Projob Assessment Practice
You meet these tests through the agency, not through the employer you will work for. That changes who reads the result, how long it lasts, and who you should be asking questions of
Four things that change when an agency runs the test
The Behaviour assessment
Twenty-four screens, four adjectives on each. Choose the word most like you and the word least like you, giving 48 selections from 96 words. Untimed, under eight minutes, and it runs on any device including a phone.
It produces no score. The output is three graphs across the four DISC factors: your work mask, built from the “most like me” choices, your behaviour under pressure, built from the “least like me” choices, and self image, which is the difference between the two and can run negative.
In an agency context this is being used to match you rather than to rank you. A profile you engineered to look employable results in being matched to work that suits the person you pretended to be, which is a slow and expensive way to lose.
The Aptitude assessment is the one to prepare for
The GIA is five short tasks in a fixed order, each between two and five minutes, running thirty to forty-five minutes in total including instructions. Eight unscored practice items precede each task. It is negatively marked, has no back button and no review screen, and Thomas states it will not run on phones or tablets: desktop or laptop, and a real mouse rather than a trackpad if you have one.
- Reasoning. A statement appears, you click, it disappears, and a question about it appears with two options. Working memory rather than reading, and with only two options it carries the harshest guessing penalty in the battery.
- Perceptual Speed. Four vertical pairs of letters; count the matching pairs, ignoring capitals, and click 0 to 4.
- Number Speed and Accuracy. Three numbers; find the highest and lowest, then click whichever is further from the third. Entirely mental, no calculator.
- Word Meaning. Three words, two related by similarity or opposition; click the odd one out.
- Spatial Visualisation. Count how many symbol pairs are genuine rotations rather than mirror images.
If Dutch is not your first language, say so before you start
This matters more at an Amsterdam agency than almost anywhere else on this site. The Word Meaning task is a speeded vocabulary judgement, and speeded vocabulary tasks are the single most language-sensitive thing in a cognitive battery. A second-language speaker with an excellent vocabulary still reads more slowly under a two-to-three-minute clock.
Thomas publishes its assessments in a large number of languages. Ask your consultant which language versions are available and sit it in your strongest one. If an adjustment is appropriate, request it before the sitting: nobody can apply an accommodation retroactively.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who sees my results?
Assume the agency, and assume the client employers it puts you forward to, unless you are told otherwise. If you want to know precisely what is shared and with whom, ask before you sit it rather than afterwards.
Can I refuse to take it?
You can, and it will usually end that placement route, because the agency has built the assessment into how it presents candidates. A more productive question is whether an adjustment or an alternative language version is available.
Can I retake the GIA?
Agency policy, not test policy. Cognitive batteries do show a practice effect on a first retake, which is one reason agencies restrict them. Ask your consultant.
Which is more important, the PPA or the GIA?
They answer different questions and are read together. The GIA is the only one where preparation moves your result, so if you have an hour, spend it there.
Is the GIA a Dutch capaciteitentest?
Not in the usual Dutch sense. A capaciteitentest is typically verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning reported in sten scores. The GIA is a British-designed speed battery with a different structure and a different report. If your invitation mentions sten scores, you are probably sitting something else.
Practise the battery
Our Thomas practice hub has all five GIA tasks with the real per-task negative marking plus the PPA. If your placement process also involves a Dutch capaciteitentest, the sten score guide explains how those results are reported.