Recently, I interviewed for the Senior QA Engineer role at Aspire. After applying, I was sent an online aptitude test by SHL. Unfortunately, this test is highly irrelevant for assessing software engineering skills and feels better suited to screening for administrative or finance roles than for technical expertise. Instead of a straightforward reasoning test, it involves pattern matching, scheduling team calendars as if you were an assistant, and performing rapid-fire profit and loss calculations across categories to determine percentages—all within a 36-minute time constraint for 24 questions. To top it off, the test platform itself was slow, making the experience even more frustrating. A suggestion for the management team: You're hiring experienced software engineers, not freshers or government job candidates. Asking them to calculate company profit percentages in under a minute doesn’t measure engineering skill or problem-solving ability—it merely screens out many qualified candidates. My wife, friends, and I were all genuinely enthusiastic about joining Aspire in various roles (QA Engineer, Engineering Manager, Software Engineer) and were excited to work in the fintech space. Yet, none of us passed this test. Despite the negative feedback surrounding it, I took the test out of strong interest in the fintech domain, where I already have experience. Still, I could only attempt 18 out of 24 questions before receiving a failed result the next day. In my view, this test format is costing Aspire talented individuals who would add real value to the company.

Round 0 - SHA test Round 1 - Current project work - Take home assignment - Questions on assignment - Java OOP concepts Round 2 - Manual testing concepts - Mobile testing concepts Round 3 - Interview with Senior manager