The first time I was invited to sit the Watson Glaser test was October 2019, one month into my law degree… umm hello, anyone want to tell me what this test is?! With the firm I applied to giving me five days to complete the test and 30 minutes to complete it in, I ran straight to google for answers.
So to make sure you are fully equipped about the Watson Glaser test, here’s my breakdown of everything you need to know along with a link to my YouTube where I have a video to go alongside this blog depending on your preference of taking in information and any other useful websites I looked at.
What is it?
The Watson Glaser is a critical thinking/ analysis test that consists of 40 questions split into 5 sections. You are tested on your ability to absorb information, assess situations and draw relevant conclusions from them.
Usually, the firm will give you a time period to submit it by and a time limit to complete it in, based on what I have been given by two firms, this leaves 6 minutes per section. Most firms will require a 75% pass rate, however, this may differ from firm-firm.
What do the sections cover?
Each section assesses your ability in different ways as you will see below.
Assessment of Inferences
This section of the test requires you to put aside all bias and believe the statement to be true. From there you are provided with a series of inferences which you need to state is either true, maybe true, false, maybe false or not enough data to draw a conclusion from.
Based on the articles I read and the practice papers I did I found that the best way to approach an inferences question is to really read the statement for any clues and weigh up the probability of each inference being true, reflecting on the statement each time.
Recognition of Assumptions
The assumptions part of the test is exactly what is says on the tin, you need to make a conclusion of whether the answers to the statement provided are assumed from the statement or not.
My top tip for this one is to not overthink it, my brain automatically went into “this is a test” mode and can sometimes freak us out but this section quite literally requires you to read the statement and if the options provided do not match what the statement suggests then the assumption is not made.
Deduction
The deductions section is similar to the assumptions section. This section will provide you with a statement where you need to decide if the conclusions made from the statement follow or do not follow.
Similar to the above, do not overthink this one. The conclusion given can sometimes be obvious or too far-fetched to follow from the short statement given. Other times the conclusion will reiterate the statement making it clear that the conclusion follows as the statement says so.
Interpretation
This section is similar to the deduction section as you are required to determine whether a conclusion follows or do not follow. However, this section provides you with a short paragraph rather than a statement, so you have more information to analyse.
In this section I wrote down on a piece of paper the key words or key information that the passage provided me with and looked for these key bits of information in the proposed conclusions.
Evaluation
I found the evaluation section to be the most similar to that of a lawyer’s day to day life. This section requires you to read a question and determine whether the proposed arguments are strong or weak.
As a lawyer, you will be required to prepare arguments that strongly support your side and can have a huge impact on your client, business or firms’ reputation among many things.
The skills that this test assess are just a snippet of what makes a great lawyer and as this is the firms’ first impression of you when making your application, it is important to do your research, sit practice tests and take your time in order to do your best.
Good luck if you are sitting a Watson Glaser test soon and if you’re a student reading this now, make sure you save it to come back to when you need to sit one in future. I’ve linked below some useful websites for practice papers and my YouTube channel for my Watson Glaser video over there!
Other Useful Websites
YouTube:
Practice Tests:
