The CCAT and the Wonderlic are both short, timed cognitive ability tests that employers use in hiring, and they look a lot alike: 50 multiple-choice questions, a tight clock, and a mix of verbal, math and logic. But they aren’t the same test, and their scores aren’t interchangeable. Here’s how they differ and what that means for your preparation.

This site isn’t affiliated with Criteria Corp or Wonderlic. Details below come from each publisher’s own materials where they’re available; employers can set up either test in different ways, so always read the instructions you’re sent.

Side by side

The Wonderlic’s cognitive test is often delivered today as part of Wonderlic Select, which can also include personality and motivation questionnaires, and newer versions may report results differently from the classic count out of 50. Criteria also sells other tests that an employer might pair with the CCAT, such as personality assessments.

The main differences

Time. The CCAT gives you 15 minutes for 50 questions; the classic Wonderlic gives you 12. Both are designed so that most people don’t finish. The Wonderlic’s pace is a little faster per question.

Spatial reasoning. The CCAT includes picture-based spatial questions: odd shape out, next shape in a series, rotations and mirror images. The classic Wonderlic is mostly verbal, number and logic questions. If you’re taking the CCAT, spatial practice is the piece you’d otherwise miss.

Scoring. Both start from the number of questions you get right, but CCAT reports put more weight on percentiles, including separate percentiles for verbal, math and logic, and spatial. A CCAT raw score and a Wonderlic score can’t be compared directly, since the tests have different time limits and question mixes.

How closely they’re related. In Criteria’s technical summary, a small study of 34 people who took both tests found a correlation of 0.78 between the CCAT and the Wonderlic Personnel Test. That’s a strong relationship: people who do well on one tend to do well on the other. It also means the skills you practice for one carry over to the other.

Is one harder than the other?

Neither is hard question by question; the clock is the challenge on both. The Wonderlic is a little more time-pressured, while the CCAT asks you to switch between more question types, including spatial ones. Which feels harder depends on your strengths: someone strong with words and numbers but slower with shapes may find the CCAT tougher, and vice versa.

Preparing for either test

• Practice under the real time limit for the test you’re taking: 18 seconds a question for the CCAT, 14 for the classic Wonderlic.
• Drill the shared question types: antonyms, analogies, number series, percentages, averages and simple logic.
• For the CCAT, add spatial practice. Start with the spatial reasoning practice.
• Guess rather than leave blanks, and don’t get stuck on any one question.

New to the CCAT? Read the CCAT test guide and try the sample questions.

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