Howdy, fam!
I just got back from taking the ATSA, and I wanted to give you guys a detailed overview of my experience while it’s still fresh in my mind.
First off, I want to thank
Arbel_JTP and the team at
JobTestPrep (Job) for creating a quality product that I felt fully prepared me for the test.
The six-month subscription was well worth the price, imo.
Had I gone in blind, there’s no way I would’ve performed as well as I think I did, but we shall see.
The test has seven sections with a 30-minute break for you to use however you’d like, although I only took a bathroom break after the collision sim/before the personality section.
Also, each section of the test (except the personality section) has a built-in practice section, and you can practice it as many times as you’d like before you start the test.
Section 1: Number Differences
This was exactly as Job, but there’s a difference.
For example:
Job: 6 (previous number) | 3 | ? (stays on the screen until you answer)
Job: This means Job
WILL show you a question mark to let you know when to answer, and the question mark will stay on the screen until you enter your answer on the numpad.
ATSA: 6 (previous number) | 3 (stays on the screen until you answer)
ATSA: This means the ATSA
WILL NOT show you a question mark to let you know when to answer, and the current number will stay on the screen until you enter your answer on the numpad.
Section 2: Equations with Variables
This section is divided into three subsections, and each subsection gets progressively harder.
That means you sort of get a “breather” and a chance to briefly reset yourself.
I) Subsection one is easy. You have to remember the values of three variables: A, B and C.
II) Subsection two is moderate. You have to remember the values of two variables and solve one equation to get the value of the third variable. For example: A = 1, B = 2, C = A+B
III) Subsection three is hard. You have to remember the value of one variable and solve two equations to get the values of the other two variables. For example: A = 1, B = A+3, C = B/4
Section one, number differences, and section two, equations with variables, were both very easy, imo. However, keep in mind that it does seem never-ending.
My suggestion is to get quick with mental math, and figure out a system that’ll help you remember and solve equations quickly.
Section 3: Visual Relationships
This section is divided into two subsections, so you will get a "mini breather" in between.
When I say "mini breather," I mean the test will give you instructions and a demo on the second subsection, and it will also let you practice as many times as you want.
I) Subsection one shows you big plane/little plane.
II) Subsection two shows you big plane/little plane
AND big plane/little plane
WITH an eyeball in front of the big plane.
Here’s another difference between Job and the ATSA.
Job: The keys are +/- for true/false.
ATSA: The keys are T/F for true/false.
I contacted Arbel a while ago, and he never got back to me, which is a bummer, but it is what it is.
I do hope they fix this in the future.
This creates a problem if you, like me, have been practicing with the +/- keys and have that muscle memory drilled into your brain.
I did pretty well on the first subsection without the eyeball.
After the first subsection, I had a mini breather and took a few seconds before starting the second subsection where I screwed up.
Just a note, I felt like the mini breather in between subsections actually worked against me because it took me out of the zone, so you may or may not feel the same way. In other words, ymmv.
Once I screwed up, I felt like the thing was going faster than a tornado.
I just felt like I stumbled when the eye was thrown into the picture, but I eventually got back on board. But I missed more problems than I would’ve liked on the second subsection despite practicing it many, many times on Job and ATCPrep (another test prep software) on the hardest difficulty.
Side note: Do yourself a favor and don't get ATCPrep. Get Job. Having purchased and practiced both, I can definitively say Job is the closest to the actual test in terms of speed and difficulty.
Bottom line: If you haven’t taken the ATSA yet, I strongly encourage you to spend a lot of time on the visual relationship section, and familiarize yourself with the T/F keys. In other words, plan whether you want to answer T/F with one finger or both. That's poorly worded, but you get my point.
Section 4: Collision Sim
This section is divided into two subsections, so you get another mini breather in between.
I) Subsection one is the radar
WITHOUT the math problems at the bottom.
II) Section two is the radar
WITH the math problems at the bottom.
Here’s another difference between Job and the ATSA.
Job: You press the F5-F8 keys to answer the math questions.
ATSA: You press the ASDF keys to answer the math questions.
Again, it’s a muscle memory thing. Some people won’t be bothered by the change, but others might.
Also, in case there’s any confusion, only press “0” to indicate there are no collisions when there are no collisions in a round. In other words, don’t press “0” after you’ve cleared the collisions because that would be wrong, and that’s what I was doing during my practice sessions on Job because the instructions weren't clear.
In case anyone was wondering, I had a total of 5 collisions on both sections of the test, not on each section.
Section 5: Personality Test
I took a break before starting the personality section, and I suggest you do the same because this section is really long.
The instructions mention they’ve developed checks within the personality test to check whether you were honest or deceitful in your answers, so you’ve been warned.
You cannot go back to a previous question. You have to answer questions one by one and cannot go back.
Also, there’s no practice section for this section.
The instructions also mention this section is
NOT timed, but they do encourage you to work as quickly as you can without laboring over which answer to choose.
Keep in mind no one really knows whether they actually keep track of time behind the scenes. They actually might.
On this section, they’ll show you two separate blocks of statements with three statements in each block.
Then, for each block, you have to pick which of the three statements is most like you and which of the three statements is least like you.
As others who've taken the test have already mentioned, it seems like the statements repeat themselves multiple times throughout, and I think this is part of their "checking to see if you're being a phony" feature.
Section 6: Reading Comprehension
This section
IS timed, and the instructions say they will penalize you by reducing your score if you do not answer all the questions.
Again, you cannot go back to previous questions. You must answer them one by one.
Also, they do give you a practice section before you start, but it’s not mandatory.
I found this section fairly easy, and I felt the paragraphs were much shorter than the paragraphs on Job.
Also, when practicing the reading comprehension section on Job, I felt like there wasn’t one clear answer choice, but the instructions on the ATSA say that there is only ONE correct answer, and I agree. The right answers were clear to me, at least.
Section 7: Logical Reasoning (AKA: Everybody's Favorite)
This section
IS timed, and the instructions say they will penalize you by reducing your score if you do not answer all the questions.
Again, you cannot go back to previous questions. You must answer them one by one.
Also, they do give you a practice section before you start, but it’s not mandatory.
This section was hard as hell.
Some of the questions were super easy, like looking at a chart and getting information from it.
But I totally guessed on the logical ordering questions because there was nothing logical about them. I just don’t know how anyone can answer those types of questions in such a short amount of time without any pen or paper.
For example: Six people are going to work, and they all take the train to work. The train leaves at X time and the train leaves the station every 15 minutes. Who got there third or whatever, or which of the following must be true based on the info?
Ya, I dunno. Good luck on those, my friend. But thankfully, ordering questions don’t make up the entirety of the logical reasoning section.
The instructions state the logical reasoning section is meant to be challenging, so they are aware of how difficult these ordering-type questions are, so don’t beat yourself up if you have to guess (like I did) and move on to the next question to avoid running out of time.
And speaking of time, they will show you a countdown timer at the top of the screen to let you know how much time you have left on ALL the timed sections of the test.
After all this, you’re done. Congrats!
Now, we play the waiting game.
I really hope this was helpful.
If you have any questions, ask away!