Pre-employment tests

[wildmaven]

Have you ever had to take a test as part of a hiring process?

Since I've been looking for work for the past 2 (!!!!) years, I've been subjected to a bunch of assessment tests by Indeed.com. I also had to take an actual IQ test during an interview for an eye doctor (I didn't get the job).

How about you? Have you had to take such tests? What are your thoughts about that attempt to measure your competency/IQ as part of pre-employment?

[Wesley2005]

May 23, 2022 14:39:03 GMT -8 wildmaven said:

Have you ever had to take a test as part of a hiring process?

Since I've been looking for work for the past 2 (!!!!) years, I've been subjected to a bunch of assessment tests by Indeed.com. I also had to take an actual IQ test during an interview for an eye doctor (I didn't get the job).

How about you? Have you had to take such tests? What are your thoughts about that attempt to measure your competency/IQ as part of pre-employment?

To be honest, when I was going to go into logistics I had to take a MAP test. Of the USA.. I had to study hard for it sadly hahah I found out I did not know my states very well.

I had IQ tests as well and managerial exams to take prior to the position I hold now.

[harryk]

Nothing recent. But about 35 years ago I went for and got a job to open a new mental health training and teaching centre in the community.

The interview process took all day, including an IQ test in the Medical Research Centre next door.

The interview panel consisted of my boss to be, his boss, her boss, two psychiatrists and a psychologist. It was terrifying. The chat part of the interview took over an hour.

The reason I got the job was because I was the only one out of 35 interviewees (170 applicants) who went amd worked with the clients while waiting my turn. I sat in front of them tie-less, jacket-less, covered in sawdust with my hands stained red from screen printing.

17 years later we where closed down because of government cuts. Most fun job I've ever had, but the pay was awful.

[Willow]

I took some IQ and other tests at the beginning of my career but reached a point where if any places required an exam or test, I passed on the job. If you can't find out what you need from checking a person's refs, past employers and interviews that's more a reflection on the people doing the hiring than the person being interviewed. Plus, some people are horrible at tests and are brilliant in real world situations sometimes. It’s just more busy work for people to justify their jobs IMO. That said, there may be certain STEM fields where these tests may be useful but they shouldn’t be the sole basis on hiring someone or not.

Funny fact, I went to on interview once that required such a test. Normally I would have just left but I figured, what the hell? For dookies and giggles I made sure to get every single answer wrong, not just wrong but REALLY wrong. It was a fill in the blank/show your work type of test. Then I left thinking that was the end of it.

However, the person who looked over the test was so impressed about how I was so creative with my answers making them look serious but totally BS they knew I had thrown the test on purpose. It was perfectly dreadful. He called me and we talked and joked about it and he offered me the job. I was there for 5 years.

[Darkmage4]

Math test. Why should I do a math test for cart pushing? I'm not dividing carts, or wondering how many carts Linda took for pie. Lol.


Otherwise, that was the only time.

[Scott]

May 23, 2022 14:39:03 GMT -8 wildmaven said:

 I also had to take an actual IQ test during an interview for an eye doctor (I didn't get the job).

Are you sure it wasn't an Eye-Q test?  If you scored other than 20-20 you failed. 

[HoudiniDerek]

I have from time to time on sites like Indeed, but not anything for a specific job. I don't always feel like they matter in the grand scheme of things. A test can't tell if you if they are a fit for the team, hard worker, etc.

[wildmaven]

May 25, 2022 16:24:29 GMT -8 Scott said:

May 23, 2022 14:39:03 GMT -8 wildmaven said:

 I also had to take an actual IQ test during an interview for an eye doctor (I didn't get the job).

Are you sure it wasn't an Eye-Q test?  If you scored other than 20-20 you failed. 

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! It all makes sense now! 😁

[daniel]

Back in the ancient times, the middle-aughts, I took a "personality test" when I was new in a sales/retail job. There were a lot of "what would you do..." type questions. I failed it, apparently. Didn't matter as as I was in a non-sales role at the time.

After watching people come and go and gaining some life wisdom I figured out that they were looking for reps that would definitely not steal from the company but would be aggressively borderline in dealing with customers. It shouldn't be too much of a surprise that a number of the people who "passed" this test ended up stealing from their work, too!

[wildmaven]

Jun 11, 2022 15:11:06 GMT -8 daniel said:

Back in the ancient times, the middle-aughts, I took a "personality test" when I was new in a sales/retail job. 

I had to take one for a job I had in NY. It generated name tags of various colors so that, apparently, people could see what color you were and know how best to interact with you. It was kind of funny, though, that all management staff ended up with red, the office staff were yellow, technical staff were blue, and myself and one other person were green.  

Employee Personality "Colors"

Cool Blue — Cautious, precise, deliberate, questioning, and formal.

Earth Green — Caring, encouraging, sharing, patient, and relaxed.

Sunshine Yellow — Sociable, dynamic, demonstrative, enthusiastic, and persuasive.

Fiery Red — Competitive, demanding, determined, strong-willed, and purposeful.