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Elevator aptitude test

EIAT study guide: methods, worked examples and plans

By the nodiexam team Updated

To study for the EIAT, practice filling blanks in short passages, the simple machines NEIEP's guide names, and arithmetic and algebra without a calculator. Then take a full timed test. NEIEP's 2024 study guide and its FAQ give no calculator rule, so practice as if none is allowed.

This is our own study guide, not NEIEP's. NEIEP, the National Elevator Industry Educational Program, has its own: the 2024 EIAT study guide, a short PDF. Read it first. This page adds a method for each section, worked examples and study plans.

You have applied for an elevator apprenticeship, and the EIAT is next. The elevator aptitude test page has the format and the scoring. This guide goes section by section: what each asks, how to work it, and one example worked through. Then come pacing, plans for two or four weeks and a test-day list.

The three sections

The EIAT has 100 questions in three sections: reading comprehension, mechanical aptitude and mathematics. NEIEP's counts are Reading Comprehension 35, Mechanical Aptitude 35 and Mathematics 30. You need 70% to pass, so study all three.

Reading Comprehension

On the EIAT, reading means filling blanks: in NEIEP's sample, reading is a passage with numbered blanks, and each blank has four word choices. The right word has to fit its sentence and agree with the rest of the passage.

  • Read the whole passage once before you look at any choices. The blanks make more sense once you know what the passage is about.
  • For each blank, read its sentence, the one before it and the one after it.
  • Try each choice in the blank. Drop the ones that break the grammar, then the ones that clash with the passage.
  • Watch the linking words, such as but, so, because and although. They tell you whether the next idea follows from the last one or turns against it.

Worked example. A hard hat's shell gets weaker with age and sunlight, even when it looks fine. ____1____, an old hat should be replaced.

Which word fits blank 1?

  • A. However
  • B. Therefore
  • C. Instead
  • D. Meanwhile

The answer is B. The second sentence follows from the first: the shell gets weaker, so the hat should be replaced. However would turn against the first sentence, Instead would need something to replace, and Meanwhile is about time.

Try a sample passage

We wrote this passage for practice, and it is not in the free practice test, so that test stays new to you. Pick an answer for each blank on paper, then open the answers.

Sharing a ride to the job

Many crews share rides to job sites that are far from home. A carpool saves money on gas and parking, ____1____ it works only if everyone is on time. The driver usually picks people up at a set place, such as a gas station near the highway. If you are running late, call the driver right away instead of making the whole crew ____2____ for you. Riders should also help pay for the ____3____, since the driver fills the tank every few days. Keep the car tidy. ____4____ you get out, take your cups and food wrappers with you. A driver who has to clean up after everyone may soon stop ____5____ the crew at all.

  1. Which word fits blank 1?
    • A. so
    • B. because
    • C. yet
    • D. if
  2. Which word fits blank 2?
    • A. wait
    • B. cook
    • C. vote
    • D. dance
  3. Which word fits blank 3?
    • A. tea
    • B. fuel
    • C. radio
    • D. carpet
  4. Which word fits blank 4?
    • A. Whenever
    • B. Until
    • C. Although
    • D. Because
  5. Which word fits blank 5?
    • A. paying
    • B. driving
    • C. feeding
    • D. teaching
Show answers
  1. C, yet. The second part adds a condition that limits the good news in the first, and yet shows that contrast.
  2. A, wait. When someone is late, the others have to wait.
  3. B, fuel. Filling the tank means buying fuel, so riders help pay for it.
  4. A, Whenever. Each time you get out of the car, you take your trash, which is what whenever means.
  5. B, driving. The driver's job in the carpool is driving the crew, and a messy car may make the driver quit.

The free practice test has more passages like it, timed.

Mechanical Aptitude

Expect a drawing with every question: in NEIEP's four mechanical samples, each shows a picture and has three choices, such as A, B or "No difference". For topics, the guide names levers, pulleys and gears, hydraulics (area and pressure), and fulcrums and balancing objects of different weights. A few rules answer most of them:

  • Levers. Weight times distance from the pivot must match on both sides. A light weight far from the pivot balances a heavy one close to it.
  • Pulleys. Count the rope strands that hold up the moving pulley. The pull you need is the load divided by that count, and you pull that many times as much rope.
  • Gears. Meshed gears turn opposite ways, and the smaller gear turns faster. A gear on a toothed bar moves the bar in a straight line.
  • Belts. An open belt keeps the direction, and a crossed belt reverses it. The smaller wheel turns faster.
  • Ramps. With no friction, push × length of the slope = load × height. A longer ramp to the same height needs less push.
  • Wheel and axle. Pull × wheel radius = load × axle radius. A crank works the same way, with its length in place of the wheel's radius. A big wheel on a small axle lifts a heavy load with a light pull.
  • Hydraulics. Pressure is the same all through the fluid. Push a small piston down a long way, and a big piston rises a short way with more force.
  • Tipping. A wider base and a lower center of gravity make an object harder to tip over.

When two parts do the same thing, the answer is "No difference". Keep that choice in mind instead of forcing a pick between A and B.

Worked example. A 60-pound weight sits 2 feet from the pivot of a lever. How far from the pivot must a 40-pound weight sit on the other side to balance it?

  1. Weight times distance on the first side: 60 × 2 = 120.
  2. The other side must also make 120: 40 × distance = 120.
  3. 120 ÷ 40 = 3.

The answer is 3 feet. The lighter weight has to sit farther out.

Try it

  1. Gear A turns clockwise and meshes with gear B. Which way does gear B turn?
  2. A 200-pound load hangs from a moving pulley held by 4 rope strands. How much pull lifts it?
  3. A small piston has an area of 2 square inches, and a large one 10 square inches. You push the small one with 30 pounds. How much force does the large one give?
Show answers
  1. Counterclockwise. Meshed gears turn opposite ways.
  2. 200 ÷ 4 = 50 pounds.
  3. The pressure is 30 ÷ 2 = 15 pounds per square inch. On the large piston, 15 × 10 = 150 pounds.

Mathematics

Math covers arithmetic and basic algebra. For topics, the guide names arithmetic (the four operations, fractions, decimals and percentages) and algebra (solving equations, manipulating formulas, basic expressions). Practice all of it by hand:

  • Decimals. To divide by a decimal, move its point to make it a whole number, and move the other number's point the same number of places.
  • Fractions and mixed numbers. Turn mixed numbers into fractions first. Multiply straight across, flip the second fraction to divide, and find a common denominator to add or subtract.
  • Order of operations. Parentheses first, then multiply and divide from left to right, then add and subtract from left to right.
  • Percents. Ten percent is a tenth of the number. Build the others from it.
  • Equations and formulas. Undo each step in reverse order, doing the same thing to both sides.

Worked example. 7.56 ÷ 0.4 =

  • A. 1.89
  • B. 18.9
  • C. 189
  • D. 0.189
  • E. No answer
  1. Make the divisor whole: move the point one place right in both numbers. 0.4 becomes 4, and 7.56 becomes 75.6.
  2. Divide: 75.6 ÷ 4 = 18.9.
  3. Check: 18.9 × 0.4 = 7.56. It works.

The answer is B, 18.9. A, C and D come from moving the point the wrong number of places.

The No answer choice

Expect a last choice of "No answer": in NEIEP's three math samples, each question has five choices and the last is "No answer". It means none of the other choices is right. Work the question out on paper before you read the choices. Then look for your exact result. Choose No answer only when your result matches none of them and you have checked your work once.

In our practice, answers are exact. A choice that is only close to your result, such as a rounded decimal, is wrong.

Worked example. 2 1/4 × 1 2/3 =

  • A. 2 1/6
  • B. 1 1/4
  • C. 3 1/3
  • D. 4 1/4
  • E. No answer
  1. Turn both into fractions: 2 1/4 = 9/4 and 1 2/3 = 5/3.
  2. Multiply straight across: 9/4 × 5/3 = 45/12.
  3. Reduce: 45/12 = 15/4 = 3 3/4.

The answer is E, No answer. 3 3/4 is not among A to D. A is the common slip of multiplying the whole numbers and the fractions apart: 2 × 1 plus 1/4 × 2/3.

Try it

  1. 6.3 ÷ 0.09 =
  2. 25% of 84 =
  3. Solve for x: 3x − 7 = 20
  4. 8 − 2 × (5 − 3) =
  5. 1/2 + 2/3 =
Show answers
  1. Move both points two places: 630 ÷ 9 = 70.
  2. 10% of 84 is 8.4, so 20% is 16.8 and 5% is 4.2. 16.8 + 4.2 = 21.
  3. Add 7 to both sides: 3x = 27. Divide by 3: x = 9.
  4. Parentheses first: 5 − 3 = 2. Then 2 × 2 = 4. Then 8 − 4 = 4.
  5. A common denominator is 6: 3/6 + 4/6 = 7/6, which is 1 1/6.

Pacing

NEIEP's 2024 study guide and its FAQ give no time limit for the EIAT. Our practice still needs a clock, so we set one. The times are ours: Reading 30 minutes, Mechanical 25 and Math 35. That gives you a little under a minute for each reading question, less for mechanical and a little more for math.

  • Reading. Read each passage once, then go blank by blank. Several blanks share one passage, so the first read serves them all.
  • Mechanical. Once you know the rules, these go fastest. Many ask only which way or which is bigger, so skip arithmetic you don't need.
  • Math. If a question runs long, mark your best guess, note its number and come back if you have time.

If your test letter gives a time, plan your pace from it.

A 4-week plan

  1. Week 1. Take the free practice test under the clock. Note your weakest section. Do 20 minutes of fractions and decimals by hand every day.
  2. Week 2. Your weakest section every day: work its method and drills on this page, then redo the questions you missed in the free test. Read something every day, and notice each but, so and because.
  3. Week 3. The mechanical rules above, half an hour every other day. Keep the daily math.
  4. Week 4. Take the free test again early in the week and compare part by part. You will remember some questions, so judge your method and your pace more than the score. Rest the day before.

With three weeks, follow this plan and put weeks 2 and 3 together.

A 2-week plan

  1. Days 1 to 2. The free practice test, then a review of every question you missed.
  2. Days 3 to 10. Your weakest section every day, with its method and drills on this page and the free-test questions you missed, plus a quarter hour of fractions and decimals by hand.
  3. Days 11 to 12. Go back over each method on this page and redo the questions you missed.
  4. Days 13 to 14. Light review only. Get a good night's sleep.

Full prep has more full-length tests, practice by topic and a diagnostic test that builds a study plan from your weakest topics. See full prep.

On test day

  • Read your test letter for the time, the place, what to bring and any calculator rule.
  • Answer every question. The pass mark counts correct answers, so a blank never helps.
  • In math, check your result once before you choose No answer.

Study material

NEIEP publishes an approved study guide for the EIAT: the 2024 EIAT study guide. It is short, with the format, the topics and a few samples per section.

Our free practice test adds what the guide leaves out: every section on its own clock, and a worked answer for every question. Our questions are written by us to the published format. They are not NEIEP's.

NEIEP's FAQ also names a tool assessment. The tool assessment page has what NEIEP and one local's notice say, the common tools by job and practice questions.

Free printable sample

A PDF to work on paper, laid out like the printable pack in full prep, with worked solutions. It repeats a passage and some mechanical and math questions from the free practice test and adds a tools question. No email is needed.

Download the free sample (PDF)

Want more on paper? The printable pack in full prep has one method sheet that covers every section, printable full tests with answer keys and worked solutions, and a study plan for four, two or one week.

Questions people ask

Is there an EIAT study guide from NEIEP?

Yes. NEIEP publishes an approved study guide for the EIAT, as a PDF on its website. It gives the format, the topics and a few sample questions. This page and our free practice test add methods, worked examples and a full timed test.

How long should I study for the EIAT?

Four weeks is a good target if fractions and decimals are rusty. With three weeks, follow the 4-week plan and put weeks 2 and 3 together. With two weeks, follow the 2-week plan: the free practice test first, then your weakest section every day.

What math is on the EIAT?

It is arithmetic and basic algebra: the guide names arithmetic (the four operations, fractions, decimals and percentages) and algebra (solving equations, manipulating formulas, basic expressions). Practice fractions, decimals and mixed numbers by hand until they feel routine.

What does "No answer" mean on the EIAT math section?

In NEIEP's samples it is the last math choice, and it means none of the other choices is right. Work the question out first, then compare your result with each choice. Choose No answer only when none matches and you have checked your work.

Sources

Facts on this page come from these pages. We checked each one on the date shown.