Ability tests
Reasoning with numbers, words and patterns.
- Numerical
- Analyzing numbers and working with data
- Verbal
- Understanding and interpreting written text
- Logical
- Abstract information and critical thinking
- Bring
- Pen, paper and a calculator
The Sova assessment, and how to practice
A Sova assessment is an online hiring test an employer sends you through Sova's platform. The employer picks the parts, which can include numerical, verbal and logical reasoning, situational judgment, personality questionnaires and a recorded video interview. Warm up for the numerical part with our free case math drills first. They are timed and need no sign-up.
Updated
- The employer picks the parts. Sova offers reasoning tests, judgment scenarios, questionnaires and video interviews.
- Practice is built in. Each part opens with a practice question that doesn't count, and Sova's hub has free practice tests.
- Pen, paper and a calculator. Sova asks for all three for the ability questions.
- Any device works for Sova. Phone, tablet or laptop. Bain asks its applicants for a laptop or desktop.
- Taking it for Bain? Our Bain Sova test guide covers Bain's own rules for it.
The parts of a Sova assessment
Sova lists these assessment types on its candidate hub. Your employer chooses which ones you get, and your assessment hub shows them once you open the invitation.
Situational judgment
Realistic work scenarios and how you would handle them.
- Measures
- Decision-making, problem solving, people skills
- Format
- Pick the best and worst responses
Questionnaires
Personality, motivation and competency questions about how you work.
- Personality
- Your traits and how you work with others
- Motivation
- Your motivations and workplace interests
- Answering
- Some ask for one answer in each column
Video interview
Answers to the employer's questions, recorded on camera.
- Device
- Phone, tablet or laptop
- Browser
- Chrome
- Upload speed
- At least 140 Kbps
Other parts Sova offers4 more
Learnability
How fast you pick up new rules
Measures how quickly you learn and apply new patterns and problem-solving rules.
Checking
Checking and accuracy
Tests attention to detail and how quickly you spot errors.
Skills
Skills assessments
Tests of the technical or professional skills a specific role needs.
Assessment center
A virtual assessment day
Individual and group exercises online, on Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Whereby. Sova recommends a computer or tablet, not a smartphone.
Sova's Early Careers Assessment15 to 30 min
One of Sova's ready-made assessments for graduate and apprentice roles. Employers can also build their own.
Always
Image personality questionnaire
Your behavioral preferences across work-related traits.
Also always
Situational judgment test
Realistic scenarios where you choose the best and worst responses.
If chosen
Numerical, logical, learnability
The employer can add any of the three.
Skills
Seven in all
Teamwork, influencing, analytical thinking, innovating, adaptability, drive and learning focus.
From Sova's candidate preparation hub, its Assessments page and its Early Careers Assessment.
What Sova says its tests measure
Sova publishes what each test type is for, but no pass mark.
Reasoning
Numerical tests look at how you analyze numbers and work with data. Verbal tests look at how you understand and interpret written information. Logical tests look at how you process abstract information and think critically.
Judgment at work
Situational judgment tests look at decision-making, problem solving and interpersonal skills in realistic job scenarios.
How you work
Personality and motivation questionnaires show your core traits, how you work with others and what drives you. Sova's hub suggests answering in a comfortable and natural way.
Fair play
Unusually fast or slow answers are flagged, questions and options are shuffled, links expire and you confirm you are working unassisted. Sova also uses AI to flag patterns like browser switching.
From Sova: the candidate hub, Assessments and cheating prevention.
What happens, step by step
As Sova's candidate hub lays it out.
From the email to the result
Step 1
The email
The employer emails you an invitation. The link lets you create an account and opens your own assessment hub.
Step 2
Practice tasks
Your hub shows the activities the employer chose. Finish the practice tasks first. Each part also opens with a practice question that doesn't count toward your score.
Step 3
The assessment
On any device. If your connection drops, follow the invitation link again to carry on where you left off.
Step 4
Feedback
If the employer chooses, you get feedback on the behaviors you showed as soon as you finish. For results and next steps, Sova says to ask the employer.
Sova doesn't publish a standard length. It depends on the parts your employer picks.
8 practice prompts for the test and after
Our own wording, not Sova's, in the style of the parts Sova names. They are not Sova's items, and no answers are printed. Use Sova's own practice tests for the real format.
Numerical warm-ups3 prompts
In Sova's Early Careers Assessment, numerical questions use charts and tables. Keep a calculator by you.
Store A had 12,000 visitors and a 15% purchase rate. Store B had 9,000 visitors and a 22% purchase rate. Which store had more buyers, and by how many?
What a strong answer does
Turn each pair into buyers before you compare. A bigger store or a higher rate alone settles nothing.
Costs rose 20% one year and fell 20% the next. Are they back where they started?
What a strong answer does
The fall applies to the new, higher base. Try it on 100 to see it.
Sales grew from $2.4 million to $3.0 million. What is the percentage increase?
What a strong answer does
The change over the starting value, not the ending one. Check the answer options for the trap that divides by the wrong year.
Judgment scenarios2 prompts
Sova's judgment tests use realistic work scenarios. These are ours.
A teammate keeps missing their part of a project due Friday. What do you do first?
What a strong answer does
Rank the responses by what each does to the deadline and to the working relationship. Be ready to say why, since the interviews may ask a version of it.
A client asks for a number you aren't sure is right, and your manager is out. What do you do?
What a strong answer does
Weigh speed against accuracy, and look for the response that keeps the client informed without guessing.
The interviews after3 prompts
At Bain, the case interviews come next, and calculators are not allowed in them.
A coffee chain is opening a new store. How many cups a day does it need to sell to break even?
What a strong answer does
Set up the equation in words, then do the math out loud and by hand. Practice it, see a model answer
Estimate the annual US market for dog food.
What a strong answer does
Dogs, food per dog, price per pound. Round early so the math stays easy, then say what the number means. Practice it, see a model answer
Why do you want to work at this firm?
What a strong answer does
Two reasons specific to the firm, each tied to something you did or someone you met. Practice it, see a model answer
More to prepare with
Easy ways to lose marks
Skipping the practice
Sova's hub has practice tests, and each part opens with a practice question that doesn't count. Use both to learn the format.
No pen, paper or calculator
Sova asks for all three for the ability questions.
Missing a second answer
Some ability questions need two or more answers, and personality questions want one answer in each column. The Next button waits until you've given them.
A work or campus network
Sova says firewalls can block the test. A home connection usually fixes it.
Getting help
You confirm you are working alone, and Sova flags browser switching and odd answer timing.
How to prepare for a Sova assessment
Sova's own advice comes first. The number and logic warm-ups are our suggestion.
When the email arrives
Open your hub and check the parts
See which activities the employer chose and note when the link expires. If you need adjustments, such as extra time or a screen reader, Sova says to ask the employer first.
A few days before
Take Sova's practice tests
They cover situational judgment, video interview questions and three types of ability questions.
Alongside
Warm up on numbers
Percent change, ratios and reading a table under time pressure. Our drills are timed and free.
Alongside
A light logic warm-up
In Sova's Early Careers Assessment, logical questions use shapes and sequences. Short timed puzzles keep you used to thinking against a clock.
On the day
Set up and answer naturally
A quiet space, a good connection, Chrome, pen, paper and a calculator. Read every instruction, do it in one sitting if you can and answer the questionnaires as yourself.
After
Get ready for the interviews
If it was for Bain or another consulting firm, the case interviews come next. Practice them out loud with the math by hand.
Who uses Sova
Sova doesn't publish a full client list. Bain names Sova on its own careers site, and Sova's customer stories name other employers.
Bain & Company
- Length
- About 30 to 40 minutes
- Sittings
- More than one is fine for Sova
- Device
- Laptop or desktop
- Calculator
- In the assessment, not the interviews
Some intern and full-time consulting applicants take a digital assessment, and Bain's email says whether it is Sova or TestGorilla. For Sova, Bain points you to Sova's candidate preparation area and says you don't need to finish in one sitting.
Employers in Sova's stories
- Early careers
- JCB, Vodafone
- Volume hiring
- JCB, Sky, John Lewis, TUI
- Finance
- Nationwide
Sova's customer stories name JCB, Vodafone, Sky, John Lewis Partnership, TUI and Nationwide, across early careers, volume and contact center hiring.
The interviews come next, practice them out loud
Soreno's AI interviewer runs consulting cases and fit questions by voice, checks your math and scores the session with quotes from your answers. Start your free week.
Questions people ask
What is a Sova assessment?
An online hiring assessment run on Sova's platform. The employer chooses the parts, from reasoning tests and judgment scenarios to questionnaires and a video interview, and gets the results.
Which employers use Sova?
Sova doesn't publish a full client list. Its customer stories name JCB, Vodafone, Sky, John Lewis Partnership, TUI and Nationwide. Bain names Sova on its careers site as one of its two digital assessments, and our Bain Sova test guide covers that version.
What does a Sova assessment include?
Whatever the employer picks. Sova lists numerical, verbal and logical reasoning, checking and accuracy, learnability, situational judgment, personality, motivation and competency questionnaires, skills tests, video interviews and virtual assessment centers.
How long is a Sova assessment?
It depends on the parts. Sova says some of its ready-made assessments take 5 minutes and others about 25, and it lists 15 to 30 minutes for its Early Careers Assessment. Bain gives about 30 to 40 minutes for its version.
Where can I practice the Sova assessment?
On Sova's candidate preparation hub, which has practice tests with situational judgment, video interview and ability questions. Each part of the real test also starts with a practice question that doesn't count.
Can I use a calculator?
Yes. Sova asks you to have a pen, paper and a calculator for the ability questions.
Can I take it on my phone?
Sova says its assessments and video interviews work on a phone, tablet or laptop. Bain asks its applicants to use a laptop or desktop, so follow your employer's instructions.
Which browser should I use?
Sova lists the latest Chrome on Windows 10 and macOS 10.14 or later, Edge on Windows 10, Chrome on Android 8 or later and Safari on iPhone with iOS 11 or later, with Safari on a Mac as experimental. For the video interview, use Chrome, the one browser both of Sova's video answers name. Video recording doesn't work on Huawei devices.
What if my internet drops?
Follow the link in your invitation email again to carry on where you left off.
Do I have to finish in one sitting?
Sova suggests one sitting if possible. Bain says its Sova assessment doesn't need to be done in one sitting.
Will I get feedback?
Only if the employer turns it on. For results and next steps, Sova says to contact the employer.
Is Soreno affiliated with Sova?
No. Soreno is an independent practice tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Sova Assessment or Bain & Company.