The Elevator Industry Aptitude Test (EIAT) explained

If you are applying for an elevator apprenticeship with the International Union of Elevator Constructors, the written test you sit is the Elevator Industry Aptitude Test, usually shortened to EIAT. It is set by NEIEP, the National Elevator Industry Educational Program. This guide covers what is on it, how it is scored, and what happens either side of it.

Apprentice Tests is an independent practice resource. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to NEIEP, the IUEC, any local union or any elevator company. Recruitment rules and test formats are set by NEIEP and the locals, and they change — always follow the guidance issued with your own recruitment.

What the EIAT covers

NEIEP's own study guide describes the test as 100 multiple-choice questions, taken on paper, split into three sections:

• Reading comprehension — 35 questions. Short passages with words missing, where you choose the word that fits from four options.
• Mechanical comprehension — 35 questions. Levers and fulcrums, pulleys, gears and hydraulics, judged from a diagram.
• Mathematics — 30 questions. Arithmetic with decimals, fractions and percentages, plus basic algebra.

NEIEP is explicit that this is not a test of what you already know about elevators. In its words, it assesses "your current level of understanding of the critical thinking skills needed to work and learn in the trade". You are not expected to have any prior training.

The pass mark

You need 70% to pass. Unlike some trade entrance tests, the EIAT is scored pass or fail rather than used to rank you directly. Passing earns you an interview, and it is the interview score that sets your position on the hiring list.

That distinction matters for how you prepare. There is no prize for scoring 95% instead of 72%, but there is a heavy penalty for landing at 68%, because locals recruit infrequently. More on that in what the 70% pass mark really means.

The tool assessment

A short tool assessment follows the EIAT, typically fifteen to twenty minutes. It does not count towards your EIAT score. It does feed your interview score, which is the part that ranks you, so it is worth more attention than its length suggests.

It covers naming common hand tools, choosing the right tool for a described job, and reading measuring instruments — a tape measure to a sixteenth of an inch in particular. Our tool assessment guide goes through it, and you can practise the tape measure itself on the tools and measuring section.

No calculator

Every published description of the test says no calculator is allowed, and NEIEP's own example questions are the sort you would work out on paper — decimal long division, multiplying mixed numbers, running an expression in the right order. This catches out more people than the content does. Most of us have not done long division by hand in years.

The fifth option

Worth knowing before you sit down: NEIEP's example maths questions offer five answers, and the fifth is "No answer". It exists to be used. If your working does not match any of the four figures listed, the correct response is to select it rather than to pick the nearest. Most practice material reproduces the option and never makes it the right answer, which quietly trains people to ignore it. Our maths section makes it correct often enough that you have to check.

How to prepare

1. Work on paper, timed. The difficulty is the medium and the clock, not the content. Practising arithmetic on a screen with a calculator to hand teaches you nothing about this test.
2. Find your weakest section early. Most people are noticeably worse at one of the three. For applicants who have not been in a classroom recently, it is usually the maths.
3. Do not skip the tool assessment. It is short, it is easy to prepare for, and it feeds the score that actually ranks you.
4. Answer everything. There is no published penalty for a wrong answer, so leaving a blank can only cost you.

Every section has a free sample on our EIAT practice page.