10-key test practice

Keypad speed drill

Now time your hands, not just your eyes. Key each number on the number pad and press Enter to move on. When you finish, you see your keystrokes per hour and how many entries you keyed correctly.

What the real test usually looks like

There is no single 10-key test. Each employer picks a test from a vendor or builds its own, so the number of entries, the time limit and the scores reported all vary. What they share is short, timed entry of numbers on the number pad. Five public examples show the range:

• Criteria's Ten Key Test. Criteria says it measures data entry for numerical fields, has 20 entries and usually takes less than 5 minutes, including instructions. It gives a speed score in keystrokes per hour and an accuracy score, the number of correct fields (Criteria).
• SHL's 10-key onscreen test. In SHL's IBM Kenexa catalog, the candidate enters a series of numbers into a spreadsheet-style simulation, and the report shows speed in keystrokes per hour and the accuracy of the session (SHL).
• EmployTest's Ten Key Test. Candidates enter columns of numbers on the number keypad, and the page says its tests finish in under 10 minutes, depending on the option chosen. Results show gross speed, net speed adjusted for mistakes, the number of errors, a rating and a percentile (EmployTest).
• HR Avatar's Ten Key Numeric Data Entry. About 5 minutes. It works out raw and accuracy-adjusted numbers per minute and reports accuracy as a percentage (HR Avatar).
• TestGorilla's 10-key test with decimals and operators. 2 minutes, using the digits 0 to 9, the decimal point and math operators, with Enter pressed between entries. It measures speed in keystrokes per hour and accuracy (TestGorilla).

What you key is usually amounts with decimals, account or invoice numbers, and codes. Some tests show one number at a time; others show a column or a spreadsheet to work through.

What our mocks cover. Each full mock is a timed 10-key sitting of 6 typing blocks in 5 minutes. Each block has 8 to 12 entries, mixing amounts with decimals and account numbers. Speed and accuracy count equally. There is no going back to an earlier block and no calculator. Our mocks leave nothing out of the usual format: they are the same kind of short, timed number pad entry. If you also face typing and record-checking tasks, our data entry practice page covers those.

Criteria, SHL, EmployTest, HR Avatar and TestGorilla are trademarks of their owners. Intellect Council is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any of them.

Question types with worked examples

Six worked examples of what 10-key tests check, with the method and the trap for each.

1. Net speed. Your raw speed is 9,000 KPH and your accuracy is 96 percent. One prep site explains adjusted speed as raw speed multiplied by accuracy (JobCannon). What is your adjusted speed?

Answer: 9,000 x 0.96 = 8,640 KPH. Trap: thinking 4 percent of errors costs only a little. On this method it costs 360 KPH. Vendors each set their own method, so treat this as a way to see the trade-off, not as any vendor's formula.

2. Where the point goes. The source reads 7.5 and the field shows two decimal places. Key 7.50, or 750 on a fixed-decimal screen. Trap: keying 75 on a fixed-decimal screen, which gives 0.75. Read the instructions once to learn whether the screen places the point for you.

3. The swap check. You key a column and your total is 45.00 away from the source total. A difference that divides evenly by 9, such as 9, 18, 45 or 0.27, often means two digits were swapped. Look for pairs like 41 and 14, or 52 and 25. Trap: re-adding the whole column instead of hunting for the swap.

4. Leading zeros. The source account number is 00412-7. Key every digit: 0, 0, 4, 1, 2. Trap: dropping the leading zeros because they "do not change the value". In an account number they are part of the number.

5. Look-alike amounts. 1,060.06 and 1,006.06 differ by one digit position. Method: read amounts in small groups, the dollars then the cents, and say the groups in your head as you key: "one, oh-six-oh, point oh-six". Trap: reading the whole number at a glance.

6. Turning KPH into words per minute. 10,000 KPH is 10,000 / 60 = about 167 keystrokes a minute. Counting a word as 5 keystrokes, that is about 33 words per minute. Trap: comparing a KPH figure with a typing speed directly. They are different units, so convert first.

How to prepare

1. Find out which test you will take. The invitation often names the vendor or the time limit. A 2-minute test with operators is different from a 5-minute test of account numbers, so match your practice to it.
2. Use a real number pad. Home your fingers on 4, 5 and 6, with the middle finger on the 5 (the one with the raised dot). The thumb takes 0 and the little finger takes Enter. On a laptop without a number pad, plug in a separate one.
3. Check Num Lock before every session. With it off, the keys move the cursor instead of typing digits.
4. Learn the decimal point by feel. It sits under the 3, and the ring finger usually takes it. Amounts with cents are where most keying errors happen.
5. Keep your eyes on the source. Glancing down at your hands costs time and breaks your place in the column. Slow down until you can key without looking, then build speed.
6. Accuracy first, then speed. Many tests adjust speed for errors, so an error usually costs more than a moment of care. Aim for a clean block, then try to finish it faster.
7. Practice in short timed blocks. Two to five minutes at a time matches most tests. Do a few blocks a day for a week rather than one long session.
8. Track both numbers. Write down your KPH and your accuracy after each block. If speed rises while accuracy falls, ease off until accuracy recovers.

How scoring usually works

Speed in keystrokes per hour. Every vendor above reports speed in KPH or a per-minute version of it. Where entries are separated by Enter, as on TestGorilla's test, that key is part of the work you do.

Net or adjusted speed. Some vendors also report a speed adjusted for errors. EmployTest describes net speed as an adjusted score that accounts for mistakes (EmployTest), and HR Avatar calculates both raw and accuracy-adjusted numbers per minute (HR Avatar).

Accuracy. Reported as the number of fields keyed correctly, as Criteria does (Criteria), or as a percentage, as HR Avatar does.

Pass marks. Employers set their own and rarely publish them. Prep sites give commonly reported figures, not cutoffs: one says a usual minimum is 10,000 KPH with more than 95 percent accuracy, adding that different jobs need different minimums (JobTestPrep). Another describes bands on adjusted KPH, from under 6,000 (developing) to 12,000 and above (expert), and says many competitive roles also want 98 to 99 percent accuracy (JobCannon). If a job posting gives its own figure, that is the one to aim for.

Our practice score. The free sample above scores how many of the 10 accuracy questions you got right, and the keypad drill shows your KPH and accuracy. In the full mocks, speed and accuracy count equally. Our results page reports your speed in words per minute, counting a word as 5 keystrokes, so 10,000 KPH is about 33 words per minute. It is a practice score: it is not a score from any vendor's test and does not predict whether you will pass.

Common 10-key mistakes

• Swapping two digits. 7209 becomes 7290. It hides well because the number still looks right.
• Moving the decimal point. 125.60 becomes 12.56. Check where the point sits before you press Enter.
• Dropping trailing or leading zeros. keying 384 for 38.40 on a fixed-decimal screen gives 3.84, and 00412 keyed as 412 is a different account.
• Losing your place in a column. Keep a finger or the cursor on the line you are keying, so you never key a line twice or skip one.
• Rushing the first block. Nerves make the first block fast and messy. Take a breath and key the first few entries steadily.
• Fixing errors you cannot fix. Some tests do not let you go back. If you notice a mistake after pressing Enter, let it go and stay with the next entry.

Who takes a 10-key test

Roles where numbers are keyed by hand, all day:

• Accounts payable and receivable clerks, keying invoice numbers and amounts. Many also take a bookkeeping test.
• Payroll, billing and claims staff, where amounts and codes come in long columns.
• Bank operations and teller roles, which pair keying with cash handling. Our bank teller test covers that side.
• Warehouse, inventory and order entry roles, keying item numbers and quantities.