Mars Assessment Day, Aptitude Tests, SJT, Hiring Process & Interviews Online Preparation – 2025
What Is Mars?
Mars Incorporated is a multinational manufacturer specializing in beverages, food, and pet products. The company was founded in 1911, and its headquarters are in McLean, Virginia, United States. Some popular brands within the Mars family include Snickers, Royal Canin, Orbit, and Kind.
Mars has five guiding principles that explain how they do business. These principles expand across all company areas to help unite the employees and meet company standards. These principles are:
- Efficiency: Mars understands that resources are limited, and working efficiently allows them to accomplish more and waste less. Employees would rather collaborate with others and share resources than start from scratch to solve each problem.
- Freedom: The company’s financial freedom allows it to make choices with tomorrow in mind. They believe that purpose-led businesses positively impact the world and perform better.
- Mutuality: Mars understands that focusing on shared benefits is a great way to impact the planet positively. We benefit when others gain; when benefits are mutual, we share motivations and create win-win relationships.
- Quality: Mars ensures that they are delivering only the best products to their customers. They understand that people and pets depend on them and that the company depends on its customers to succeed.
- Responsibility: Taking personal responsibility and supporting the responsibility of others is essential to Mars employees. Mars employees believe they can make a difference by working together, and accountability and commitment are critical to that mission.
Working for Mars
Mars operates in nearly 100 countries and employs more than 140,000 people worldwide. There are several types of opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds and at different career stages within the company.
Mars creates a nourishing workplace where employees feel healthy, energized, and supported to reach their personal and career goals. The company provides its employees with health, wellness, and financial benefits. Additionally, they offer hybrid work models, decrease time spent in meetings, and ensure that travel is only done with a good purpose.
What Is the Recruitment Process at Mars?
Online Application
The recruitment process at Mars begins with an online application. During the application process, you must submit your personal information, such as contact details, educational history, and previous work experience, to show your qualifications for the position.
Before uploading your CV and cover letter, you will want to thoroughly review the job description and tailor your documents using the keywords in the description. This is one of the best ways to stand out from the other applicants.
Initial Interview
Applicants who pass the application screening will graduate to the initial interview stage. This conversation will be with a member of the HR department or the hiring manager over a video conferencing platform like Zoom. The call will last about 30 minutes and focus on your qualifications for the position, career objectives, and job expectations.
You should prepare questions to ask your interviewer at the end of the discussion. Asking questions will show that you are thoroughly prepared for the meeting and will impress the recruiter. This is also an excellent opportunity to probe into any concerns you may have about the role or company.
Mars Aptitude Tests
Job seekers who do well in the initial interview will move on to the aptitude test portion of the hiring process. Mars often uses the test publisher Kenexa during their recruitment process and will ask candidates to take pre-employment exams assessing their reasoning skills and workplace behavior.
Numerical Reasoning Test
Mars applicants will complete a numerical reasoning exam to showcase their understanding of mathematical concepts and ability to perform basic calculations. This exam is multiple-choice and will include time limits for each section. Most questions can be answered using basic arithmetic, percentages, and ratios in your calculations. You must also analyze and interpret data from charts, graphs, and tables.
If you need help solving a problem, one tip is to work backward. Try plugging the different answer choices into the question and seeing which makes sense. This works best when solving equations but can also be used when answering questions about data.
Sample Question
Last month, Molly read three books. This month, Molly read five. What is the percent change in the books that Molly read from last month to this month?
- 66% decrease
- 33% decrease
- 33% increase
- 66% increase
Answer: D
Verbal Reasoning Test
The verbal reasoning exam will assess your ability to read and comprehend written information. You will receive several passages and answer multiple-choice questions about the context of the paragraph, word choice, and grammar.
One tip to help you be successful in this test is to read the questions before reading the passage. This will give you an idea of what details and ideas you need to pay attention to and can help you filter out unnecessary information.
Logical Reasoning Test
Logical and critical thinking skills are essential for Mars employees in any position to have. Workers must be able to absorb information and draw logical conclusions to perform well in their roles.
The logical reasoning exam will test these skills by assessing your ability to identify relationships, patterns, and sequences in various images and datasets. The test is often visual, meaning it will not have text questions but use pictures instead. Test takers will receive a series of images and must identify the underlying pattern that connects these images. Then, they must apply that pattern to determine a missing image in the sequence.
The test will be multiple-choice and timed. To do well on this exam, you must pay attention to the details presented in each image and remember that patterns can be related to any aspect of the image, including colors, shapes, rotations, and numbers.
Mechanical Reasoning Test
The hiring team may also ask you to take a mechanical reasoning exam. These are typically given to those applying for hands-on roles, such as engineers and technicians.
The mechanical reasoning exam will assess your knowledge of physical and mechanical concepts and components, such as how different machine elements interact. Many questions on this test will likely be non-verbal and present a diagram or image you will need to analyze and answer questions about. Like the other reasoning tests, this exam will be timed and multiple-choice.
The best way to prepare for this exam is to use online study guides and practice tests to better understand what will be asked on the test and how to approach each type of question.
Sample Question
What device allows electrical current to flow in a single direction?
- Resistor
- Capacitor
- Diode
- Inductor
Answer: C
Situational Judgment Test
In addition to the aptitude tests, Mars also requires all candidates to complete a situational judgment test (SJT). The SJT assesses how you make decisions and behave in the workplace. The test will present situations similar to ones you may encounter in your role and several response options. Your job will be to select the most appropriate answer for the situation.
The Mars hiring team is looking for the answer that most closely aligns with their core values. Be sure to research the company and its values before taking this exam to help guide your responses.
Sample Question
Imagine that you are working as a team member on a big project set to release next Spring. While going through the project documents, you discover that your teammate made a mistake in a calculation, which could set the project back by several months. What do you do?
- Discuss the issue with your teammate and encourage them to take responsibility for their mistake.
- Go straight to the project manager to ensure they are aware of the issue.
- Talk to your teammate’s manager so they know that the teammate made a mistake.
- Leave it alone and let the rest of the team deal with the issue.
Answer: Because Mars values taking personal responsibility and supporting others to take responsibility, you should encourage your teammate to own up to their mistake. The correct answer is A.
Mars Assessment Day
Candidates who do well on the psychometric tests will receive an invitation to the assessment day. This full-day event includes in-person interviews and activities with the hiring team and other candidates. It is important to remember that during the assessment day, your performance and personality will be analyzed throughout the entire event, even when you are not actively completing an exercise. Be sure that you act polite and professional throughout the day.
- Group Exercises – Teamwork and collaboration are critical to success at Mars. The group exercises will show the hiring team that you can work successfully in a group, communicate with others, and work to achieve a common goal. During this exercise, you will be grouped with other applicants and given a task that you must work together to complete. The task may or may not be similar to one you’ll need to do in your position. The focus in this activity is not that the task is completed but that you work with the other group members to do the job.
- Individual Tasks – In addition to the group tasks, each applicant will be given individual tasks so the hiring team can analyze their skills more closely. These tasks may include a case study, presentation, or role-playing. In each activity, you must examine the given information, use your critical thinking skills to make decisions and present your findings clearly and concisely.
- Interviews – You will also complete at least one in-person interview during the assessment day. Depending on the role you are applying for, you may complete several one-on-one or panel interviews with members of the hiring team and executives at Mars. The questions during these conversations will be competency-based. Mars already knows you are qualified for the position; now, they are deciding if you are a better fit for the team than the other candidates they are considering. The interviewer(s) will be interested in your experience, workplace behavior, and skills applicable to the position at Mars. It is best to phrase your responses to these questions in the STAR format: Situation, Task, Action, and Result. You will also want to prepare several questions you can ask at the end of each interview. Try to research the interviewers beforehand to tailor your questions to each discussion.
How to Prepare for the Mars Assessment?
Mars is looking for top candidates who can perform their duties and fit the company culture. The best way to show the hiring team that you are the best applicant for the position is to do well on the various online assessments. Because these tests are screening tools, you will need to do well on each to graduate to the final stage of the hiring process.
Online practice tests are great resources that allow you to run through several sample questions. They will provide complete solutions to each question, giving you a better understanding of how to answer each question type on the exam. Full-length practice tests also allow you to rehearse timing, which will be necessary since all the aptitude exams are timed.
Candidates who take the time to prepare for the Mars aptitude and psychometric tests do better on the exams than applicants who do not prepare. Ensure you give yourself enough time to study for the exams before the Mars recruitment process.
