Korn Ferry Assessment Practice: Talent Q Tests
Korn Ferry assessment practice for all 3 Talent Q Elements ability tests, with the adaptive difficulty and individually timed questions Korn Ferry describes. Elements Verbal is free to try with a free account.
Free Tests
Elements Verbal
Read a business passage, then answer three questions on it from six options each. There is no overall time limit: each question has its own clock, and the first question on a passage gets longer because it includes reading time. Difficulty adapts as you go. Practice for the Talent Q Elements Verbal test.
All Tests
Elements Numerical
Interpret tables of business data and answer each question from ten close-set options. Each question is individually timed, with more time for the first question on a new table. Difficulty adapts to your performance. Practice for the Talent Q Elements Numerical test.
Elements Logical
Work out the rule governing a row of abstract figures and pick the frame that comes next. Individually timed questions that get harder while you keep answering correctly. Practice for the Talent Q Elements Logical test.
At a glance
Korn Ferry’s ability tests, sold stand-alone as Elements or Aspects and originally built by Talent Q, cover verbal, numerical and logical reasoning plus checking. They are adaptive: each answer decides whether the next question is harder or easier, and each question has its own time limit. Results are given as a percentile against a comparison group.
- Adaptive
- Yes, every Korn Ferry ability test. You start at average difficulty; a right answer in time brings a harder question, a wrong or missed one an easier question.
- Time limit
- Per question, with no overall limit. Elements Verbal allows 75 seconds for the first question on a passage and 60 after; Numerical 90 then 75; Logical 75 each.
- Questions
- Elements Verbal 15, Numerical 12 and Logical 12, according to Talent Q’s archived guide, with maximum times of 16, 16 and 15 minutes.
- Going back
- Not possible, according to Talent Q. When a question’s time runs out, the test moves on automatically.
- Scoring
- A percentile against a comparison group of earlier test takers. Neither Korn Ferry nor Talent Q says whether wrong answers lose marks.
- Preparation
- Have paper, a pen or pencil and a calculator to hand. Korn Ferry offers free practice tests for verbal, numerical, logical and checking.
Checked against Korn Ferry, Candidate guide to psychometric assessments (PDF), Korn Ferry, Candidate guide: assessments, Korn Ferry, Cognitive ability tests (2019, archived), Talent Q, How to complete Elements (2013, archived) and Talent Q, Frequently asked questions (2013, archived). Updated .
Two Things That Make Talent Q Different
The test adapts, so your percentage is misleading
Most aptitude tests give every candidate the same questions. Talent Q starts you at average difficulty and picks each next question from your last answer: right within the time limit and it gets harder, wrong or unanswered and it gets easier.
The consequence surprises people. Because each right answer brings a harder question, a strong candidate keeps meeting questions that stretch them, and two candidates can get a similar number right having answered completely different material. So “I got about half” tells you little.
The score takes account of how difficult each question was as well as whether you got it right, so the level you reach matters. Our practice reports the difficulty band you reached alongside your accuracy.
Every question has its own clock, and they are not equal
There is no overall time limit. Instead each question is timed on its own, and how long you get depends on where it sits. The first question on a passage or table gets more time because it includes reading the material; the follow-ups get less, because by then you have read it.
Elements Verbal gives 75 seconds for the first question and 60 for each follow-up. Elements Numerical gives 90 and 75. Elements Logical gives every question 75. The drop on the follow-ups is easy to be caught out by.
It also creates a useful diagnostic: if you do fine on follow-ups but keep losing the first question, your problem is reading speed, not comprehension. Our feedback splits those two apart.
Have an answer selected before the clock runs out
Korn Ferry and Talent Q do not say whether a wrong answer loses marks. They do say that a question left unanswered counts as wrong when the next question is chosen, and that an answer you have selected but not confirmed is submitted for you when the time ends. So select your best option as soon as you have one, and change it if you find a better one before the clock runs out.
If you are also preparing for an Aon cut-e test, keep the two apart: Aon says its performance tests usually deduct points for wrong answers. Our Talent Q practice deducts nothing for a wrong answer and, like the real test, treats a question that times out as wrong when choosing what comes next. Unlike the real test, it only counts an answer you have pressed Submit on.
What Each Test Measures
Elements Verbal
Up to 16 min · 75s first question, 60s follow-ups15 questions on passages of text, with the passage on the left and the question on the right. You choose from a range of answers under each question; most want one answer, some want two, and the screen says which. Judge every option only against what the passage states, not against what sounds reasonable. It measures how well you understand written information and evaluate arguments about it.
Elements Numerical
Up to 16 min · 90s first question, 75s follow-ups12 questions on information in tables, sometimes one table and sometimes a set read together, with each answer picked from a drop-down list. The arithmetic is not advanced; the difficulty is picking the right figures under a clock. Have a calculator, paper and pen ready, and check which row and column you are reading before you compute.
Elements Logical
Up to 15 min · 75s per question12 questions, each an incomplete series of symbols that have no meaning. The series runs both left to right and top to bottom, and you identify the missing symbol from a number of alternatives, so a rule has to fit across and down. Every question gets the same 75 seconds. Our practice version uses a simpler single row of frames and asks which comes next.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Korn Ferry the same as Talent Q?
For the ability tests, yes. Hay Group bought Talent Q in 2014 and Korn Ferry bought Hay Group in 2015, and the tests are still widely called Talent Q. If your invitation mentions Talent Q, Elements, or a Korn Ferry aptitude test, it is the same suite. Korn Ferry also sells leadership assessments (KF4D and KFALP) aimed at senior hiring rather than graduate schemes, so check which product your invitation names.
What does it mean that Talent Q tests are adaptive?
You start on a question of average difficulty. Answer it correctly within the time limit and the next question is harder; answer wrongly, or let the clock run out, and the next one is easier. Two candidates sitting the same test therefore see different questions, and the score takes account of how difficult each question was as well as whether you got it right. Expect to feel stretched throughout: that is the test working as designed.
How is Talent Q timed?
There is no overall time limit. Each question has its own clock, with warnings as it nears the end. Elements Verbal allows 75 seconds for the first question on a passage and 60 for each question after; Elements Numerical allows 90 for the first question on a table or set of tables and 75 after; Elements Logical allows 75 for every question. The first question gets longer because it includes reading the material, so do not spend the shorter follow-up clocks re-reading.
How long are the Elements tests and how many questions do they have?
Elements Verbal has 15 questions, Elements Numerical 12 and Elements Logical 12. Talent Q gives an average of about 12 minutes a test, though one of its pages puts Logical nearer 9, and maximums of 16 minutes for Verbal and Numerical and 15 for Logical.
Should I guess if the clock is running down?
Have an answer selected before time runs out. Korn Ferry and Talent Q do not say whether a wrong answer loses marks, but an unanswered question counts as wrong when the next question is chosen, and an answer you have selected but not confirmed is submitted for you when the time ends. So select your best option early and change it if you find a better one.
How do you answer Talent Q questions?
In Elements Verbal you choose from a range of answers under each question; most questions want one answer, some want two, and the screen says which. In Elements Numerical you pick from a drop-down list and need a calculator, paper and pen. In Elements Logical you find the missing symbol in a series that runs both left to right and top to bottom. Korn Ferry does not publish how many options each question has.
Which employers use Korn Ferry / Talent Q tests?
Talent Q appears in banking internship and graduate processes alongside Aon, SHL and Cappfinity, and is used by a number of large UK law firms in training-contract selection and by public bodies including the Canada Revenue Agency. Employers change vendors, so confirm what your specific invitation names.
Can I retake a Talent Q test?
That is up to the employer, not Korn Ferry. Because the tests are adaptive and Talent Q holds several versions of its questions, you are unlikely to see the same questions twice, so practising the format transfers and memorising items does not.
Companies That Use Korn Ferry / Talent Q
Talent Q tests, now part of the Korn Ferry assessment range, are used across banking, law and professional services graduate recruitment. The Elements ability tests are adaptive, so candidates sitting the same test see different questions depending on how they answer.
Korn Ferry
Professional ServicesPublishes the Talent Q Elements ability tests and uses psychometric assessment in its own hiring.
Investment banking early careers
Investment BankingKorn Ferry / Talent Q appears alongside Aon, SHL and Cappfinity in banking internship and spring week assessment stages.
UK law firms
LawTalent Q adaptive ability tests are used by a number of large legal practices in training-contract and vacation-scheme selection.
Canada Revenue Agency
GovernmentUses a Korn Ferry adaptive, individually timed test for administrative support recruitment.
Hay Group bought Talent Q in 2014 and Korn Ferry bought Hay Group in 2015. The tests are still widely referred to by the Talent Q name. Korn Ferry also sells leadership assessments (KF4D, KFALP) aimed at senior hiring rather than graduate schemes, so check which product your invitation names.
Guides and Tips
Read up before you practise: what the tests reward, what catches candidates out, and why shortcuts do not work.
Talent Q Elements verbal test: how it works
Korn Ferry’s adaptive verbal reasoning test, built by Talent Q: 15 questions on business passages, each on its own clock, with the difficulty following your answers.
Can You Cheat Korn Ferry Talent Q Tests?
Every question has its own countdown. Why there is no slack in a Talent Q test to spend.
Talent Q Elements numerical test: how it works
The numerical test in Korn Ferry’s Elements suite, originally from Talent Q: 12 questions on tables of figures, with a calculator beside you and each answer steering the difficulty of the next.
Adaptive vs Fixed-Form Tests: What Actually Changes
Two tests can run for the same twenty minutes and work completely differently underneath. What computer-adaptive testing changes about pacing, review and reading your own performance.
Talent Q Elements logical test: how it works
The abstract reasoning test in Korn Ferry’s Elements suite: 12 series of symbols, each with one gap, 75 seconds apiece, and the job of finding what is missing.
Graduate Assessments in Ireland and Canada: What Each Market Actually Uses
Ireland has the British test types without the British timetable, and a majority of its graduate recruiters do not use aptitude tests at all. Canada runs a slower, competency-driven process where the Second Language Evaluation ends more applications than any reasoning test.
Numerical Reasoning Data Interpretation: Charts, Tables, Ratios and Change
The arithmetic is the small half. The marks go missing in the wrong row, the units line nobody read and the second table nobody opened, and every one of those has a matching wrong answer waiting in the option list.
Talent Q Elements Tips: Sitting an Adaptive, Per-Question Timed Test
Korn Ferry Talent Q combines two features nothing else does: adaptive difficulty and a separate clock on every question. Both change the pacing rules you learned on other tests.
Practice by Test Type
Compare the same format across every provider that uses it, and see what each one is really measuring.
Numerical Reasoning Test Practice
Tables, charts, percentages and ratios against the clock. The most common screening test on graduate schemes and analyst roles.
Verbal Reasoning Test Practice
Short dense passages and true, false or cannot say answers. Judged on what the text supports, never on what you already know.
Logical Reasoning Test Practice
The umbrella name on many invitations. Covers the four rule-based formats and how to tell which one you have actually been sent.
Inductive Reasoning Test Practice
Spot the rule in a set of examples, then use it: the next frame, the odd one out, or which group a new figure joins.
About CogniPrep Korn Ferry / Talent Q Practice
CogniPrep provides practice for the 3 Talent Q Elements ability tests now published by Korn Ferry: Elements Verbal, Elements Numerical and Elements Logical. Korn Ferry gained Talent Q when it bought Hay Group in 2015, and both names are still used by employers. Each practice test reproduces the two mechanics that distinguish these tests: adaptive item selection, where the difficulty of the next question depends on how the candidate answered the last, and per-question timing rather than a single overall clock, where the first question on a passage or table set carries a longer limit than the follow-up questions because it includes reading the material. Korn Ferry and Talent Q do not say whether a wrong answer loses marks, but an unanswered question counts as wrong when the next one is chosen, so the safe habit is to have your best answer selected before the clock ends. Because the test adapts and scores the difficulty of the questions you answer, raw accuracy is a weak signal on its own, which is why CogniPrep reports the difficulty band reached.
- Elements Verbal: 15 questions on passages of text, some needing two answers, 75s for the first question on a passage and 60s after, up to 16 minutes
- Elements Numerical: 12 questions on tables, answers from a drop-down list, 90s for the first question on a table and 75s after, up to 16 minutes, calculator needed
- Elements Logical: 12 incomplete series of symbols running across and down, find the missing symbol, 75s per question, up to 15 minutes
- Adaptive difficulty across all three: you start at average difficulty, a right answer in time brings a harder question, a wrong or missed one an easier question
- No overall time limit and no going back to earlier questions
- Also known as: Talent Q, Talent Q Elements, Korn Ferry aptitude test, Korn Ferry adaptive test
- Related Korn Ferry products: Aspects, a shorter ability suite for more junior roles; Dimensions, a personality questionnaire; and KF4D and KFALP for senior hiring
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