Every firm and the test it uses

Recruiters almost never build their own psychometric tests. They license an off-the-shelf battery from a specialist provider and drop it into the application. SHL, Aon (formerly cut-e), Cappfinity, Pymetrics, Arctic Shores, Talent-Q, HackerRank and a handful of bespoke tools like McKinsey Solve do the work behind the scenes.

The table above pairs each firm with the provider (or providers) it is known to run for early-career hiring, so you can see at a glance what actually lands in your inbox after you apply. Where a firm has a full guide on Intervyo, its name links through to that page. Where a provider has its own practice page, the chip links to a timed, scored recreation of that exact test.

Read it firm-first. Scan the left column for your target employer, then look at the provider chips on the right. A single chip means the firm relies on one battery. Several chips mean you may face more than one stage, for example a numerical and verbal set from one provider plus a situational judgement test from another.

The small notes next to a provider flag context such as the division or region a test applies to. Because rotations change between cycles, treat the matrix as your starting map rather than gospel: always confirm the exact test on the firm's own application portal and in the invitation email once you have applied.

Providers are not interchangeable, and each firm picks the one that matches how it hires. A high-volume graduate scheme that screens tens of thousands of applicants wants a fast, gamified, hard-to-coach battery, which is why Pymetrics and Arctic Shores show up across banking and consulting. Firms that care most about numerical reasoning under time pressure lean on SHL or Talent-Q.

Big Four accountants often run Aon's cut-e style tests alongside strengths and situational judgement exercises. Technology and quant employers add a coding stage on HackerRank or Codility. Consulting's elite tier builds its own: McKinsey Solve and the case-style assessments used by the other MBB firms are unique to them. In short, the provider a firm chooses tells you a lot about what it is actually screening for.

Generic aptitude practice is the most common way strong candidates fail a stage they should have passed. The format, timing and answer mechanics differ enough between providers that reps on the wrong test barely transfer.

Once you know your firm's provider from the matrix, do three things. Practise that specific format until the timing feels routine. Learn the named traps that particular test sets, such as SHL's distractor answers, Pymetrics' effort-and-fairness metrics, or situational judgement questions that reward the firm's own values. Then rehearse the following stage so a strong test score is not wasted at the assessment centre, superday or final interview.

The providers are broadly the same on both sides of the Atlantic, but the wrapper around them differs. In the UK you apply to a graduate scheme, upload a CV, and if you clear the online tests you are invited to an assessment centre, with pay quoted in GBP.

In the US the same firms run summer analyst and internship programmes, ask for a resume, and call the final in-person round a superday, with compensation quoted in USD. The underlying batteries from SHL, Aon, Pymetrics and the rest are the same tests, so practice transfers directly; only the terminology, timeline and currency change. This matrix covers firms hiring in both markets, and each firm guide is written for the market you are applying in.

SHL: numerical, verbal and inductive reasoning plus situational judgement, the most widely used battery in finance and consulting. Aon (formerly cut-e): short, adaptive ability tests and gamified formats common at the Big Four and in banking. Cappfinity: strengths-based and immersive in-tray exercises used across the Big Four and graduate schemes.

Pymetrics: neuroscience games that measure traits rather than right answers, favoured by high-volume banking and consulting intakes. Arctic Shores: task-based behavioural games that are hard to game. Talent-Q: adaptive numerical, verbal and logical tests. McKinsey Solve: McKinsey's own scenario-based problem-solving assessment. HackerRank and Codility: timed coding challenges for technology, engineering and quant roles.