Office Skills Test (OST-200)

Use

The purpose of the Office Skills Test (OST) is to assess an individual's ability to perform essential clerical tasks quickly and accurately. The skills assessed are filing, performing arithmetic calculations, checking, understanding words (vocabulary) and following directions.

This test can be used to assist managers in making selection decisions, identifying training and development needs, and counselling for career transitions.

Description

The Office Skills Test consists of five separately-timed sub-tests, each with 15 multiple-choice questions. The sub-tests are:

• Filing
• Arithmetic
• Checking
• Vocabulary
• Following Directions

The test takes about 1 ¹/₂ hours to write, including time for administrative purposes. The minimum pass mark is ³⁵/₇₅. Managers can use a higher cut-off score depending on the level of skill required for the position.

The Personnel Psychology Centre's 48-hour scoring service sends results to the test centre, which in turn informs the candidates of their scores.

Retest Period

There is a 180 days waiting period before you can rewrite the test. Should you wish to take this test again, you must wait until after the retest period indicated for this test has elapsed. Should you rewrite the test before the retest period has elapsed, your result will not be valid and a new retest period will be imposed from the new test date.

Validity Period

The Personnel Psychology Centre updated the Office Skills Test 200 (OST 200) in 2003. The new version, the Office Skills Test 210 (OST 210), was introduced in the fall of that year. A transitional policy on the use of scores on the OST 200 was established. Under that policy, scores on the OST 200 were considered valid for a one-year transitional period.

Now that we have operational data supporting the equivalence of the two versions of the test, the two versions will both be designated "Office Skills Test 200". Furthermore, the equivalency period has been extended indefinitely. Candidates who have previously obtained a valid score on the OST 200 and who have not yet taken the OST 210 may use their OST 200 score in upcoming competitions requiring the Office Skills Test.

If the OST has been taken more than once, the most recent score is the one that will be valid.

If you have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to contact the Centre at (613) 992-9741 or by e-mail.

Candidate Information

Sample Test Questions

Office Skills Test (OST-200) Practice Test