Okay. So you know all about IQ and EQ tests. While different IQ (Intelligent Quotient) tests assess your visual, mathematical and even language abilities they also run a check on your memory and information processing speed against a score. EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient) tests on the other hand, evaluate the emotional ability to perceive, control and persevere.
However, neither IQ nor EQ tests tell you how ready you are for the profession of analytics.
So enter the new-age jargon, PAQ – the Personal Analytical Quotient.
Unlike the AQ (Analytics Quotient) devised by IBM solely to test an organisation’s level of analytic adoption, the Personal AQ is the measure of an individual’s readiness, ability and capacity to apply insights.
As a student or mid-career professional wanting to polish up your existing academic qualifications with an additional certification, you may want to know whether to take an Analytics, IT, GIS or other course.
So this is where the Personal AQ test comes into play. It measures whether analytics is there in your DNA. In other words, do you have a curious mind, do you possess an analytical disposition or do you accept what you see at face value? Do you like playing with stats and graphs or prefer being out on the field?
Take this simple and rudimentary Personal AQ test, to see if you are cut-out for a career in Analytics!
1. What was your favourite subject in school?
a) Mathematics
b) Economics
c) Geography
2. When you are standing in front of a store-shelf with various discount offers, you
a) Opt for a product-mix for an optimal buying experience
b) Go for the product with the biggest discount
c) Get perplexed and walk away
3. When you make a budget, you
a) allow for contingencies
b) keep in mind, the need to rework the budget
c) keep your fingers crossed that everything works out as planned
4. When confronted with a problem, you
a) List all pros and cons on paper and work out what to do
a) Work it out in your mind
b) Toss a coin
5. What irritates you most about other people?
a) Untidiness
b) Lying
c) Rude behaviour
6. What is your favourite section in the newspaper?
a) Business Pages
b) Politics
c) Entertainment
7. When you meet a long-lost friend how do you remember his contact number
a) Memorise it instantly
b) Feed it into your cell phone
c) Jot it down somewhere and maybe forget it
8. What would you do if your bathroom is flooded?
a) locate the source of flooding or leakage
b) prevent run-off outside the bathroom
c) call up the plumber
9. What do you ask for when unable to solve a persistent problem?
a) additional information
b) more people on the job
c) more time
10. Say, you enter a restaurant for the first time. It is only when you look at the menu prices that you realize it is way beyond your budget. What would you do?
a) quickly assess the situation and devise a neat getaway
b) mentally calculate if you have the money for the cheapest item on menu and grit it out
c) tell the hovering waiter you are not carrying sufficient money
Scoring: each a) = 3 b) = 2 c) = 1
If your total score is above 20, you are surely cut-out for a career in analytics.
For scores between 15-20, you need to assess how closely your temperament fits in with your career choice. Do you have the ability to think on your feet? Do you love your numbers? Do fact-finding missions excite you? If yes, you can still consider yourself ‘analytics ready’.
If your scores fall below 15, then perhaps you may need to re-assess.