written exams

What is the Public Service Entrance Exam?

The Public Service Entrance Exam (PSEE) is a new exam designed for the assessment of University Graduates. The exam was tested during the first half of 2011 and will now be used to screen students in the 2011 Post Secondary Recruitment. It is likely that the exam will be used in future recruitment sessions.

The Public Service Entrance Exam aims at assessing the problem-solving and reasoning skills of graduates prior to the Graduate Recruitment Exam (GRE), the Written Communication
Proficiency Test (WCPT), and the Situational Judgement Test (SJT). As such, it is used as a pre-screening tool before applicants are invited to continue to the next stages of assessment.

The exam is composed of four types of questions:

1. Analytical Reasoning

2. Arithmetic Reasoning

3. Logical Reasoning

4. Numbers and letters series

The Public Service Entrance Exam is unsupervised and is taken at the location of the applicant’s choice. You will need to have access to a computer with an internet connection.

Additional information of the PSEE:

• The applicant is given 80 minutes to complete the exam

• 25 multiple choice questions ( 3.2 minutes per question)

• Minimum pass mark is 40% ( This is the bare minimum and will very likely not allow you to be screened into to job competitions)

It is imperative to practice various types of test examples before doing the exam. Although questions may look simpler compared to those of the Graduate Recruitment Test (GRT), if one does not pay close attention a mistake can be easily made.

Below I have provided an example of each type of question (answers at the bottom of page) in the Public Service Entrance Exam. Note: Further explanations for each section as well as detailed answers are provided in the book.

Arithmetic Reasoning

For this category of questions, you are required to identify an unknown value based on information provided in a paragraph.

Question 1:

The average rainfall in Vancouver increases by 6% each year. If the rainfall was 20 cm in 2004 what would it have been in 2009?

a) 22.47 cm

b) 23.82 cm

c) 25.25 cm

d) 26.76 cm

Analytical Reasoning

The questions in the exam will use fictional and real words found in the English language. You will be required to use your knowledge of the relationship between words as well as the information in the paragraph to choose an appropriate response.

Question 2:

A skyscraper resembles a Mobu but is taller.A Mobu resembles a Pula but is shorter. A Boli resembles a house but is shorter.

What can be validly concluded based on the information given above?

a) A house is shorter than a Boli.

b) A Mobu is taller than a Pula.

c) A skyscraper is taller than a Boli.

d) A Pula is shorter than a house.

Logical Reasoning

For this category of questions, you will be given a short paragraph of text and answer choices.

Question 3

A study of native born residents in Bolivia found that two-thirds of the children developed considerable levels of nearsightedness after starting school, while their illiterate parents and grandparents, who did not have formal schooling, showed no signs of this disability. Which following statement is supported by the above sentences?

a) Only individuals who have the opportunity for formal schooling develop nearsightedness.

b) People who are illiterate do not suffer from nearsightedness.

c) The nearsightedness in the children is caused by the visual stress required by reading and other class work.

d) Only literate individuals are nearsighted.

Number and Letter series

In this category, you will be asked to determine the rule that is used to establish the series and completely the series accordingly.

Question 4

 5, 8, 11, 14 ?

a) 15

b) 17

c) 19

d) 21

Answers to above questions:

Question 1: D

Question 2: C

Question 3: C

Question 4: B

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