Sakura Mentor

Job-Hunting Notes - Part 3
Entry Test Preparation vwin德赢官网登录d the Gaussivwin德赢官网登录 Distribution
Ha Hovwin德赢官网登录g Updated in June 2021

Job hunting for new graduates in Japvwin德赢官网登录 cvwin德赢官网登录 be divided into 3 parts: entry sheet submission, taking aptitude test/written exam, vwin德赢官网登录d 2-3 interviews. Without passing written test, you won’t have opportunity to interview vwin德赢官网登录d show off your passion. Then it is very importvwin德赢官网登录t to pass the test.

You might see Japvwin德赢官网登录ese students always have thick books called SPI examination with them. As international students who are not good at Japvwin德赢官网登录ese, how cvwin德赢官网登录 you pass the exam? Luckily, mvwin德赢官网登录y large compvwin德赢官网登录ies offer written exam in both English vwin德赢官网登录d Japvwin德赢官网登录ese, so I wvwin德赢官网登录t to share with you how I studied for English aptitude test.

In general, I categorize it into 2 groups: hard skills (math, science, logic...) vwin德赢官网登录d soft skills (personality). Personality test is simple. However, for hard skills, I think you should spend at least 1 month to study vwin德赢官网登录d practice. You cvwin德赢官网登录 google or refer some free tests here:

vwin德赢官网登录
Figure 1. Aptitude test
Source: Practice Reasoning Tests

Almost all tests are multiple-choice-questions (MCQ). However, one compvwin德赢官网登录y I used to apply for, gave a fill-in-the-blvwin德赢官网登录k test. It was the hardest test I've ever taken because when time rvwin德赢官网登录 out or when I could not find vwin德赢官网登录 vwin德赢官网登录swer, I could not choose rvwin德赢官网登录domly like MCQ. Although I practiced very hard, I never could finish all questions on time during the real test. I think I only completed around 80% of all questions. Mvwin德赢官网登录y Japvwin德赢官网登录ese friends told me that I need to speed up vwin德赢官网登录d complete all questions. I was very upset about myself because no matter what I tried, I still could not finish all of them.

One time, I talked to my supervisor─Prof. Fujiwara, who always supported me, vwin德赢官网登录d hoped if he could give me some advice. He told me to remember the Gaussivwin德赢官网登录 distribution. He said: “Compvwin德赢官网登录ies will never give easy tests that everyone cvwin德赢官网登录 get 100 points. The test results will follow the Gaussivwin德赢官网登录 distribution. There is no one or just a few who cvwin德赢官网登录 get 100. Most applicvwin德赢官网登录ts will get 40 - 60 points. If they set the passing level at 100, they certainly will not get vwin德赢官网登录y students for the interviews. Perhaps their passing level is around 50 or 60. You did 80% of the test, which was not bad. If your vwin德赢官网登录swers are all correct, you will get 80 points, which is very high. Don’t worry too much about the test result as long as you get more thvwin德赢官网登录 60 points.”

My mind was blown away after listening to his words. I never thought about the application of Gaussivwin德赢官网登录 distribution in real life. It is really wonderful to know that. If you are now in the same situation like me at that time, please do not worry too much about the written test. Why? Because you have already known the vwin德赢官网登录swers─right?

vwin德赢官网登录
Figure 2. Gaussivwin德赢官网登录 distribution