Ace the PG&E Physical Test Battery with Accurate Practice Tests and Guides

The Physical Test Battery (PTB) allows PG&E to assess applicants’ problem-solving and mechanical abilities. The test is offered to job candidates who are applying for jobs requiring certain physical capabilities. It consists of numerical ability and space visualization sections, both of which have a strict time limit.

The Numerical Ability Test is a measurement of your problem-solving abilities with the help of mathematical questions. To solve these mathematical problems, you will need to perform basic calculations such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing.

This test is a multiple-choice assessment, and you must select one answer among five options. It has 75 questions overall that are evenly distributed among three parts.

The first section evaluates how well you make calculations with whole numbers. The second part estimates your knowledge of decimals. The third part measures your proficiency with fractions.

By making these calculations, you will demonstrate your ability to process information and solve problems in a short amount of time, indispensable skills for physical jobs.

The Space Visualization Test evaluates your ability to visualize two and three-dimensional forms in space and manipulate them mentally.

You need to know how to rotate objects mentally and imagine how they would look from a different angle. Having turned objects around, you will need to make conclusions about them based on the limited information you are given.

The test consists of 50 questions, each of which presents pictures of piles of blocks. Your task is to evaluate how many blocks a specified block touches.

Blocks on the picture are marked with capital letters of the English alphabet, from A to E. You will need to tick the circle containing the correct number of blocks touched by the marked block.

The Time Limit for this test is only five minutes. Visualizing figures in space is the major component of the mechanical ability required for physical jobs at PG&E.

Although the Physical Battery Test is not tremendously difficult, it should be completed within a very short period of time, which can be challenging.

After you apply online by submitting your résumé and application form, you will have a phone interview with a PG&E recruiter.

This interview will revolve around your work history and career goals. Another option PG&E offers to job applicants is to have an online video recording interview instead of a phone interview.

The pre-recorded interview webcam session contains five or six questions. You will be given one minute to prepare for each question and three minutes to record it.

Although this interview may be less personal than a phone interview, you may correct your answers and record your answers as many times as you want. Most of the questions will assess your behavior in specific situations.

This test aims to measure applicants’ problem-solving skills through mathematical questions. You will be asked to perform basic arithmetic calculations such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing whole numbers, decimals, and fractions. This test is broken down into three parts, each of which contains 25 questions. You will need to choose the correct answer from five given options.

This test evaluates how well you visualize forms in space and manipulate two-dimensional and three-dimensional objects mentally. You will be asked to envisage how objects will look when rotated. The test will offer you to analyze 50 pictures of piles of blocks. Your task will be to indicate how many blocks a specific block touches.

If you are applying for the position of Electric Settlement Associate Analyst or Business Finance Analyst, you may be asked to take the Excel test as well. In this test, you will need to demonstrate your knowledge of Excel and perform such actions as formatting, editing, protecting cells, and creating charts and graphs. The Excel exam may take up to 40 minutes.

In some cases, in addition to the PTB, you may be required to pass the FCC license test.

If you score high on your Physical Test Battery, you will be invited for a face-to-face interview with the company’s representatives. As a rule, the personal interview at PG&E takes the form of a panel. You will have a conversation with a manager of Human Resources and your prospective managers.

Sometimes, the interview panel will be divided into two parts, giving you an opportunity to speak with six PG&E’s employers. Interviewers will describe the duties and responsibilities that you will have if you get hired.

Prepare also to answer behavioral and competency-based questions in the STAR format. PG&E’s interviewers may also ask you to describe your behavior and reaction in specified situational scenarios.

Other questions posed in the face-to-face interview are about safety rules or of a technical nature.

You will be asked to give EVMS calculation data or analyze the code that you have prepared at home. Or you may be invited to make a PowerPoint slide presentation that you submit prior to the interview. Overall, this interview may last from 90 minutes to four hours.

Those applicants who are vying for a position of a Field Electrician may be sent to a camp where they will need to demonstrate that they are intellectually and physically able to perform required tasks.

If you receive a job offer at PG&E, you will need to do a drug test within 72 business hours from the offer.

PG&E's interview process is complex. Apart from asking job applicants to take tests, PG&E’s recruiters schedule two interviews.

The first interview is conducted either on the phone or via webcam. You will need either to answer a recruiter’s questions about your work experience or reply to pre-recorded questions on the computer.

The second interview is a face-to-face panel conversation with several managers. To gather all the relevant information about candidates’ ability to perform required tasks.

PG&E’s employers use the STAR technique, believing that this format has a higher degree of predictability of future performance at work than the traditional interview.

The STAR interview format is a behavioral technique and has the following constituents:

• Situation: You will be required to talk about a challenging situation that you faced in your previous workplace.
• Task: The interviewer will want to know what you were trying to achieve in the challenging situation. When answering questions about the tasks, emphasize your motivations to perform.
• Actions: The interviewer will want to know what exactly you did in the challenging situation and what were the alternative actions available to you. You will need to explain why you chose to act as you did.
• Results: You will need to elaborate on what you achieved through your actions and tell the recruiter how you met your objectives. Prepare also to tell what you learned from your experience.

In addition to describing your behavior in a challenging situation, get ready to talk about safety in the workplace.

It is advisable to familiarize yourself with the company’s safety rules before you set a foot in the interview room and think over a safety story that you will tell PG&E’s recruiters.

Other questions will be technical. The following list contains some of the questions asked during my PG&E interview:

• What is your experience with safety initiatives?
• Have you ever been faced with an immediate safety issue and how did you deal with it?
• Describe the leadership triangle and the influence you had in it that lead to a consensus decision.
• Provide an example of a time when you had to make a difficult decision that others may have opposed.
• Describe a time that shows how you overcame a large challenge in your previous role.
• Describe three elements of your personality that make you a good fit for the applied position.
• What was your greatest accomplishment?
• What is a good example of a safety story that you can share with us?
• Tell me about a time when you made a mistake at work. Did that affect your professional relationship with a stakeholder? How did you handle or resolve it?
• What does the term VOIP mean?
• If you were replacing a large diameter pipeline in a commercial area, what considerations would need to be made to assure the pipeline was installed successfully?
• What are D.b.s., T3, and Fiber optics?
• What experience have you had with FERC?

Go over the listed questions and formulate clever answers to them in advance.

Coming to the interview equipped with convincing answers will help you create a favorable impression on the interviewers.

By sounding confident and smart, you'll easily convince them to shortlist you for the desired job.

 The Physical Test Battery is offered to candidates for any position involving a physical job. Among these positions are the roles of the Materials Engineer and Utility Worker.

Materials Engineers usually specialize in metals, plastics, or ceramics. They often need to discover new applications for the mechanical, electrical, or chemical properties of the materials they use.

To do this, they develop composite materials and study their atomic structure. Materials engineers work with power tools, lab equipment, and computer technology.

Their work duties include analyzing materials and data, conducting tests, monitoring performance, and ensuring quality control.

Materials engineers also train technicians and lab workers, maintain inventories and order supplies.

Utility Workers perform maintenance activities. Their job usually requires a lot of lifting and climbing. They also need to operate vehicles and maintenance equipment. Utility workers also conduct the inspection of projects upon their completion.

If utility workers are responsible for mending a vehicle, for instance, they should make sure that all parts of it have been replaced correctly. Utility workers also replace or mend broken equipment.

They may also troubleshoot power tools or replace a broken component on a production machine.

Utility workers also locate the tools and parts needed to complete the task successfully.

Can I Retake the Physical Test Battery If I Fail?

You can retake the Physical Test Battery after a certain waiting period. If you failed the PTB once, you will have your second attempt three months after.

You are allowed to take your third attempt six months after the second. Fourth and the subsequent attempts are permitted one year after the previous attempt.

When Should I Take the Physical Test Battery?

When you receive an email with a test key, you will have 5 days to take the PTB. If you do not take it within 5 calendar days, the test will expire. The test will not be extended after this time.

What Do I Do If I Receive Two invitations for the Same Test?

If you receive duplicate invites for the same test, take it only once.

Can I Use a Calculator on the Physical Test Battery?

You cannot use the calculator. You are permitted to use only a pen or pencil and some scratch paper.

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• PG&E Pre-Employment Practice Tests

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