{"id":18343,"date":"2019-11-21T15:19:45","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T15:19:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/?p=18343"},"modified":"2020-01-14T20:40:07","modified_gmt":"2020-01-14T20:40:07","slug":"what-the-executive-assessment-really-tests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/blog\/what-the-executive-assessment-really-tests\/","title":{"rendered":"What the Executive Assessment Really Tests"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"what<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

The Executive Assessment (EA)<\/span><\/a> is not a math test. Nor is it a grammar test. Sure, you have to know something (well, a lot of things!) about these topics in order to get a good score. But the Executive Assessment is really testing your <\/span>executive reasoning<\/span><\/i> skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The term might be unfamiliar, but you already have\u2014and use\u2014these skills every day. Here are some examples:<\/span><\/p>\n

You are faced with a list of 20 unread emails (or, if your inbox is more like mine, about 80). Which ones do you read first? The oldest ones? The ones from your boss? The ones marked urgent? Are there some that you won\u2019t even click on right now because you know, from the sender\u2019s name or from the subject line, that those emails aren\u2019t very important? (And how did that one spam message get through the filter?)<\/span><\/p>\n

You have a choice between working on Product X or Project Y. Project Y will result in about 5% more revenue to the company, but Project Y will also take 50% longer. Which do you do?<\/span><\/p>\n

These decisions aren\u2019t easy ones (and would likely require more information than I gave). This complex decision making is exactly what a good executive needs to be able to do well\u2014and <\/span>this is what the test writers and business schools actually care about<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The math and grammar are primarily used as tools to allow the exam writers to test you on your <\/span>decision-making<\/span><\/i> ability.<\/span><\/p>\n

How does that help me take the Executive Assessment?<\/b><\/h3>\n

They don\u2019t expect you to get everything right, any more than a CEO expects to clear everything in his or her inbox today. You have to prioritize.<\/span><\/p>\n

A great decision-maker has both expertise and experience: She\u2019s thought about <\/span>how<\/span><\/i> to make various kinds of decisions, and she\u2019s actually practiced and refined these decision-making processes. While the clock is ticking, she doesn\u2019t hesitate to make a decision and move forward, knowing that she\u2019s going to be leaving some opportunities behind.<\/span><\/p>\n

In order to do that successfully in the business world, you need to know the company\u2019s goals and objectives, and you have to have a good idea of the kind of impact that various tasks or activities will have on the company. You also have to have a lot of practice in making these decisions and observing the outcomes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The same is true for the EA: If you know how it works, and you know what kinds of trade-offs to think about when deciding how to spend your time, then you can learn how to make the best decisions to maximize your score.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your goal, then, is to develop a business mindset for this test. You\u2019re not going \u201cback to school\u201d when you study for the EA. Rather, approach the exam as an extension of your current work\u2014this is a test of your business ability and decision-making skills.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The test does include some school subjects in the details of the questions, so you will have to re-learn some actual facts and formulas, but the focus will be on your decision-making skills above all else.<\/span><\/p>\n

How do I develop a business mindset?<\/b><\/h3>\n

At every step of the way, remind yourself that the EA is primarily a decision-making test. Use this knowledge to help you make appropriate business decisions along the way, during both your studies and the test itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, don\u2019t try to learn everything that could possibly be tested. Rather, prepare yourself to get a good-enough score. Learn the material that is most likely to be tested, with some extra emphasis on your strengths and your \u201cmedium weaknesses\u201d\u2014i.e., the ones that you have a better chance to turn around. On the flip side, de-prioritize your biggest weaknesses\u2014literally get those kinds of problems wrong faster and spend your precious study and test time elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

Happy studying!<\/span><\/p>\n

For information about our Executive Assessment Complete Course <\/i><\/b>click here<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\n

\"stacey-koprince\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Stacey Koprince<\/a>\u00a0is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California.<\/strong>\u00a0Stacey has been teaching the GMAT, GRE, and LSAT \u00a0for more than 15 years and is one of the most well-known instructors in the industry. Stacey loves to teach and is absolutely fascinated by standardized tests.\u00a0Check out Stacey\u2019s upcoming GMAT courses here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Executive Assessment (EA) is not a math test. Nor is it a grammar test. Sure, you have to know something (well, a lot of things!) about these topics in order to get a good score. But the Executive Assessment is really testing your executive reasoning skills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53128],"tags":[52823,52788],"yst_prominent_words":[55481,54380,54713,56844,56843,55254,56847,56846,55988,55477,55475,53798,53785,53997,55652,55648,53640,54188,55208,53637],"class_list":["post-18343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-executive-assessment","tag-executive-assessment","tag-executive-assessment-exam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18343"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18492,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18343\/revisions\/18492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18343"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=18343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}