Arbel, Wonderlic test expert at JobTestPrep.
Have a question? Contact me at: ask_arbel@jobtestprep.com
What is the Wonderlic Test?
The Wonderlic Test is a cognitive assessment that includes 50 abstract, verbal, numerical and general knowledge questions that need to be answered in 12 minutes. Although some questions seem straightforward, with only 14 seconds on average to answer each question the test is very challenging.
Since the Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test aims to examine a broad range of capabilities, it includes a wide range of question types:
- 40% English (Verbal Reasoning) - including grammar, analogies, vocabulary, synonym / antonym, and deductive reasoning.
- 40% Math (Numerical Reasoning) - number series, word problems, number patterns and more.
- 10% Logic (Abstract Reasoning) - spatial reasoning, pattern recognition, shape series, 3D shapes, and matrices.
- 10% General Knowledge and Other - general knowledge questions, as well as error identification questions and other clerical type questions.
Looking for something else? Check out our list of specialized Wonderlic pages
Wonderlic Tutorial Video
Check out our video where we go over the Wonderlic exam's various characteristics, and share useful tips to help your test prep and boost your Wonderlic score!
Wonderlic Practice Tests
Check out our Free Wonderlic Practice Test. Solving Wonderlic practice tests, complete with accurate sample Wonderlic test questions and full answers, is a great way to get your journey towards a high Wonderlic score started.
Below you will find Wonderlic sample questions with full answers. To simulate the limited time of the real Wonderlic Personnel Test, try setting your stopwatch to 14 seconds and see if you manage to answer the questions below in time.
Wonderlic Practice Test - Math Question
Ruth manages a large computer company. On regular days she works ten hours. On days with board meetings she works twelve hours and before major deliveries, she works sixteen hours. Every week she works for five days. During the past week she worked 62 hours. If she didn't have board meetings during the past week, on how many days did she have major deliveries during the past week?
Wonderlic Practice Test - Verbal Reasoning Question
In the following set of words, which word is different?
Wonderlic Practice Test - Logical & Abstract Reasoning Questions
If the first two statements are true, is the final statement true?
Asian cows produce more milk than American cows.
European cows produce more milk than American cows.
American cows produce the smallest amount of milk among all other cows.
1, 4 and 5
Specialized Wonderlic Assessment Pages
Wonderlic tests are the go-to selection test for many of top companies. We've created specialized pages for a number of them, giving you better, more accurate Wonderlic test practice:
- Wonderlic Test NFL - on the National Football League page you will find a free Practice Wonderlic Test, useful information, tips and hacks, as well as access to our full Wonderlic Test NFL version PrepPack. Don't let Wonderlic be what stands between you and becoming an NFL player.
- Wonderlic Basic Skills Test - The Wonderlic Basic Skills Test, or WBST, is a 20 minutes test with 50 Verbal Reasoning questions and 45 Math questions. Visit our page to take a free Wonderlic practice test and learn more about the Wonderlic Basic Skills Test, required by companies such as the Canadian National Railway, Zurich Insurance, Subway, and others.
- Wonscore Test - The Wonderlic WonScore consists of three Wonderlic tests: a Wonderlic cognitive ability test, a Wonderlic personality test, and a motivation test. To learn how to master all three sections of this challenging test, visit our designated page which includes a free Wonderlic practice test, useful information and tips, as well as access to our full Wonderlic test prep.
- Wonderlic Scholastic Level Exam - The Wonderlic Scholastic Level Exam a trusted admissions test for the some of the top career colleges in the States. There are two SLE tests: the long version (SLE) requires answering 50 questions in 12 minutes, and the short version (SLE-Q) requires answering 30 questions in 8 minutes.
Visit our page for lots of useful information, a free practice Wonderlic test, and access to our full PrepPack. - Subway Wonderlic Test - The Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test is a pre-requisite for anybody aspiring to open a Subway franchise. Visit our page for all the Wonderlic test prep you will need to ace the it and take another step towards realizing your goals.
- Free Wonderlic Practice Test - gives you a taste of the different question types in the Wonderlic Tests, with full explanations and solving tips.
The Wonderlic Tests measure your critical thinking, problem-solving skills, deductive reasoning, and cognitive abilities. Other pre-employment assessments that measure similar abilities are the CCAT test the PI Cognitive Assessment and IBEW Aptitude Test.
Free Wonderlic Practice Test
The only tried and tested way of acing the Wonderlic Assessment is practice, pure and simple. Here at JobTestPrep we've built the most accurate PrepPack in the market which closely simulates the questions that you will face during your exam. Check out our Free Wonderlic Practice Test to get a taste of the type of preparation you will receive with our full Wonderlic Assessment PrepPack, or click below to access our full PrepPack.
About the Wonderlic Personnel Test
The Wonderlic Personnel Test was created in 1936 as a quick way to measure intellectual functioning, or in other words as a quick IQ test. Similarly to existing IQ tests, the 50 question 12 minute Wonderlic Personnel Test aimed to measure test takers’ verbal, numerical, and abstract reasoning abilities, with the Wonderlic scores substituting IQ test scores which had been used until that point.
In the years since it’s creation, the Wonderlic Personnel Test has been adapted into specialized versions such as the Wonderlic Basic Skills Test (BST), Wonderlic Scholastic Level Exam (SLE), as well as the Wonderlic Personality Test. Furthermore, The Wonderlic Personnel Test has been adopted by a wide variety of employers and institutions, such as nursing schools, the National Football League (NFL), universities and more.
With a long history and huge credit from renowned institutions, the Wonderlic Personnel Test remains a go-to IQ test and an essential step in many career paths, be it becoming an NFL player, graduate student, future nursing school student, and more.
Wonderlic Assessment Time Management
Given unlimited time, the Wonderlic Assessment wouldn't pose much of a challenge for most test takers. But with only 14 seconds to answer each question, the pressure is definitely on. You will have to be as sharp and prepared as possible to make sure that you get the score that will help you get a high score and elevate you above all the other candidates. That's why the importance of good time-management in the 50 question Wonderlic Personnel Test cannot be overstated.
Practicing with a countdown timer (built in with our practice tests) will accustom you to the time constraint, improve your response time, and calm your nerves, meaning you will be able to answer more questions correctly on your way to acing the test.
Four Wonderlic Assessment Time Management Tips:
1. Don't Waste Too Much Time on One Question:
In the Wonderlic Assessment literally every second counts, so getting stuck on even just one question can spoil all your hard work. If you can't figure it out, guess and move on.
2. Take the Extra Second to Make Sure Your Answer is Correct:
Although you must work fast to get a good score in the Wonderlic exam, it is always good to take a second to make sure you haven't made a clear mistake.
3. Start Fast, Then Slow Down:
Being quick with the first questions gives you an edge. Since the Wonderlic exam questions increase in difficulty, leave yourself enough time to answer the more difficult questions towards the end.
4. Manage Expectations:
Only a very small number of Wonderlic test takers answer all 50 questions in time, so don't worry if you don't. Instead, make sure the answers you do submit are accurate.
Wonderlic Personnel Test Versions
Employers often use the Wonderlic Personnel Test instead of a traditional IQ test to assess a test taker's cognitive abilities, skill sets, and capacity to solve problems as part of their hiring process, coupled with a job interview. There are two main versions of the Wonderlic Personnel Test:
- The Wonderlic Personnel Test Revised (WPT-R) - includes 50 questions with a 12 minute time limit (14 seconds per question)
- The Wonderlic Personnel Test Quicktest (WPT-Q) - includes 30 questions with an 8 minute time limit (16 seconds per question)
How Does Wonderlic Score Work?
Candidates' Wonderlic score is based on their overall response pattern, with each question weighted based on its level of difficulty and taking into account the likelihood of guessing.
This method produces a far more precise estimate of applicants’ cognitive ability than a score based only on the total number of correct answers. The scores of the test takers is then standardized, which creates the bell curve you see in the image above.
A Wonderlic score of 50 is a perfect score, 31 a strong fit, 23-25 a moderate fit, and below 22 a poor fit. Generally speaking, median scores are not enough to stand out and land your dream job. Click to see the official Wonderlic score report on the official Wonderlic company site.
Abstract reasoning
The pattern recognition abstract reasoning test evaluates a person's ability to understand and analyze visual information; this includes the ability to generate hypotheses and grasp complex concepts that are not necessarily connected to real objects, experiences, and people.
With the use of shapes and images that represent specific logic patterns and processes, these tests are able to measure general intelligence, abstract thinking skills, and problem-solving skills.
Verbal Reasoning
The Verbal reasoning tests are designed to assess your understanding of the reasoning of different sentences rather than your vocabulary and grammar.
One very important quality that the employer will want to examine is whether you jump to conclusions or think and analyze before answering a question.
You will be asked to determine whether a pair of words is a synonym or antonym, or whether they are unrelated.
Some questions will ask you to reorder sentences that do not make grammatical sense. You will also need to use context to figure out what is the real meaning of a certain sentence.
Numerical reasoning
Numerical tests measure how intelligent you are with numbers and how advanced your calculation abilities are.
The questions are a combination of words and numbers, they are not just math problems.
They will test your reading comprehension abilities in addition to your mathematical abilities.
The toughest questions in this part are the number series questions that challenge you to figure out the numbers that come next in the series.
The main difference between the two tests is that the pretest is shorter, takes 8 minutes, and is done online from home without supervision.
While the Wonderlic Contemporary Cognitive Ability Test is administered at the workplace to which the candidate is applying, it’s proctored and takes 12 minutes to complete.
The Best Strategy to Prepare for The Wonderlic Test
There are several strategies you can use to prepare for the Wonderlic Personnel Test:
- Buying a premium preparation pack with like the JobTestPrep Wonderlic PrepPack with study guides, Wonderlic test practice and more.
- Buying a book.
- Other practice sites.
| Wonderlic Practice Kits | JobTestPrep Practice | Prep Books | Practice Sites |
| Money-Back Guarantee | Yes | No | No |
| Online Practice Tests | Yes | No | No |
| Step by Step Explanations | Yes | Yes | No |
| Personalized Score Reports | Yes | No | No |
| 24/7 Customer Support | Yes | No | No |
Don’t wait. Buy our full online PrepPack and pass the Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test like a pro.
FAQ
The Wonderlic Scholastic Level Exam (SLE) is an admissions test used by many higher education programs, notably in the health occupations of nursing and radiology, as well as in law enforcement to test corrections officers.
There are 2 other Wonderlic pre-employment tests.
One is the Wonderlic Basic Skills test which is meant to test a candidate's basic skills in English and in Math.
The other is the WonScore test that combines the Wonderlic Cognitive Ability test with Personality and Motivation exams.
A pre-employment aptitude test is a test that measures general cognition to see how well your brain processes information using Numerical, Verbal, Logical, and Abstract Reasoning exams.
Every company and job position requires a different minimum passing score on the Wonderlic exam.
The average Wonderlic Test score is usually 20 to 21, roughly equivalent to an IQ of 100. The maximum and mininum scores are 50 and 10 respectively.
Unfortunately, you are not allowed to bring one into the test with you.
Here are the questions types of the Wonderlic Personnel Test (also called the Cognitive Ability Test):
Spatial Reasoning
Speed Questions
Verbal Reasoning Questions
Math Word Problems
Check this page if you want to learn more about Wonderlic Test questions.
Many companies use Wonderlic as their primary tool for pre-employment screening, including the:
- NFL
- TTC
- Canadian National Railway
- Milicom
- Subway
- David Weekly Homes
- Consolidated Electrical Distributors
- Point 72
- Pepsi
- AlixPartners
- Medline Industries
- Uline
- Epic System
- IBM Assessment
- Various airlines
Here you can find more information about companies that use the Wonderlic test.
Is Your Wonderlic Test Just Around the Corner? Four Tips to Pass Your Test
- Review Test Questions Before Submitting. While practicing with our Wonderlic Practice Test, try identifying topics that you have trouble with and often answer incorrectly. When doing the Wonderlic practice test, review those topics once more to make sure you haven't missed something.
- Get Used to Calculating with Pen and Paper. You won’t be allowed to use a calculator during the Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test so practice with scratch paper an be sure you can do math the old way.
- Let Your Brain Rest. Tired people make mistakes, so avoid studying hard the day before the Wonderlic Test. If you won’t let your brain rest, you won’t be sharp enough to complete the test successfully.
- Make Sure You Get Enough Sleep. Sleep plays an important role in your ability to focus and respond quickly to test questions. The night before the Wonderlic, make the pillow your new best friend and the TV your worst enemy.
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