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Ford Pre-Employment Assessment Tests, Hiring Process & Interview Preparation – 2024

Job Assessment Tests

What Is the Ford Motor Company?

The Ford Motor Company is one of the most widely recognized automobile manufacturers in the United States. Established in Detroit, Michigan in 1903, the company has since grown to have a presence on every inhabited continent. While most of its corporate roles are still located in Dearborn, Michigan, job seekers can find positions with the company in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, Brazil, and Australia.

Ford’s brands: Lincoln, Motorcraft, Omnicraft, Quick Lane, and Professional Service Network.

 

What Qualities Are Ford Recruiters Looking For?

With its founder, Henry Ford, credited for popularizing the use of the assembly line in the American manufacturing industry, Ford Motor Company has long been associated with innovation and progress. These qualities that grew Ford from a small Detroit manufacturer to a global corporation are still highly sought after in prospective employees:

  • Pride and excellence in work
  • Collaborative mindset
  • Respect for others
  • Inclusive outlook
  • Self-motivated
  • Innovative
  • Able to interpret facts and data
  • Able to develop solutions from facts and data

 

What Benefits Are Provided by Ford Motor Company?

Successful applicants can expect to receive full benefits from Ford Motor Company. These benefits include:

  • Medical Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • Professional development
  • Funding for continued education
  • Discount on purchase of a Ford vehicle

What Is the Hiring Process for Ford?

There are several ways Ford Motor Company recruits new hires. They have programs for hiring new college graduates, from paid internships to entry-level positions that provide experience in various roles for each department. (If you live in the United Kingdom, they also have work experience opportunities.) Beyond college graduate recruitment programs, Ford also has a long history of supporting the military and veterans. One way in which they show this support is through their transition program for military veterans.

Regardless of how you are introduced to the Ford Motor Company, all prospective employees will participate in the same phases of the recruitment process. There are five main stages to the Ford hiring process:

  • Online Application
    No matter what position you are applying for, your first step will be to locate the job posting online and submit your initial information through Ford’s online application portal. This step will require you to enter your employment history, relevant skills, contact information, and education. You will have the choice to import information from a social media profile, such as linkedin or facebook, or to input the information yourself. This is also the stage wherein you will provide your resume or CV and upload any documents supporting your application.
  • Web-Based Assessments
    Depending on whether you are applying for an engineering/supervisory position or an assembly line position, the types of assessments you encounter may vary slightly. However, all applicants can expect to take four assessments: verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning, technical, and psychometric assessments. These tests will be provided primarily in an online setting, though some additional personality and technical questions may be asked during the phone or in-person interview.
  • Phone Screening
    If your online application and assessments are successful, you will be contacted to schedule a phone screening. This interview typically will last only thirty minutes. It will primarily consist of situational judgement questions to determine what behavior could be expected of you in a given situation. You can also expect questions concerning your motivation for applying for a position with Ford Motor Company, as well as questions regarding why they should bring you on.
  • In-Person Interview
    Applicants who are successful in their phone interview will then be contacted to schedule an in-person interview. This interview may involve a brief tour of the location and a few role-playing exercises in addition to the traditional question-and-answer interview. The main purpose of this in-person interview is to determine the prospective employee’s compatibility with Ford’s “One Ford” work-culture vision. Questions in this interview will largely be focused on your previous performance. These questions should be answered with specific examples of times in which you applied the specific skill they are asking about.Role-playing exercises may include collaborative activities in which several applicants work together to solve a given issue; or these exercises may involve in-tray assessments, wherein an applicant will be given e-mails they are to read, prioritize, and address within a given period of time. Altogether, this interview is intended to give the interviewers a comprehensive picture of how well you would adjust to the work environment of Ford Motor Company.
  • Pre-Employment Checks
    The final step in the recruitment process before a job offer is extended involves several checks into your background. These include a background check, a drug test, and a physical. Provided these screenings are satisfactory, applicants can expect a job offer to be forthcoming after the completion of this step.

Assessments

As previously mentioned, there are four main assessments all applicants can expect to be given during the hiring process for Ford Motor Company. These include a psychometric assessment, a verbal reasoning assessment, a numerical reasoning assessment, and a technical assessment. Depending on what role you apply for, you may be given a reading comprehension test, a spatial reasoning test, a dexterity assessment, or an assessment over your ability to identify and assemble basic mechanical parts. Below are more in-depth discussions of what will be covered in each of these assessments.

  • “One Ford” Assessment
    The “One Ford” Assessment is a psychometric assessment intended to determine how your personal values and characteristics align with the values of Ford Motor Company. This test is designed to assess your ability to work in a team and your desire to achieve excellence in your work. It is also an assessment of specific character traits, such as honesty, conscientiousness, and amiability. While there are no right or wrong answers, recruiters are looking for applicants with these specific attributes to bring on to the Ford Motor Company team.
  • Verbal Reasoning Assessment
    The verbal reasoning assessment is designed to gauge an applicant’s aptitude for verbal analysis. It will require you to understand a given text, analyze its meaning, and interpret how it applies to specific situations. The emphasis on this assessment will be on drawing logical conclusions from the texts provided. It is important to keep in mind that while all questions will be based on the text, not all answers will be stated directly in the text; these questions will ask you to read between the lines in a logical, evidence-based manner.
  • Numerical Reasoning Assessment
    Similar to the verbal reasoning assessment, the numerical reasoning assessment is structured to test your ability to analyze numerical data. It will not only assess your basic mathematical skills (addition, subtraction, estimation, etc.), it will also assess your aptitude for analyzing and interpreting graphs and charts. As this is a reasoning test, it will require applicants to apply their critical thinking skills to extrapolate information that may not be explicitly given. Again, the emphasis here will be on drawing logical, evidence-based conclusions from the information provided.
  • Spatial Reasoning Assessment
    The spatial reasoning assessment is particularly important for job seekers applying for assembly line positions. This assessment tests your ability to determine how a 3-dimensional object will appear in space if it is rotated or partially obscured. The test is separated into 3 sections, each of which tests a different aspect of spatial reasoning. Questions in the first section will provide an image of an object, then ask the applicant to identify which of the given answer choices accurately represents that object after it has been rotated. Questions in the second section will provide an image of a silhouette or shadow, then will require the respondent to identify which answer choice most accurately represents that object. Each question in the third section will provide an image, then instruct the applicant to determine which answer choice best matches that image.
  • Reading Comprehension Assessment
    The reading comprehension assessment is much more straightforward than the verbal reasoning assessment. Applicants to assembly line positions can expect to be given this assessment rather than the verbal reasoning assessment. This exam tests your ability to read and understand text. It is specifically designed to determine your ability to read and comprehend safety information. As such, many of the texts presented in this assessment may be safety notices. Questions on this assessment will ask the respondent to identify information that is explicitly stated in the given text.
  • Basic Mathematics Assessment
    The basic mathematics assessment is, like the reading comprehension assessment, primarily geared toward applicants to assembly line positions. Applicants to these positions can expect to take this assessment rather than the numerical reasoning assessment. The basic mathematics test will present questions requiring you to perform simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. There will also be questions that require you to calculate percentages and averages. Certain questions will test your ability to perform these functions not only with whole numbers, but also with fractions or decimals. While questions may be presented as simple arithmetic expressions (2+2=__), some questions may be presented as word problems. It is important to remember that even if the question is expressed as a word problem, all information necessary to correctly solve the problem will be provided in the text.
  • Dexterity Assessment
    The dexterity assessment is a simple test that is intended to test an applicants physical ability to perform tasks on an assembly line. In this test, you will be asked to complete a simple set of physical tasks. Most commonly, an applicant will be provided with a board and a quantity of screws. The applicant will then be instructed, in this exercise, to secure as many screws as they can to the board within five minutes. Keep in mind that this assessment is intended to test your ability to perform physical tasks only.

What Questions Might Be Asked During the Interview?

  • Why did you apply to Ford Motor Company?
  • What do you know about Ford Motor Company?
  • What skills or attributes do you think make you a suitable candidate for this position?
  • What is your best technical skill, and how would you apply this at Ford?
  • Think of a situation where you had to adapt to circumstances over which you had little or no control. How did you handle this situation?
  • Describe a situation in which you overcame diverse perspectives to bring a group together.
  • If you had a project that was due soon and you had the opportunity to cut corners, would you?
  • Describe a time where you had a conflict with a colleague or superior. How did you handle this situation?
  • Think of a time you worked on a challenging project. Describe this challenge and explain how you handled it.

 

How Should You Prepare for Ford Motor Company’s Assessments?

As with all things, the surest road to success in the recruitment process at Ford Motor Company is preparation. However, you must prepare not only for the assessments you will be given, but also for the interviews you hope to secure over the phone and in-person.

There are several free resources available that will allow you to practice taking assessments similar to those you will encounter during the web-based assessment phase of the hiring process. Practicing with these assessments will allow you to get a feel for the types of passages and questions you will see on Ford’s web-based assessments.

 

Interview Tips

Preparing for the phone and in-person interviews, however, will require a different method of preparation. First, make sure you look over the potential interview questions listed previously in this article. Take a few minutes to think about your answers to each of these questions, then consider how you might phrase them to apply specifically to the requirements of the position you have applied for. It may be helpful to write or type these out.

Second, take time to consider the strengths you will bring to this position. After identifying 3-4 of your strongest skills and characteristics, think of a specific time in which you have applied those skills and characteristics in a work setting. It is best to think through these examples before your interview so you will be able to provide as clear a picture for the interviewers as possible.

Finally, research the history and achievements of Ford Motor Company fully. Identify key points in the history of the company and take time to consider how the achievements of the company have impacted your life and the lives of those around you. Using this in your interview will show that you understand the value that Ford Motor Company brings to society, as well as that you are invested in its future.