The Watson Glaser Test is a psychometric aptitude test used by law firms across the UK to test its candidates’ ability to think critically. It is used both by the Law industry and through a range of others – examples of employers that use it include Linklaters and Hogan Lovells, but also others from Deloitte through to The Bank of England. The Watson Glaser will be used in the shortlisting process to decide who is invited to an assessment centre, although it could equally be used as part of the decision-making process after that point. The test focuses on five areas. These are:
– Thinking critically
– Drawing conclusions
– Assessing strong and weak arguments
– Recognising assumptions
– Evaluating arguments
You should expect around 40 questions, which are divided into five sections. These sections are labelled as follows:
– Assessment of Inferences
– Recognition of Assumptions
– Deduction
– Interpretation
– Evaluation
All questions are multiple choice and you will need to complete the test within 30 minutes.
Assessment of Inferences in The Watson Glaser Test
In this section, each question is focused on a particular statement. You must assume that the information contained in the statement is true, and use only information given to decide on your answer. Each statement will have multiple inferences, which you must then label as either true, probably true, insufficient data, probably false, or false. An inference is drawing a conclusion from a combination of information given to you and your own reason – i.e. drawing a conclusion despite something not being directly stated to you. Remember that inferences can be wrong. As an example, consider that your friend Ron says he finds the coffee shop too expensive for lunch, and will instead eat a sandwich he made. You might therefore make an inference – that Ron is short on money – which could be incorrect (he might be saving, and therefore unable to afford it, for example).