Elitmus Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility, Important Dates

From eLitmus's information for test takers page, which warns the structure may change:

That's two minutes a question, on purpose. Since January 2006 eLitmus has argued for fewer, harder questions over a race against the clock.

Scoring

• Harder questions count for more, and your score is set against how others did.
• The penalty per wrong answer falls as you attempt more questions.
• Wrong answers are graded: each question has "close" and "irrelevant" wrong answers, and a near miss costs less.
• The formula is proprietary, so you can't compute your own score.

eLitmus maps each question to one of 7 major skills and 2 sub skills, then weights them for each employer. The number a company sees may not be the number you see.

It writes 18 to 20 fresh papers a year and never repeats a question.

eLitmus publishes no topic list, deliberately. It says the test "does not test your proficiency in any specific areas or subjects."

eLitmus also says it tracks the tricks coaching institutes teach so that heavily coached candidates get no undue advantage. Any topic-wise pH syllabus you see online was put together by someone else.

eLitmus sets no eligibility rules for the test. Anyone can register and pay. It pitches itself at recent graduates and anyone who thinks they're better than their aggregate or CGPA shows.

Eligibility for jobs is set by each company (degree, branch, year of passing, percentage), and your dashboard shows which jobs you can apply for.

eLitmus also says some business schools use the pH Test for admissions, particularly specialised MBA programmes.

1. Register and book at elitmus.com/register, in one of dozens of cities. Pay online or with a discount voucher.
2. Sit the test: two hours, sixty questions, on Windows with the safe browser.
3. Get your pH Score, absolute and percentile.
4. Apply to any company on the platform, free and without limit.
5. Interview: confirm calls, print admit cards and see results in your dashboard.

You can retake whenever you like; eLitmus publishes no limit or waiting period.

eLitmus's employer pitch, from a March 2008 case: a Fortune 500 IT services company saw zero involuntary attrition among pH hires after a three-month training programme, against over 5.2 per cent from other channels, which eLitmus values at Rs 1.8 million saved per hundred hires. It also says 65 per cent of candidates who found jobs through it already had an offer.

eLitmus isn't an employer, so there's no pay scale. Pay is set by whichever company hires you and shown on its job post. Employers range from start-ups to Fortune 100, R&D to services, across IT security, IT products, software services, physical infrastructure and KPO.

Register at elitmus.com/register, complete your profile, pick a sitting from the schedule on the home page, and pay online or with a voucher (partner colleges hand them out). There's no closing date beyond each sitting's.

eLitmus doesn't publish the test price on its public pages; you see it at booking.

You'll need a Windows machine with eLitmus's safe browser installed beforehand. A Mac or Linux laptop won't work.

Everything (admit cards, interview calls, results) runs through your dashboard and registered email and phone, so keep them current. eLitmus's community forum, Adda, is useful for logistics, but it's written by users.

eLitmus Evaluation Pvt Ltd (elitmus.com) writes the test and runs the platform that uses it. Its research team of domain experts, practitioners and statisticians publishes as PAC Labs, and it says it spends over 30 per cent of revenue on test R&D.

Over 600 companies hire through it. eLitmus says every company it has served since Dec 2009 has reported high satisfaction. The live list is on the home page and in your dashboard.

You can book in dozens of Indian cities; recent schedules included Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata and Pune. The upcoming list is on elitmus.com. Tests run almost every three weeks.

The test is online, on Windows only, with the safe browser. eLitmus's pH Test demystified page still describes it as pen and paper; go by the information for test takers page, which is current.

There's no annual calendar. A pH Test runs almost every three weeks, and the upcoming cities and dates are on elitmus.com, next to the list of companies hiring and their closing dates.

Job posts close on their own dates, so sit the test early enough to have a score before the hiring season you're aiming at, with time for a retake.

The test admit card is in your eLitmus account once you've booked and paid. Install the safe browser before the day, and bring the ID the instructions ask for.

For interviews you confirm the call in your dashboard and print the admit card yourself. If you don't check the dashboard, you can miss a call.

Everyone who sits gets a score: absolute out of 600 and a percentile. There's no pass or fail and no merit list. Scores and interview results appear in your dashboard.

A valid score lets you apply to any company on the platform. Each company weights the skills differently, so you may look strong to one and weak to another on the same paper.

eLitmus publishes no pH Test cut-off. Each company weights the score its own way, so a single figure wouldn't mean anything. You get a percentile, and your dashboard shows which jobs your score lets you apply for. Company-wise cut-offs posted on other sites don't come from eLitmus.

Don't memorise formulae. They're on the paper. Practise using them on problems you haven't seen.

Don't learn tricks. eLitmus tracks what coaching institutes teach and designs against it.

Practise slowly on hard problems. Two minutes a question is meant for working things out. Hard questions most people miss are worth far more than easy ones everyone gets.

Attempt broadly, but think before you answer. More attempts lower the penalty per error, and a near miss costs less than a wild guess.

For verbal, read good prose rather than learning word lists.

Don't hunt for old papers. Questions are never reused.

Sort out a Windows machine with the safe browser well before the day.

Book early so a retake is possible before the jobs you want close, then keep checking your dashboard.

No previous papers are available for the pH Test. eLitmus writes 18 to 20 fresh papers a year and never repeats a question, so it doesn't release them.

Its information for test takers and pH Test demystified pages explain the format and scoring, and are the closest official guide.

• elitmus.com: upcoming test cities and dates, and companies hiring
• elitmus.com/register: create an account and book
• information for test takers: structure, timing, marks and the Windows requirement
• pH Test: what the test is for
• pH Test demystified: scoring, negative marking and skill mapping
• Why evaluations fail: eLitmus's case against conventional aptitude tests
• Candidates, Take a tour and Jobs
• Adda community help: user-written forum

What is eLitmus?

A private assessment and recruitment company, running since 2005. Its test is the pH Test.

What's the pattern?

Two hours, 60 questions, 600 marks: quantitative, verbal and analytical, 20 each.

Is there negative marking?

Yes. The penalty per wrong answer depends on how many you attempt, and close wrong answers cost less than irrelevant ones.

Is there a syllabus?

No. It assumes high school maths and basic English, and gives you the formulae.

Does coaching help?

eLitmus says it designs the test so that it doesn't.

What do I need to sit it?

A Windows machine with eLitmus's safe browser installed.

How often is it held?

Almost every three weeks, in dozens of cities.

Can I retake it?

Yes, with no published limit or waiting period.

What does it cost?

The price is shown at booking. Applying to companies afterwards is free.