Thomas International Tests: Assessments Guide

Explore the selection of Thomas International tests below. Discover and learn more about each one. If you are expecting a cognitive test, then you’re probably looking for the GIA test. If it's a personality test then that’ll be the PPA assessment or the HPTI test.

You can also navigate to learn more about the TEIQue Test below

Read on to learn about the several different types of Thomas International assessments.

The Thomas International General Intelligence Assessment (GIA) is unlike most common psychometric tests, as it aims to assess your general intelligence, rather than your advanced subject-specific abilities (e.g. numerical, verbal, or abstract reasoning).

The goal of the Thomas International General Intelligence Assessment (GIA) is to predict how long you will take to adapt to a new regime when working in your desired job. Your cognitive abilities are also evaluated to assess your leadership skills and problem-solving capabilities. The exam questions are all on the same easy level of difficulty.

• Reasoning Section: This section measures your ability to make inferences and draw accurate conclusions regarding the information provided in the test.
• Perceptual Speed Section: This section measures your perception of inaccuracies in written material, numbers and diagrams. This test also assesses the ability to ignore irrelevant information, recognise similarities, locate differences and perform error-checking.
• Number, Speed & Accuracy Section: This section measures your basic numerical reasoning ability.
• Word Meaning Section: This section evaluates your word and vocabulary knowledge by assessing how well you can find which word does not belong within a group of words.
• Spatial Visualisation Section: This section measures your ability to create and manipulate mental images of objects which are displayed on the exam.

The Thomas International Personal Profile Analysis (PPA) is an 8 minutes personality assessment. It provides employers with insight into your workplace behavioural patterns, such as your motivations, communication style, performance under pressure and so on. It serves an important purpose among the Thomas International Tests.

Familiarising yourself with personality tests will help you understand which aspects of yourself need to be emphasised to portray your strengths. Read more about the Thomas International PPA test and learn how practising with JobTestPrep can improve your performance.

Thomas International PPA assessment measures 4 personality characteristics: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Compliance. The four traits being assessed are represented by different words that you are asked to choose from during the test.

1. Carefully read through the test instructions: Before answering questions on the Thomas International PPA Test, make sure to read through the test instructions slowly and deliberately.

2. Identify words which fall under the four main desired traits: Some words presented in the PPA assessment correspond with the personality traits that the test aims to assess. When you consider the 4 desirable qualities listed above, try to choose words which match these traits.

3. Be consistent with your answers: The assessment may include similar questions which are posted in a different way to tell whether you are giving the answers that you think an employer wants to hear, or if you are being true to your character.

4. Consider the job position you are applying for: When answering test questions, try to consider the role you are looking to fill and what attributes your potential employer would be looking for in an employee.

5. Be yourself: Although you are being assessed on how well you fit the job position, you are also able to make sure the position is the right fit for you. Don’t give answers that simply aren’t a reflection of your personality, because, at the end of the day, you want to succeed in the role you are placed in.

6. Pay attention to all choices: Remember that you are scored not only on what you select as "Most like me" and "Least like me," but also on the words you don't choose. Every selection contributes to your overall profile.

The Thomas HPTI test is used by employers to assess potential candidates to evaluate personality traits that may affect the candidate’s workplace performance. 

This unique member of the Thomas International tests contains a large number of questions that must be answered very quickly. This makes it challenging for candidates – the great number of questions and the limited time are designed to create artificial stress on candidates.  

In the following guide, you will receive an explanation of the personality traits measured by the Thomas HPTI test, the way in which the test is organized, and the methods used to measure and evaluate the personality traits.

What Is the Thomas HPTI Test? 

The Thomas High Potential Trait Indicator (HPTI) assessment is a personality test designed by Thomas, a large multinational company with offices from the United Kingdom to the Netherlands to Dubai to Malaysia to provide employers with psychological assessments of candidates. 

The HPTI test is a personality test. It is built on the assumption that every potential candidate has a set of certain personality traits that are more or less stable throughout their career and that these traits can be used to assess candidates in a standardized, computer-based test. 

Because the test designers believe that the HPTI test results display qualities that stay with a candidate over the long term, these go into an employee's record, and are used to build long-term plans for a candidate's career. This means it there is a deep importance to doing well in this test that is beyond the immediate acceptance for the current position you're applying for – the test will also affect your chances for promotion going forward.  

A big challenge of the Thomas HPTI test is that the questions must be answered very rapidly – you will be given about six seconds to answer each of the questions. This is designed to create stress so that the candidate has less of an opportunity to think about the questions. You can minimize difficulties by preparing for the test so that you are calm when you are taking it.

• Conscientiousness: Candidates with a high Conscientiousness score are focused on their goals and on finding ways to achieve them.  On the other hand, candidates that score lower on the Conscientiousness trait tend to be more open-minded and more open to learning new insights. 
• Adjustment: A high adjustment score means that the candidate performs better under pressure. Those whose Adjustment score is low tend to experience more workplace stress, and so might be a less than optimal fit for a high-stress working environment. 
• Curiosity: Candidates with a high Curiosity score are more interested in learning and in trying new ways to achieve workplace goals. On the other hand, low Curiosity scores means the candidate prefers reliable, time-tested methods that achieve consistent results. 
• Risk Approach: High-scoring candidates tend towards actively confronting difficult situations, whether workplace conversations or high-risk work. On the other hand, those with a lower risk approach demonstrate a more passive or reactive response to risk, which can be a disadvantage in some workplaces and an advantage in others. 
• Ambiguity Acceptance: A high ambiguity acceptance score means that a candidate is better at dealing with situations that involve uncertainty, ambiguity, or complexity, while a candidate with a low score thrives in situations where situations have clear-cut answers and solutions. 
• Competitiveness: Candidates with a high competitiveness score enjoy working to reach positions of power, influence, and recognition. On the other hand, persons with a lower score may prefer working out of the spotlight and are often better at collaborating with coworkers, even if this requires them to work as hard as the high-competitiveness candidates.

The HPTI test consists of 78 questions, which the candidate must answer within 8 minutes. (This is intended to ensure that the candidate answers each question as quickly as possible, providing an answer which is 'instinctive'). Each of the questions Is answered on a 1-7 Likert scale, where 1 means 'disagree completely' and 7 means 'agree completely'.

Generally, I avoid making decisions that have a chance of leading to failure.

Test scores 

Test scores in the HPTI are ranked from Low through Moderate and Optimal to Excessive.  Optimal scores are considered the best, but those candidates with a Moderate score (especially if it is a score close to Optimal) may still be accepted to leadership positions. A Low or Excessive score means that one's senior leadership effectiveness is reduced in certain contexts, but the candidate can still fit for different roles. 

How to Study for the Test 

It's very clear that the test doesn't include testing any kind of professional or scientific knowledge. On the other hand, you should not believe anyone who tells you that you should not study for this test, or that there are 'no wrong answers' – there are clearly wrong answers, that's why the company paid so much money to commission this test! 

The proper way to study for the HPTI is to rehearse, as much as possible, with mock tests that let you simulate answering real HPTI questions in limited time. You should do this again and again until you are confident in getting a good test score. 

The Thomas International Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue; pronounced as TQ) measures your ability to recognise and control your emotions, as well as deal with the emotions of others. The questionnaire includes statements regarding your responses to different situations, and your task is to rate how strongly you agree or disagree with each statement. This questionnaire usually takes about 25-35 minutes to complete.

Since emotional intelligence allows for self-awareness and adaptability, it is a desired and important trait for employees (and especially managers) to possess in any workplace. This questionnaire displays your communication abilities, your relationship management skills, and the way you deal with stress, conflicts, or any other challenges that may arise in a work environment.

The TEIQue is used to identify candidates who can thrive in any set of circumstances as well as those who are suited for management roles. For this reason, we advise you to consider the context of your life when answering each statement. Being aware of which aspects of your emotional intelligence are important in your work and personal life can help you determine which traits to emphasise.

We at JobTestPrep find the assessment tests world highly diverse and fascinating. If you are looking to deepen your knowledge in the aptitude tests world, or you want some extra practice before your test, we've got you covered!

Check out these fantastic free practice tests (all are completely free):

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