Free Practice for the Korn Ferry Assessment (KAFLP, KF4D, Talent Q)

Step 1 - Selection:

Sort the cards into the three categories according to your current and previous working experience.

Recommended Methodology for Solution

Navigating this stage can be intimidating, especially first encountering the task of sorting into tabs. While this example offers 6 card slots, both the actual test and our PrepPack have 30 different cards and even more slots, applying additional stress to an already stressful assessment. This is why approaching this stage concentrated is crucial. Consider these key strategies:

• Thoroughly review each tab and evaluate its relevance.
• For statements that appear to be similar, differentiate personal, social, and professional skills and whether they are relevant to your role.
• Align your answers with principal values according to the Korn Ferry guide.
• Try your best to give each category an equal number of cards as long as you feel it is correctly put. It is not obligatory.
• Remain focused on sorting into multiple categories instead of just one. This is important because the next stages will require an even distribution of the tabs between the categories.

Step 2 - Sorting & Balancing: 

Make sure that each of the columns contains an equal amount of cards.

Recommended Methodology for Solution

Although part of the qualities demanded by managers are context and work environment-dependent, others are universal and indispensable for effective management:

1. Influence: Inspiring and rallying your team members to reach a shared goal.

2. Adept Communication: Managers must be experts in communication, whether between themselves, team members, or others. Excellent work and guidance can't be made without the proper communication skills.

3. Taking Responsibility: Managers are accountable for executing tasks, meeting deadlines, and prioritizing properly.

Step 3 - Ranking:

Within the different categories, rank the cards from the most important to the least.

Recommended Methodology for Solution

Once the tabs are evenly shared between the categories, the following step is allocating rankings.

As your previous experiences and identity heavily influence ranking, there are no definitive rules.

The main goal of this step is to assess your decision-making, judgment, and ability to closely examine your own personality traits.

At this point, we suggest leaving 2-4 tabs within each category.

The Correct answer is:

Mission Critical:

1. Influencing: The ability to sway others is vital for leadership, as it is a major and critical force in driving organizational change and inspiring team members.
2. Engagement: Proactive engagement with team members and stakeholders alike is crucial for building strong relationships, fostering teamwork, and maximizing efficiency.

Important Characteristics:

1. Adaptability: The business world is ever-changing, and leaders must keep up. Effective response to challenges, embracing change, and encouraging adaptability at the organizational level are key themes in being a good manager.
2. Embracing Diversity: Essential for fostering innovation and creating a supportive workspace.

Less Critical Traits:

1. Risk-Taking: While having its advantages, risk-taking is not mandatory for management across all organizations and sectors.
2. Courage: Similar to risk-taking, while possibly emerging in specific leadership situations, it is not a universal requirement. 

Taking on high-profile responsibilities

Answer

On this scale, the recommended range falls between 7 and 9.

Scale Values:

Assertiveness: The degree to which people enjoy taking charge and directing others. High
scorers tend to be seen as aggressive and decisive. Low scorers are often perceived as tentative, passive, or indecisive and may be more comfortable following the lead of others.

The left option presents a person who is usually not taking responsibility for high-profile issues at work. Korn Ferry is looking for leadership skills and confidence, and these are not demonstrated in this option.
The right option emphasizes the value of assertiveness and responsibility which are central to their values.

Obtaining support from others through negotiation

Answer

On this scale, the recommended range is 5-8.

Scale Values:

1. Confidence: The degree to which people are convinced that they control the course of events in their lives. High scorers believe that many events and outcomes are within their control and are confident that their future is in their hands. Low scorers believe that fate, luck, or external forces are more important in determining their future.
2. Influence: The degree to which people enjoy motivating and persuading others. High scorers tend to be seen as cogent, interpersonally adept, and persuasive. Low scorers are often perceived as interpersonally less confident and less able to inspire or sway others.

On this scale, we recommend rating a high score but not the highest. The right option would represent an influential and confident person who used to work with other people and negotiate to achieve important goals. It is important to remember that Humility is another important value to Korn Ferry, and it's important to stay humble when rating the statements.

What Drives You?

Within each question, you will be faced with six statements. Rate them from the most important for you to the least important.

Unlike the previous stage, which looked for preferred personality traits within you in the eyes of the recruiters, in this part, we recommend answering authenticly. 

Answer

As we are all motivated by different factors, please take the provided rating merely as a suggestion. However, keep in mind that the following rating is based on Korn Ferry's values, specifically those linked to leadership.

Our suggested rating:

1. Taking on challenging tasks: Most like me
This indicates a strong preference for self-improvement and career progression, tackling challenging assignments, welcoming challenges, and continuously honing one's skills and abilities.

2. Staying away from competition: Least like me
This indicates a desire to work in an environment that is less focused on competition and rivalry. It may indicate a preference for a cooperative and supportive work atmosphere that emphasizes collaboration and teamwork.

Where Do You Excel?

In each of the questions, seven descriptions will appear which you will have to rate on a scale between the most like me and the least like me.

Answer

Your skills and strengths are unique and subjective, shaped by your past experiences. As in previous stages, keep in mind that the suggested rating is grounded in Korn Ferry's leadership values. Please review the explanation, even if you ranked differently.

Our suggested ranking:

My colleagues need to adjust their approaches to mine: Least like Me

According to this statement, your colleagues may be expected to conform to your preferred way of working or their preferred approaches, rather than accepting different viewpoints or approaches.

It is important to me to view problems from multiple perspectives: Most like Me

This statement indicates that you acknowledge the value of considering diverse viewpoints when tackling problems. It indicates an openness to exploring various perspectives and analyzing situations from different angles to reach well-rounded solutions.

Who Are You?

In each of the following questions, 4 tabs will appear when you will have to rank them in the following order:

1. Most like me
2. Somewhat like me
3. Slightly like me
4. Nothing like me

Try to answer honestly and openly, thinking about the qualities that most characterize you and stand out to others and to yourself. It is important to stay consistent and rank similar questions following the same values.

Answer

Since we are all different and unique, consider the rating provided as a recommendation according to Korn Ferry's values and core leadership principles. Please review the explanation, even if you ranked differently.

Our recommended ratings are as follows:

1. Considering my strengths and weaknesses from others is valuable to me: Having self-awareness and being open to feedback and insights is what makes effective leaders. Taking this statement as the highest ranking reflects a willingness to evaluate one's strengths and weaknesses from others' perspectives, aligning with leadership values.

2. Other people are not more important or better than me: Collaborative leadership, teamwork, and acknowledging the value of others are among the values of leadership. Despite the importance of self-confidence, this statement suggests a lack of appreciation for others, which is less aligned with leadership values, placing it in the second position.

3. Working alone allows me to accomplish more than working with others: As a leader, oftentimes, effective delegation, teamwork, and the use of others' strengths are important. However, this statement implies a preference for individual work, which may be less aligned with collaborative leadership values.

4. It is more comfortable for me to be alone than with other people: While some solitude can be beneficial for introspection, effective leaders often thrive in social interactions and building relationships. It suggests a preference for isolation, which is less aligned with leadership values that emphasize effective communication and interpersonal skills, making it the least aligned of the statements provided.

Practice Like The Real Assessment

Unlike typical personality assessments, the KFLAP and KF4D are based on interactive environments and include highly thoughtful questions, both of which add to the challenge. When preparing for these assessments, understanding which qualities to highlight is essential. 

Our industry-leading Korn Ferry assessment Prep Course delicately replicates the authentic test platform and offers questions simulating the real thing. Enhance your performance before the real test and effectively showcase your genuine abilities. Take a sneak peek at our interactive course to see how it works:

Answer

The correct answer is:

The third image in the first two rows is the result of adding a diagonal line pattern to the top half of the first image in the first two rows. Thus, the third image of the bottom row must be the result of adding a diagonal line pattern to the top half of the first image in the bottom row.

Answer

The correct answer is:

The missing piece should have black vertical lines that bend outwards and white horizontal lines that bend inwards.

Table: London — Sydney departure time

Both Heathrow and Gatwick are British airports.

chedule in GMT. Sydney is GMT+10
Flight time 26 hours

What is the first available flight to Sydney from London after 5:00 pm?

What time will it be in Sydney, Australia when the first morning flight out of London arrives?

If a senior citizen were to buy a daily bus pass, how many bus rides would he need to take that day in order for it to be worth while?

EUROPE'S AGING POPULATION

The incentives for having fewer children in rich industrialized countries are the mirror image of the reason to have large families in poor countries. In rich countries children are an expensive luxury while adding nothing to family income. For that reason, among others, the EU has recently come to recognise that it is facing dramatic changes in the age-structure of Europe's population, which have profound economic and social consequences. The ‘dependency ratio’ (the number of people over 65 compared to the number of people aged 20-24) is a good indicator of the fundamental aging population problem. This ratio is now approximately 27 percent; however, by 2050, according to the World Bank, the dependency ratio will double.

To an environmentalist, an aging population might seem a good thing – an indication of an overall stabilizing population. But a small aging population like that of Italy, in a world of huge younger populations like those of China or Brazil, may not be sustainable. First, there's the fear that small, traditional cultures will be overrun. Nevertheless, even if that weren't a factor, there would be economic pressure on a country with a high dependency ratio to alleviate the imbalance by delaying retirement or reducing retirement benefits. All things considered, an aging population of non-workers will necessitate an increased tax burden increased public sector debt, or both.

 (Adapted from Europa.eu)

Which one of the following is NOT a consequence of the increase in the ‘dependency ratio’?

Which factor does the passage imply is a cause of Europe's aging population?

Based on the text, Which one of the following can be concluded from the text?

Practice Under Time Pressure

Time management is of the essence in the Talent-Q test. While some questions can be solved using basic knowledge of mathematics, grammar, and reasoning, achieving real success in this test demands a swift and effective response. With 60-75 seconds for each question, you know that you have no time to waste.

The Talent-Q package includes numerous practice tests with detailed solutions that will assist in building the required time-efficiency and comprehension needed in the real test

Can you identify the missing shape?

Answer

The correct answer is A (top row, leftmost option)

Columns: The matrix is based on the following sequence of symbols: ♥ Ω ≠ ☺ ♣.
Each cell consists of three of these symbols, dictated by the following logic: when moving from one cell to the cell below it, the symbols “move” one step to the right each time. This movement is continuous throughout the matrix’s columns: from the bottom cell in each column to the top cell in the next column.

Thus, to find the missing symbols, we need to “move” the symbols from the cell above it one step to the right, resulting in ‘♥’ and ‘♣’ becoming the right and middle symbols, respectively. Next, we need to work backward and “move” the symbols from the cell below it one step to the left, resulting in ‘☺’ becoming the left symbol. Therefore, the correct answer is #1.

Rows: In a similar way, when moving from one cell to the next in the row (left to right), the symbols “move” two steps to the left each time.

Compare 'column 1' with 'column 2' on each row:

• If they are identical, mark the green box (under the √ symbol).
• If they are different, mark the red box (under the X symbol).

Answer

Row 1: W8047-07217-20925                 W8047-02712-20925

Row 3: L9059-45309-13894                   L9059-45309-18394

Row 5: R3831-60969-42141                  R3831-60696-42141

You have recently hired Jen to join your team. She seems responsible and eager to learn. After a short training period, you feel she is ready to take part in projects and learn from working with more experienced employees. You assign her to Tim, a highly qualified and experienced team member who is currently loaded with work and who you believe could use her help. However, when you talk to Tim about your decision, he objects, saying that tutoring a new employee will only slow down his pace and that he doesn’t want to trust his tasks to someone who is inexperienced.
What would you do in this situation?

Please rate the responses below on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being what you are most likely to do and 5 being what you are least likely to do. multiple answers can have the same rating.

Answer

Primary competencies: Responsibility for subordinates; Persuasion, motivation, and negotiation skills

Secondary competencies: Social intelligence; Decision-making; Flexibility and adaptability; Maintaining authority

The correct rating is: response #1 → 5, response #2 → 2, response # 3 → 3, response #4 → 1, response #5 → 5

Explanation: In this scenario, an employee objects to your decision.

You are the head of a department of 18 employees, with three managers working under your supervision. Recently, a new manager has been appointed to your department to replace one that left. In the past month since his appointment, the two veteran managers have complained that the new manager does not seem to delegate tasks, slowing down his team's productivity and consequently resulting in a decrease in departmental efficiency. They ask you to deal with the situation as they feel extremely frustrated.

Please rate the responses below on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being what you are most likely to do and 5 being what you are least likely to do. Multiple answers can have the same rating.

Answer

Primary competencies: Responsibility for subordinates; Team building
Secondary competencies: Social intelligence; Problem-solving
The correct rating is: response #1 → 5, response #2 → 3, response #3 → 5, response #4 → 1, Response #5 → 1.

Explanation: You are introduced to a situation in which your employees are frustrated due to the behavior of another colleague. They claim that his shortcomings are influencing the entire department, and they have asked for your intervention. You are obviously facing this problem due to his performance. This item assesses your ability to take responsibility for your employees and resolve conflicts that may arise within your team.