Updated: 26 October 2026. A practical Hiring365 guide for students and fresh graduates in India.
What to expect in an aptitude round
Campus aptitude assessments can include quantitative aptitude, logical reasoning, verbal ability and data interpretation. The exact pattern, allowed tools, section cutoffs and negative marking vary by company. Always check the current official assessment instructions rather than treating an unofficial past paper as the definitive pattern.
High-priority aptitude topics
| Section | What to practise |
|---|---|
| Quantitative | Percentages, ratios, averages, profit/loss, time/work, speed/distance |
| Reasoning | Series, directions, arrangements, syllogisms, data sufficiency |
| Verbal | Reading comprehension, grammar, sentence correction |
| Data interpretation | Tables, bar charts, percentages and comparisons |
Eight solved quantitative practice questions
- Increase from ₹800 to ₹920? (120/800) × 100 = 15%. Always divide by the original amount.
- Average of 10, 12, 14, 16? 52/4 = 13.
- Split 80 in a 3:5 ratio? Eight parts; shares = 30 and 50.
- 150 km in three hours? Average speed = 50 km/h.
- Simple interest on ₹5,000 at 8% yearly for two years? PRT/100 = ₹800.
- A worker finishes a job in six days. Fraction per day? 1/6, assuming constant rate.
- Cost ₹400, sale ₹460. Profit percentage? 60/400 × 100 = 15%.
- Probability of an even number on a fair six-sided die? Three favorable outcomes out of six = 1/2.
Useful shortcuts that do not sacrifice accuracy
Percent change: compute difference first, then divide by the starting value. Ratio sharing: add ratio parts before calculating each share. Time-and-work: convert each person’s speed to work per unit time before combining. Average speed: use total distance divided by total time; the arithmetic mean of different speeds is generally wrong. Divisibility: use the sum of digits for 3 or 9, and the last two digits for 4.
Estimate the answer before calculating to catch errors. Time-saving tricks are not substitutes for understanding the question.
Reasoning and verbal practice
Number series
Find the next number: 3, 6, 12, 24, __. Under the doubling rule, the answer is 48. A short sequence can support more than one mathematical rule; check the exam’s intended choices.
Directions
A student walks 3 km north and 4 km east. Straight-line distance from the starting point = √(3² + 4²) = 5 km.
Reading comprehension
Read what the passage actually supports. Avoid choosing an answer just because it sounds plausible from general knowledge. Distinguish facts, inferences and author’s opinion.
Seating arrangements
Draw an ordered set of positions, write constraints first, and check whether “left” means the subject’s left or the observer’s left.
21-day study plan
| Days | Study priority |
|---|---|
| 1–3 | Diagnostic quiz, arithmetic and percentages |
| 4–7 | Ratios, averages, speed and time/work |
| 8–11 | Series, directions, syllogisms and arrangements |
| 12–14 | Data interpretation and charts |
| 15–17 | Reading comprehension and grammar |
| 18–19 | Timed mixed-section mock tests |
| 20–21 | Review weak areas and retest |
A manageable daily routine is ten minutes reviewing old mistakes, twenty minutes of concepts, twenty minutes of questions and ten minutes recording errors. Track both speed and accuracy.
Common preparation mistakes
- Memorizing formulas without knowing when to use them
- Practising only your strongest topic
- Ignoring units in distance or currency questions
- Assuming every employer follows the same test format
- Not reviewing mistakes after a mock
Frequently asked questions
How many days should I prepare?
Twenty-one days is a useful starting schedule, not a guaranteed preparation duration. Adjust according to your baseline and upcoming assessment.
Does every IT company have an aptitude round?
No. Some use coding tests, interviews, or role-specific tasks.
Should I focus on speed or accuracy?
Develop accurate methods first, then practise with realistic timing.
Detailed worked problems: time, work and mixtures
Combined work
Worker A completes a task in 12 days and B in 18 days, assuming constant independent rates. A completes 1/12 per day and B completes 1/18. Combined rate = 1/12 + 1/18 = 5/36 of the task per day. Together, the work takes 36/5 = 7.2 days. Avoid adding the individual times; you add work rates.
Percentage decrease and recovery
A product priced at ₹1,000 is discounted by 20% to ₹800. To return from ₹800 to ₹1,000 requires an increase of ₹200/₹800 = 25%, not 20%. The denominator changes when you measure recovery from a lower starting value.
Weighted average
Two groups have 20 students averaging 60 marks and 30 students averaging 70 marks. Overall average = (20 × 60 + 30 × 70) / 50 = 66. Do not calculate the unweighted mean of 60 and 70 because the groups have different sizes.
Mixture and concentration
Mix 2 litres of a 10% solution with 3 litres of a 20% solution. Solute volume is 0.2 + 0.6 = 0.8 litre, so the final concentration is 0.8/5 = 16%, assuming volumes are additive and percentages are by volume.
Data interpretation mini case
| Quarter | Applicants | Selected |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 200 | 20 |
| Q2 | 240 | 36 |
| Q3 | 300 | 30 |
Question 1: Which quarter had the highest selection rate? Q1 = 10%, Q2 = 15%, Q3 = 10%, so Q2. Question 2: How much did applicant volume rise from Q1 to Q3? (300−200)/200 × 100 = 50%. Question 3: Is the quarter with most applicants necessarily the one with most selected candidates? No: Q3 has 300 applicants but 30 selections; Q2 has 36 selections.
These figures are fictional teaching data, not hiring statistics for any company.
Reasoning practice: constraints and logic
Seating arrangement
Three people A, B and C sit in a line. A sits to the left of B, and C sits to the right of B. Their only order is A–B–C. In more complex problems, distinguish left/right from adjacency: “to the left” does not always mean “immediately to the left”.
Syllogism
Premises: All testers are employees. Some employees are programmers. Can we conclude some testers are programmers? No. The two subsets of employees need not overlap. Use a Venn diagram rather than assuming overlap from everyday meaning.
How to handle timed mocks
Build a review table with question topic, attempted/not attempted, correct answer, your answer, time spent and error reason. Categorize mistakes as concept gaps, calculation slips, wrong assumptions or poor time allocation. At the end of a week, compare accuracy on unseen mixed sets, not just questions you have memorized.
If a platform penalizes wrong answers, adjust your guessing strategy to its exact marking rules. If it restricts navigation, practise that interface in advance. Never assume there is a common scoring scheme across employers.
Formula reference for last-minute revision
| Topic | Formula |
|---|---|
| Percentage change | (new − old) / old × 100% |
| Simple interest | Principal × Rate × Time / 100 |
| Speed | Distance / Time |
| Average | Total of values / number of values |
| Profit on cost | (selling price − cost price) / cost price × 100% |
For official patterns, consult the employer’s own assessment invitation. Our TCS NQT guide provides a company-focused starting point, but check the current assessment instructions.
Ten-question self-test with answers
- 25% of 240? 60, since one quarter of 240 is 60.
- Increase from 50 to 65? 30%, because the increase is 15 and the base is 50.
- Average of 8, 12, 16? 12.
- Divide 72 in ratio 5:4? 40 and 32.
- Distance in 2.5 hours at 60 km/h? 150 km.
- Simple interest on ₹2,000 at 5% for 3 years? ₹300.
- Probability of heads on a fair coin? 1/2.
- Next in 2, 5, 8, 11 under the add-three rule? 14.
- If all cats are animals, must all animals be cats? No.
- Percentage of 18 selected from 120 applicants? 15%.
Score your work twice: once without a timer to isolate conceptual errors, then under a realistic timer to understand which operations are slow. Keep unanswered questions separate from incorrect attempts to identify whether the problem is knowledge or time management.
Practice data sufficiency instead of guessing
Question: What is the age of person A? Statement 1: A is five years older than B. Statement 2: B is 20 years old. Statement 1 alone is insufficient; statement 2 alone is insufficient; together they give A = 25. In a real multiple-choice data-sufficiency question, you must select the correct category of sufficiency according to the test’s answer format, not merely calculate 25.
Reading comprehension exercise
Passage: “A training program enrolled 100 students. Sixty completed all modules, while 20 completed half. The remaining participants attended at least one session.” Question: Can we conclude 80 students completed the whole program? No. Only 60 are explicitly stated to have completed all modules. This illustrates why inference questions test the difference between what is said and what might be possible.
Aptitude revision strategy for the final 48 hours
Do not introduce ten unfamiliar advanced topics just before a test. Review formulas, recurring mistakes and question types you can improve quickly. Run one realistic mixed mock if time allows, then inspect why each answer was wrong. Prepare the test environment, identity documents and technical setup according to the official instructions. Different assessments have different rules for calculators, cameras, navigation, section timing and penalties.
How to avoid unreliable preparation material
Be cautious with websites selling “guaranteed latest question papers”. Even when a company uses similar topic areas from year to year, exact questions and scoring rules may change. Use practice sets to build transferable reasoning skills, and rely on the recruiter or official assessment provider for operational instructions.
Last-minute error review worksheet
For each incorrect question, record the concept being tested, the first step you attempted, the exact point at which the approach failed and a corrected solution. Mark whether the error came from missing a formula, interpreting a statement incorrectly, a calculation slip or running out of time. This distinguishes gaps that need study from errors that need more careful reading.
For example, if you answered that a 20% decrease can be reversed by a 20% increase, write the original amount as 100, decrease it to 80 and calculate that returning to 100 requires 20/80 = 25%. This concrete counterexample is more memorable than repeatedly rereading the percentage-change formula.
Use a final short quiz that mixes arithmetic, reasoning and comprehension. A good score on an already memorized question bank does not necessarily predict performance on unseen questions. Focus on accurate interpretation and calm time allocation.
Useful next steps
After practice, explore the TCS NQT preparation guide and Hiring365’s DSA roadmap. Actual test requirements must be confirmed on the recruiting organization’s official pages.
Image credit: Nguyen Dang Hoang Nhu / Unsplash.
