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Subject:Re: A Test to Select Comp From:"Gray,Gary P" <GRAY -at- BOS -dot- MSMAIL -dot- IDX -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 6 Mar 1995 11:07:00 EST
Marilynne wrote:
>I once spent 5 hours preparing for and going to a job interview just to
>discover that everyone who was remotely qualified was being asked to do a
2-
>hour writing and editing test. I had been led to believe that I was coming
>for an interview and a little test. As it was, I was handed the test and
>told to leave the test with one of the word processors on the way out.
>There was no interview. That company (not a small or insignificant one) is
>on *my* blacklist.
I had a similar experience when I was just out of college. I was told I
would
be taking a test. No explanation other than that. I could have been going
in for a drug test, for all I knew.
I walk in, a secretary greets me, asks me to sit down with a bunch of other
people. We're all herded into a room, given tests, and told to leave them in
an envelope at the front of the room. Then she left us alone. The HR person
in charge of all this couldn't even be bothered to show up and greet us.
The test was simple, and seemed to me to be very subjective. In the end,
I fought off the urge to put at the bottom of the last page "Now that I've
taken your test, please don't contact me again. I do not wish to work for
you." Unfortunately, I didn't do that, and I ended up getting the job. I had
to take it. 8 months of unemployment takes its toll. If I ever do face
a testing situation like that again, I will go ahead and tell
them not to contact me. Assuming I do well on the test, I would
like them to know the quality of the candidate this practice costs
them.
The entire experience was cold, impersonal, and embarrassing. I
thought that bringing together the job applicants and sticking them
into a room unsupervised was just Not Done. Putting people into this
sort of situation is not a good way to make a first impression.
When I quit, I told my manager about the testing situation. She
was astonished at what had gone on. HR had never explained to anyone
what they did when they tested. So, a tip to managers out there... if your
HR department does use tests to cull out the weak, be sure they
are at least going about it in a civil manner.
Gary Gray
Technical Writer
IDX Systems Corp.
gray -at- idx -dot- com
