Chapter 8
Congratulations! If you’ve been working through this book in order, then you’ve reviewed all of the portions of the AFQT, which is crucial for your eligibility to enlist in the armed forces. However, perhaps you don’t just want to enlist—you may want to enlist and to qualify for a specific job. There are many varieties of specialized job opportunities in the armed forces, which could form the foundation for a lifelong military career or could prepare you for a successful career in civilian life after you’ve completed your military service. Doing well on the ASVAB’s technical subtests, in addition to the AFQT, is important for qualifying for many of those specialized jobs.
The next six chapters will prepare you for the ASVAB technical subtests: General Science, Electronics Information, Automotive Information, Shop Information, Mechanical Comprehension, and Assembling Objects. The amount of emphasis you should give to each of these chapters will depend on which job or jobs you desire. Be sure to speak with a recruiter, do your research, and form a sense of which subtests are most important for your goals. That knowledge, combined with your performance on the Diagnostic Test which forms chapter 2 of this book, will tell you which topics you need to study most.
If you aren’t sure which career path you are interested in, pay attention to your strengths and the parts of the ASVAB you enjoy. If there is a particular topic that is of interest to you and you would like to learn more about it, you can use that passion to help you decide a potential career path. Conducting online research and speaking to a recruiter can help you determine which paths would help you pursue your interests in the best way. This information can help focus your study time on the most beneficial sections of the test for your ideal path.
Just as with math questions, it’s very important to figure out what your task is. Does the right answer represent the value of a variable? The name of a planet? The definition of a unit of measure? The name of a type of tool? How much force is required to move an object? and so on.
Often, a quick glance at the answer choices can help point you in the right direction. Don’t read them all in depth; simply use them to get a sense of what your task is. If all the answer choices are numbers followed by “mHz,” you will be calculating the frequency of a wave and expressing that frequency in megahertz. If all the answer choices are the names of planets, your job is to identify a planet. If it’s an Auto Information question and all of the answer choices start with verbs, it’s likely you’ll be describing how to go about some type of auto repair.
This step varies quite a bit depending on the subject matter. Therefore, this section will discuss a variety of approaches depending on the information you are given.
Some technical subtest question may include a diagram. On those questions, ask yourself:
Some technical subtest questions resemble math questions. You may be asked to perform calculations, manipulate variables, or apply a formula (especially on Mechanical Comprehension, but on other tests as well). You can often approach these questions using the same tactics you use for the math subtests. Review chapter 5 to remind yourself of these approaches. For each technical subtest question involving math, ask yourself:
Some technical subtest questions may include a graphical representation of data. If you see a chart, graph, table, or other visual arrangement of data, ask yourself:
If a technical subtest question includes a few sentences of introductory text, take a moment to paraphrase them to ensure that you understand before you move on to Step 3.
Just as on Paragraph Comprehension and Word Knowledge, having a prediction is a great strategy for finding the right answer efficiently and not being distracted by tempting wrong answer choices. In your practice, try putting a sticky note or your hand over the answer choices as you’re working through Step 2, above, to force yourself to practice predicting. (Try to predict unless you’re using a strategic math approach like Backsolving or Strategic Guessing. Those strategies do not require making a prediction.) Practice not looking at the answer choices until it becomes natural. On Test Day, it will be a waste of time to literally cover the answer choices in any way. By practicing the skill now, you will understand the benefit of predicting and increase your ability to do so.
Got a solid prediction? Look for it among the choices.
If you don’t have a solid prediction, seek to discard wrong answer choices that do not make sense. You might be able to eliminate choices that:
Memorize the method below as soon as possible. You don’t want to put off learning it. You’ll have lots of content review to do in the coming chapters, and you will want the method in place so that you can use what you learn about the subject matter to your advantage on ASVAB questions.
Note: The method above should form your approach to General Science, Electronics Information, Automotive Information, Shop Information, and Mechanical Comprehension questions. However, since the Assembling Objects test requires a somewhat different skill set, we will present a different method for the Assembling Objects test in chapter 14.
As you study the technical subtest material in the second half of this book, don’t forget to periodically review the math and verbal topics in the first half of this book. Good luck with your preparations for the technical subtests!