How the Kenexa data entry test works
Data Entry Alpha Numeric is one of the Kenexa Prove It skills tests, sold by IBM and now delivered by SHL. You type information into a simulation of a database: a record is shown beside a form, and you copy each value, letters and numbers both, into its field.
It is reported as five records of eight fields, one record to a page, with Tab or Enter to move between fields. A half-filled example record is reported to come first, so you can see what to do before the scored records start.
The report gives your speed in keystrokes per hour (KPH) and your accuracy. The figures reported are elapsed time, field accuracy, KPH, keystroke accuracy and an adjusted KPH. Field accuracy is the share of fields you typed exactly right.
There is a numbers-only sister test, Data Entry 10 Key, which uses a simulated spreadsheet and is scored in the same terms. Employers often set one of the two alongside the Prove It typing test.
How to approach the test
A field is right or wrong as a whole, so one slip costs the whole field:
- Copy each value exactly, capitals included. A field with one wrong character is a wrong field.
- Watch for lookalikes in codes: the letter O and zero, the letter I and the number 1.
- Use Tab to move between fields. Reaching for the mouse slows your keystrokes per hour.
- Check a record before you move on. Do not count on going back to it.
- Keep a steady pace across every record rather than racing the first ones.
Worked example
Keystrokes per hour is the number of characters you type, scaled to an hour. Say you type 900 characters across all the records in 6 minutes. An hour is ten times as long, so that is 9,000 KPH.
Now say the records had 45 fields and you typed 43 exactly right. Your field accuracy is 43 ÷ 45, about 96%. A capital letter in the wrong place, or a zero typed as the letter O, turns a right field into a wrong one.
To compare with your typing speed, KPH is reported as WPM × 5 keystrokes × 50 working minutes an hour, so 32 WPM is 8,000 KPH.
Tips for the real Kenexa data entry test
- Check whether your invitation says Alpha Numeric or 10 Key. The 10 Key test is numbers only.
- Use a desktop or laptop with a full keyboard, and a number pad if you have one.
- Read the example record carefully. It shows you the field order before the scored records.
- Aim for accuracy over 95%. Speed with wrong fields does not help you.
- Practise the typing test too. Employers that set data entry often set typing as well.
Practise the Kenexa data entry test on CogniPrep
Ours gives you 10 customer order records to copy into a nine-field form: account ID, last name, first name, street address, city, state, ZIP code, phone and order code. Tab moves between fields and Enter submits a record, which cannot then be reopened. There is no clock; a stopwatch counts up. Your report shows keystrokes per hour and field accuracy, where a capital in the wrong place makes a field wrong. The fields, the record count and the score out of 100 are ours.