What is the Versant Writing Exam?
You will probably need to take the Versant Writing Exam if you are applying for work with Amazon, Deloitte, or another multinational corporation (MNC).
The exam assesses your ability to write and communicate in the English Language.
The Versant Writing Exam has sentence completion, dictation, and passage reconstruction passages, like the 4-Skills test and Student Placement exam.
In addition, the Versant Writing Exam also has sections on typing and email writing.
Sample Versant Writing Exam Questions
You will be assess on your ability to type quickly and accurately. In addition, you will need to compose an email response to a business situation.
Typing
You will be shown a passage and asked to type as many words of it as you can in 60 seconds. Your score will be given based on how quickly you type, as well as how many mistakes you have made.
Typing exercise
Instructions: Accurately type as much of the passage below as you can in 60 seconds. For the time limits, please click on the audio below.
Diners in restaurants sometimes ask why their servers aren’t able to cope with some of their requests. Is it fair to suggest that members of the service industry typically deliver below-par service to customers? Consider a simple example of a fast-food restaurant. Chances are that you’ve been at the receiving end of some bad service at some point in time. Is it then fair to assume that staff that wear work uniforms are simply to be tagged with a warning sign that they will not deliver to their clientele? To understand the reasons for occasional bad service, the factors influencing the situation need to be considered. Perhaps the person providing the service was new to his or her job. Maybe he or she was a trainee and was not able to perform without the assistance of a supervisor. In addition, service people can experience a great deal of stress when trying to do several things at once for different patrons.
Email Writing
You will need to write a brief email of about 100 words in response to the scenario provided.
Email Writing Exercise
Instructions: Read the information below and write a 100-word or more email in response to the situation. You will have nine minutes to complete this task. For the time limit, please click on the audio recording.
Facts:
You are the manager of an accounting firm which is trying to acquire new clients. Clients in the banking, investment, and financial services industries are especially needed.
Send an email to senior accountants at the firm explaining these facts and propose that senior accountants try to gain new clients. Recommendations for obtaining new clients must come from these courses of action:
- Join a local club such as Lions’ Club or the Rotary Club
- Attend special networking classes on the next four weekends
- Arrange meetings with friends and acquaintances working in the financial services sector
Individual appointments will be scheduled with each senior accountant to see what they have done or intend to do about this matter.
Email writing – sample response
To: All Senior Accountants
From: Firm Manager
Re: New Client Acquisition
Dear Senior Accounting Staff:
I wanted to give all of you the details of our big drive for new clients. At present, we are seeking additional clientele, especially those in the financial services, banking, and investment sectors. As senior members of staff, all of you should be striving to add to and build our client portfolio.
The following are examples of what you could do to help us obtain new clients in these areas: joining local social or business clubs to liaise with like-mined professionals and obtain new contacts; renew contacts with your acquaintances who are working in financial services to grain trust and see if they have any accountancy needs, or attend classes during the next four weekends to improve your networking skills.
I would like all of you to consider these options. I’ll contact each one of you in the near future to schedule an individual appointment to discuss this matter face-to face.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Margaret
More email writing exercises
Email exercise – Resignation
You are the manager of a large company. You have decided to become self-employed so that you can spend more time with your family. Write an email to your bosses to inform them that you will resign after 60 days in order to comply with the terms of your employment contract.
Email exercise – Going out of business
After 25 years of operations, you unfortunately have to stop doing business. Write an email to your customers informing them of the situation and telling them that there will be a store clearance sale during the last week of the month.
Email exercise – Office supplies
The office supplies inventory reconciliation does not match the register of the amounts that employees have recorded for company use. It is suspected that employees may be taking stationery home for unauthorized personal use. Write an email to remind employees of the policy and to reiterate why the policy is in place.
Email exercise – Shipping
You are the manager of the shipping department. When looking at productivity reports, you realize that employees are making far too many errors in sorting and shipping items. Write an email to the shipping department staff informing them that they need to be more diligent.
Email exercise – Audit
You are the owner of a small company. The accounting department has informed you that they would like to conduct an internal audit of the payroll system during the last week of next month. Write a n email response to them, stating that a deadline for a special staff project is that week and asking them to reschedule.
Email exercise – Free meals
You own a restaurant that offers free meals on site to employees. However, it has come to your attention that employees are taking food home in containers from the restaurant. Write an email to your staff, in which you reiterate the policy that food should only be consumed in the restaurant and not taken off the premises.
More Exam Help
Please note: The Versant Test and the Versant Writing Test are trademarks or Pearson Inc, which is neither affiliated with nor endorses these materials.