Job-Hunting in Japan: What is Web Aptitude Test (SPI/CAB/GAB) and How to Prepare for It
Have you ever heard about the SPI test? CAB and/or GAB Tests? If not, scroll down to know more! In this article we will breakdown some of the types of aptitude tests that company uses, we will also give you some tips and tricks and words of advice from senpais that have done countless aptitude tests during their job-hunting days!
Author: Zena Fadilla | Published date: 12 May 2020
What is Aptitude Test?
SPI Test, CAB, and GAB tests are all a type of aptitude test that are commonly used by companies in Japan. Aptitude test is a type of test that is commonly used by most companies, regardless of their size, as a means of assessment in their hiring process. These aptitude tests mainly assess our personality, general knowledge, and whether or not our skills match with what the companies are looking for.
In general, there are three ways for you to take the aptitude test, and the three ways are listed below;
● Taking a web test at a testing location and send the results to the respective companies
● Taking the test at home at a specific period
● Taking the paper test at a company office or a specific testing location
What is SPI Test?
SPI or Synthetic Personality Inventory is developed by Recruit Management Solutions co., ltd.
Among the SPI tests, the SPI 3 is the most common aptitude test that most Japanese companies use irrespective of which industry they belong to. The difference of each type of SPI are listed below.
Differences between 3 types of SPI
Overview of SPI
The SPI test usually consists of two parts, basic knowledge, and personality test, the test is in Japanese Language and it is in the form of multiple choices. The basic knowledge is then breakdown to two sections, the 国語(kokugo) or Japanese Language, that tests your knowledge on synonyms, antonyms, kanji, and reading comprehension. The other section is the mathematics section that usually covers, addition, multiplication, division, analyzing graphs, etc.
In the personality test, there are about 300-500 sets of questions, which ask you yes/no questions that measure behavioral, motivational, and emotional aspects of a person. According to the job-hunting handbook from Jasso, there are 4 types of SPI3 test, see the table below for details.
What are CAB and/or GAB Tests?
Computer Aptitude Battery or CAB and Graduate Aptitude Battery or GAB tests are tests developed by SHL-Japan. CAB tests are more commonly used by IT industries, the CAB test is divided into a mental arithmetic, personality, regularity, instruction table and coding section. On the other hand, the GAB test is often used by companies that are involved in trading, investment, and general research. This test assesses calculation, personality, and language ability.
CAB and GAB tests can be both taken online or web-based, the difference is only the time limit.
What is a Web Test?
As it was mentioned before, some aptitude tests can be taken at home, and most of them are called web test. Web test problems are mostly taken from the paper-based, but some companies may modify and add some questions of their own according to their needs. Before the actual test, some companies also give 2 or more sample questions, do not skip them, because you can make use of the chance to get familiar with the problems given.
Tips & Tricks
According to the job hunting handbook from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, there are 3 main points to pay attention to when you are preparing for an aptitude test.
- Understand your current level
To understand your current level, try to take a mock test. From there, you will be able to know which part of the test you are good at or which part you need to practice more. Once you know about it, start studying from the part which needs more practice!
- Do a lot of timed practice
Because aptitude tests are strictly timed, getting used to it is the only way to be able to answer the majority of the questions within the given time.
- Starting early
Get yourself familiar with the type of tests as early as you can, because when the job-hunting period starts you will be too preoccupied with the entry sheets and resume (履歴書-rirekisho).
Recommended Sources
One of the most popular books that job-seekers use is the "本当のSPI3だ！", the book gathers frequent problems that come out each year, beginner-friendly because of the easy to understand explanation it provides. For CAB and GAB Tests, it is recommended to use this book "CAB GAB 完全突破法！"because the book provides different levels of the problems that got harder as you solve more problems which is a good practice for the tests!
SPI言語・非言語2020・2021 This is one of the free apps that you can download to study SPI tests, as of March 19, the app received a 4.5 rating in AppStore as it explains how to solve the problem at the end of every question, which makes it easier to understand where you get it wrong. In addition to that, you can conveniently use this app during the commuting time!
Most personality tests are not timed, and if you are doing it at home, you can use the help of Rikaikun, a built-in extension that is compatible to use in google chrome. This tool allows you to select or hover over Japanese words you do not understand, and a pop-up translation and explanation of the words will come out. You can get the tool here. Note, that you can only use it for personality tests but not for other web tests.
Words of wisdom from Senpais
Scroll down to read some of the valuable tips and words of wisdom from our experienced senpais!
"I honestly, didn't spend much time preparing for the SPI test. Ideally, even if you have N2 or N1, you will need 6 months to 1 year to get 70-80% in the SPI test. I think it would be more effective if I invested his time in other aspects of job hunting (e.g. self-discovery, preparing for interviews, writing resumes, etc.) But, if you have the time and resources, please do prepare. There are many types of assessment tools that companies use, not only SPI. Based on my experience, IT companies will less likely use the traditional SPI test. Instead, they use assessment tools similar to IQ tests (mostly math, logic and geometric perception) that can be done in English. Japanese companies （日経企業）will use SPI, but if they specifically search for English-speaking international students, the SPI test will weigh much lesser than interviews and your university experiences. On the other hand, big financial companies often use more specific and comprehensive tools to test your knowledge in finance and economics (e.g. Enterprise Value or EV, amortization ratio or EBTIDA). A little tips and tricks from me, if you have books, online resources, or other resources please do practice. Consult with your friends who applied to the same company and study together. Lastly, Good luck!"
- Hafiz Farizi (Indonesian, currently working for a bank in Fukuoka)
"I studied for aptitude tests for 3 months, in a day I spared about 3-4 hours to study by myself. I used these two books above to study because there are a lot of practice questions and a detailed description of the solution to solve the question easily. The only negative point was that the whole book is written in Japanese, so it took me quite some time to understand the contents. I applied to about, 40 companies, and almost all上場企業 (joujou kigyou) or companies that are listed in the stock exchange uses aptitude tests to assess students, but there are a lot of companies that give foreigners a little easier acceptance criteria!"
- Chung Hyunjoon (Korean, accepted a job offer from a company in the Chemical Industry)
"Due to time constraints, I was only able to spend one month to prepare for the aptitude test. Afterwards, I was learning by doing, since taking multiple real aptitude tests is a good preparation on its own for the next ones that you will be taking later. However, for international students I would strongly advise for starting their preparations as soon as possible, since in the case of SPI test preparation, the more tests you do (or the longer the time you spend), the higher results you will begin to show I have applied to both domestic and foreign-affiliated companies within the financial industry, which required me to take an aptitude test as a mandatory requirement for their initial document screening. I mainly spend some time solving mock aptitude tests available for free online (organized by MyNavi and Rikunavi on campus), as well as two books for SPI test preparations, which had all test patterns with the respective answers attached to them. I mainly focused on solving questions from the Japanese language section and the Calculations and logical section because the English section was not included in any of the aptitude tests that I had to take during my job-hunting activities. I used the two books listed below, these two books are one of the most recommended and best-selling resources for SPI and other aptitude test preparations. Both include a booklet with all the correct answers as well.
・2020最新版 史上最強ＳＰＩ＆テストセンター超実戦問題集 (日本語) by オフィス海
・2020年度版 本気で内定！ＳＰＩ＆テストセンター1200題 (日本語) by ノマドワークス
A little tip from me, when it comes to aptitude tests and/or SPI tests, the more you practice, the easier it becomes to see the different patterns of questions. Therefore, if you are used to solving different types of aptitude tests during your practice, you will start recognizing some of the correct answers instinctively. It is impossible to get all answers correctly, and these tests are hard even for native speakers, which is why you should focus on recognizing the patterns and getting higher points, rather than understanding why this is the correct answer for each question."
- Radoslav T. Tsvetkov (Bulgarian, accepted a job offer from one of the most well-known company in financial, software, data, and media industry)
"When doing an aptitude test at home, be sure to prepare a pen and paper for scribbling, you can also prepare a calculator to help you with the math problems. Some aptitude tests allow you to change the language settings, so it is best to do the test in a language that you are comfortable with. Lastly, when doing a personality test, be as truthful as you can, do not base your answers on the characteristics of the company itself. ”
-Yuki Takahashi (Japanese, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, class of 2020)
These are just a few personal experiences from some senpais, but do remember that each person’s style of studying and preparation is different. So, the most important thing is to get to know yourself, what kind of studying style do you usually do, and the most important of all is to set your own goals and be disciplined about it!
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