A lot of questions in numerical reasoning, data interpretation and other problem solving tests involves the usage of percentages and ratios. You may need to multiply by percentages, use ratios as part of calculations, divide by decimals and so on. Often, these % and ratios tend to common (it's rare for questions to ask you to calculate 39.2% of something - it will probably be 40%)
Below is a table of popular ratios with their equivalent percentages and decimals. Knowing then at the top of the mind can significantly speed up mental or calculator based calculations by helping you 'skip' intermediate steps. For e.g 15% is 3/20 and 1/7 is 14% will help you do things quickly - so if a question leads to a calculation of "15% of 860" you shouldn't be multiplying by 0.15, instead you should be doing 860 x 3/20 = 43 x 3 = 129
Whether you are strong with math or not, learn these ratios well and they can help you speeding up approximations and a lot of other calculations. A lot of our tests (and tests from SHL or PCL or whoever) have questions that require nimble mathematical calculations from graphs, charts, tables. That means knowing these ratios will help.
Below is a table of popular ratios with their equivalent percentages and decimals. Knowing then at the top of the mind can significantly speed up mental or calculator based calculations by helping you 'skip' intermediate steps. For e.g 15% is 3/20 and 1/7 is 14% will help you do things quickly - so if a question leads to a calculation of "15% of 860" you shouldn't be multiplying by 0.15, instead you should be doing 860 x 3/20 = 43 x 3 = 129
Whether you are strong with math or not, learn these ratios well and they can help you speeding up approximations and a lot of other calculations. A lot of our tests (and tests from SHL or PCL or whoever) have questions that require nimble mathematical calculations from graphs, charts, tables. That means knowing these ratios will help.
| Fraction | % | Decimal |
| 1/3 | 33% | 0.33 |
| 1/4 | 25% | 0.25 |
| 1/5 | 20% | 0.20 |
| 1/6 | 17% | 0.17 |
| 1/7 | 14% | 0.14 |
| 1/8 | 13% | 0.13 |
| 1/9 | 11% | 0.11 |
| 1/10 | 10% | 0.10 |
| 1/11 | 9% | 0.09 |
| 1/12 | 8% | 0.08 |
| 1/20 | 5% | 0.05 |
| 1/40 | 3% | 0.03 |
| 2/5 | 40% | 0.40 |
| 3/5 | 60% | 0.60 |
| 3/8 | 38% | 0.38 |
| 3/4 | 75% | 0.75 |
| 3/20 | 15% | 0.15 |
| 4/5 | 80% | 0.80 |
| 5/9 | 56% | 0.56 |
A few examples.
- What is 75% of 120? (120 x 3/4 = 90!)
- 3/5th of a company's sales came from book subscriptions (..you mean 60%!)
- Expenditure is 0.38 of the sales (= sales x 3/8)
and so on. As we've mentioned a couple of times before, and a post in the near future will delve into in greater depth, success in numerical reasoning tests is not just about knowing how to solve a problem, it's also about how to solve a problem quickly, efficiently and by intelligent application of mathematical shortcuts and eliminations. Knowing how to shave a few seconds off of each question will simply mean solving a couple of extra questions which might mean a big difference in the final outcome.
(If you're doing consulting case interviews or consulting company business judgment numerical tests, you will need to be quick and efficient with your processing of numbers, figures, charts and graphs -- and percentages often play a big role in them)
(If you're doing consulting case interviews or consulting company business judgment numerical tests, you will need to be quick and efficient with your processing of numbers, figures, charts and graphs -- and percentages often play a big role in them)
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