Graduate trainees are graduates who have zero experience in terms of performing their professional duties. Many companies in Kenya opt to employ fresh graduates and train them for some period before they assign them duties.
Employing fresh graduates provides opportunities for the new recruits to gain vast experience and grow within the firm over time. It is also cheap to hire fresh graduates than individuals with experience.
Companies which hire graduate trainees yearly in Kenya include Kenya Revenue Authority, G4S, KEMRI, Centum, Britam among others.
To pass interviews in these companies is not easy, you have to prepare thoroughly and be sober. Statistics show that only 10 percent of those who sit for the interviews pass the tests.
Below is what you should do to pass them:
1. Start answering the questions from the last page
The interviewer is aware that the moment you receive the interview paper, you will start answering from the first question downwards. He will therefore make sure the first few questions are hard so that you can waste time on them and fail.
From my past experience, the last few questions are extremely easy. A managed to attend an interview with Kenya revenue Authority and the last three questions were like this:
• Who is the President of Uganda?
• 2-1=?
• What is the full name of KRA?
2. Don’t waste time answering one question
Normally a single question is allocated one minute or less. If you think that a question might waste your time, just skip it and move to the next one.
3. Don’t answer a question if you are not sure of your answer
Some companies concentrate on the number of questions which you failed to answer right. If for instance you answered 30 questions and got 10 questions right then it means you got negative marks because the wrong answers are more than the right answers.
The aim of graduate trainee interview is to determine whether the interviewee is keen to details. It’s better to answer 10 and get all of them right than answering 50 questions and get only 6 questions right.
4. If you find yourself five minutes late in the interview room, you better not bother to sit for the interview
Time is key in regards to psychometric tests. The interviewer wants to employ the best candidates; they therefore allocate minimum time for the tests.
In KRA, a 60 question test is allocated 45 minutes, which is not enough for a lazy candidate
If you find yourself 5 minutes late then it means you won’t manage to complete a quarter of the questions.
5. Prepare thoroughly for the interview
Graduate trainee interviews are not tough as such but ensure you prepare in terms of speed, read past questions and answers and practice as you time yourself. You can obtain psychometric questions and answers online.
Sometimes the questions are pulled from high school books and they comprise of three sections;
Analytical section, which contains questions and answers on simple mathematics and statistics
Current affairs, this section is intended to test whether the candidate is aware of what is happening around the world.
The last section mostly intends to assess the candidate’s understanding of English language.
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