caliper exam is not timed, it usually takes about one hour to complete. You can expect to take the Caliper test online, in the form of four segments:
Watch this short video to get a quick overview of all Caliper Assessment questions and how to prepare for them:
The purpose of Caliper personality test questions is to evaluate your traits and competencies, to predict if you fit the relevant position. It contains behavioral questions that measure 21 personality traits in 4 main areas:
These are the question types you’ll see on the Caliper personality test:
Try thinking how you would rank the following example:
The “right” answers for Caliper personality questions depend on the position you’re applying for. Each question measures a particular trait, that is either important for the role or not. When you answer these questions, your goal is to show you are the best fit for the job.
For example, if the position requires dominance, answers 6-7 would show that, but if the position requires you to be more of a team player- answers 2-3 would be a better fit.
If your Caliper test answers align with the job’s required traits, you’ll be found more compatible, and have higher chances to get hired.
To improve your chances to succeed on the Caliper Personality test, you need to learn which answers strengthen the characteristics required for your role, and practice answering questions accordingly.
On our Caliper test preparation pack, you’ll get a Caliper assessment practice test focused on personality test questions, including full answers and explanations on the traits required for your role and the type of questions that assess them.
Let’s look at some sample Caliper test questions and answers for the cognitive section:
The goal of cognitive questions on the Caliper Profile test is to assess your abstract reasoning ability. High analytical ability tells the employer you can identify problems and inconsistencies, draw accurate conclusions, and solve problems efficiently.
Take a look at the four types of cognitive test questions:
Caliper visual analogy questions assess your ability to identify relationships between figures. In each question, you’ll need to identify the relationship between two shapes, and then choose a new shape related to a third single shape in the same way.
Try this free question:
Choose the answer that best completes the visual analogy:
The correct answer is 2.
The relationship between figure X and figure Y is as follows:
The bottom shape (triangle) in figure X appears twice inside the upper shape (rectangle). One time it appears rotated 90° clockwise and one time 90° counterclockwise.
The correct answer must have the same relationship with figure Z.
Try this free question:
Which tile is missing?The correct answer is 5.
Across the bottom row, we have one blue square and three white squares. In the left frame, the blue square is to the left. In the middle frame, the shape rotates 90° (turns ¼ circle), and the blue square is now at the top. In the missing frame, the shape should again rotate 90° putting the blue square to the right. The only answer with a blue square to the right and a yellow square in the middle is answer number 5.
In each question, you’ll be given several figures that form a sequence based on a specific rule. To answer this visual analogy, you’ll have to complete one missing shape out of the series.
Try this free question:
Choose the figure that is missing from the series of figures in the top row
The correct answer is option 2.
Try to view the two gray triangles as one object. This object rotates 90 degrees clockwise every step. The black dot moves diagonally from the upper-left corner of the object to the bottom-right corner of the object.
Solving tip: when the question mark is in the middle of the sequence rather than at the end, you should look into the longest sequence available, trying to figure out some of the rules. In this question, for example, if you look at frames 3-5 you can figure out the triangles’ movement. This will enable you to disqualify answers 3-5. Then, you can try answers 1 and 2 and see if they fit the entire sequence.
Try this number series sample question:
3, -6, 12, 4, 20, ?
13
14
6
16
The correct answer is 13.
There are two alternating sequences in this series, each following a different rule:
How to prepare for the Caliper cognitive questions?
To help you practice caliper cognitive questions and sharpen your skills, our Caliper test Prep Pack includes Caliper assessment practice tests for each of the cognitive question types on the exam.
These include answers and explanations for each question, containing simple strategies and tips written by experienced psychometric experts.
Solving this number of Caliper-tailored test questions will help you to solve any cognitive question on the actual test.
The Caliper assessment results are given to employers with scores ranging between 1-99, each score indicating your trait/ability level compared to Caliper job models (that is, expected scores). Based on that, employers get an overall fit score, with the highest one indicating you’re a perfect match for the role.
You can read the definitions of each trait on the official Caliper Personality test PDF
How Is the Caliper Test Scored?
Your Caliper personality profile will be compared to a Job model for the role you’re applying for. That is, an “ideal” profile with 5-9 key competencies needed to succeed on the job, based on the personality profile of high-performing employees of the same role.
Every position requires different personality traits that candidates must possess to be found fit for the job.
Some of the key abilities required in management roles are high abstract reasoning ability, high assertiveness, and high urgency (i.e., a tendency to act quickly to obtain results). This means you’ll want to score high on the cognitive questions and get high assertiveness and urgency scores on the Caliper personality test.
What do Caliper Test Results Look Like?
The caliper test scores look like a detailed list of your strengths, motivations, limitations, and potential for the position you’re applying for, according to the key competencies required for it. As a result, employers get an overall fit score that indicates how well you fit the desired position.
View a full caliper test results sample (for sales) on the Caliper Corp official page.
What is a Good Caliper Score?
The closer your Caliper test answers are to Caliper’s job model, the higher score you’ll get on your Caliper profile. While scoring between 60-79 means you are a good match, it also predicts possible challenges to a successful performance. Aim for a score of 80 or higher to ensure you get the job.
To get a high caliper test score, you’ll need to consider the essential characteristics for the role you’re applying for, and answer in a way that highlights the relevant traits.
With our Caliper Assessment Prep Pack, you’ll get practice tests with answers and explanations on how to answer in a way that fits your position, so that you can achieve a high fit score and boost your chances to get hired.
See what our customers say (they LOVED it)
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“My new employer told me that my Caliper Assessment was outstanding! I purchased the job PrepPack™ 24 hours before I had to take the assessment. The methodology behind how to approach each type of question, as well as the practice questions certainly improved my performance. Well worth the investment in order to help land that next job."
Insightful behavior analysis & good practice ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"I got the job! The prep provides some insightful explanations as to behavior questions that I was not aware of. Also has enough practice for cognitive tests (abstract and numerical reasoning). All these practices can be catered for individual professionals."
Our first tip is- don’t get caught by surprise. Get to know exactly the Caliper test questions that will appear on the actual test- cognitive and personality, and take Caliper practice tests. This way, you’ll gain confidence, reduce stress-induced mistakes, and improve your fit score.
Answer Questions as If You’re Already Working in Your Desired Job
After learning the most crucial personality traits expected for your role, imagine yourself already working in the role, doing a great job, and answer accordingly.
To do that, try memorizing the 4-6 most important competencies for this job. Then, imagine yourself as an excellent employee and truly believe that you are a suitable candidate.
Take your Time
Since personality tests can be extremely exhausting, you might be tempted to answer the Caliper assessment quickly and hope for the best result. We recommend that you use the unlimited amount of time you have on the Caliper test to actively consider your answers.
Answer Personality Questions Honestly
It is essential that your answers come across as authentic and consistent as possible, for several reasons:
To answer genuinely while showing the qualities that make you a great candidate, try to imagine yourself in situations in which you react similarly to what’s expected of you and then answer the question.
For example, let’s say you are a creative person who is easily distracted. In a position where you’ll be required to demonstrate a high ability to be thorough and pay attention to detail, try imagining situations in which you are more easily focused, and use those to answer any questions that assess this ability.
The caliper assessment is not timed, and you сan pause and resume when taking the test. According to candidates and the official Caliper analytics assessment website, it takes about 60 minutes to complete the Caliper exam, though it could take more depending on your subjective speed.
You cannot get a pass or fail score on the caliper assessment since it assesses your personality traits. However, failing the Caliper assessment is possible if your Personality profile is different from what employers look for so that another candidate is hired.
You will not be able to see your Caliper Assessment results, as these are sent straight to your employer. Since the employer is Caliper’s client, it’s up to the company to decide if they want to share the results with you or provide detailed feedback.
The Caliper assessment is used for a wide range of job titles (sales, customer success, management roles, executives and more). Here are some of the companies that use the caliper employee assessment (updated to 2022):
USI Insurance Services
NowPow
Russell Reynolds
True Homes
SoftServe
Ann Sacks Tile & Stone
The Caliper assessment test is considered a surprisingly difficult personality test by many candidates. It requires solving complex cognitive questions and answering vague behavioral questions, to find a promising candidate for the job and get hired.
The Caliper test should take 60-75 minutes to complete. The Caliper profile results usually take about 1-2 days to arrive, so you should expect to get the results from your recruiter within a few days from taking the exam.
The PSI Caliper profile test is one of the online psychometric tests offered by PSI to screen job applicants or promote employees, based on their personality assessment.
The Caliper assessment results indicate an individual’s strengths and weaknesses when performing a certain role. These indicators are used by employers in the hiring process to make better hiring decisions, to develop current employees' potential, and to build more effective teams.
The Caliper Test cannot be scored if there are any blank spaces on the answer sheet, so you must answer every question. While you can skip around to different questions within each section, you cannot move on to the following section without completing all the answers.