19 Mar 2013, 5:31 am
22 Mar 2013, 10:18 pm
22 Mar 2013, 10:29 pm
xeltifon wrote:
I may be alone here, and don't offer this as advice (I'm gloriously unemployed right now), but I would like to know if I'm the only one who finds computerized prescreening tests almost insurmountable.
I've *never* gotten a job offer from a place that uses prescreening tests -- usually big soulless corporation type places. At this point, I refuse to fill them out. It's either that or *lie* through my teeth on the tests; and I stopped working for people that I had to lie to in order to work for several years ago and am *not* going back.
It takes a *lot* of preparation on my part to walk in and "be charming" with a stranger. Once I've gotten myself ready and actually done it, it's not like I can turn around, run across town, and casually conduct three more interviews the same day. I don't go through all that just to be told by some lowly receptionist "you won't be meeting with *anyone*; so just sit quietly here and take this standardized test which will waste several hours of *your* day before we send you a brush-off form letter two weeks from now".
It would definitely be easier if I could just bring myself to give them the answers they *obviously* want. (They're not exactly "hard": e.g., "I am a team player"/"Agree" or "Disagree"? It's obvious what they *want* to hear.) The problem is that there's no room for subtlety or nuance: there's no option to say "I prefer working alone, anywhere between 70 and 90% of the time, but *do* find satisfaction when the end product of my labours fits seamlssly into a greater whole, the production of which has involved many others as well".
But I've *always* done better in person that with tests -- not terribly well, usually, but *always* better. (Part of me is just sick and tired of being tested all my life.) It's devilishly hard for me to get "ready" for an interview -- after I've gone through the whole "preparation" thing two (or more) times already for what seems to be the three-step process of (a) walking in, (a.1) determining who's in charge, (a.2) getting a feel for the place, and (a.3) asking for an application to begin with; then (b) (b.2) calling back, after (b.1) filling out the application with all the dreadful stuff you've already written out *quite* clearly on your resume, except that no employer on earth can apparently ever be bothered to actually *read* resumes, making me wonder why we as a culture *have* them); and (c) *finally*, if you're *very* lucky, coming in for an interview.
I'm not going to waste time I could better spend on any other part(s) of that process elsewhere on companies that demonstrate such disregard for my own time and effort before I even show up. It's a matter of basic self-respect, if you ask me. And I'm sure it'll be different for other people, so I repeat: this absolutely, positively ain't advice.
I'll quit ranting now. Enjoying the conversation. Thanks, all.
I've *never* gotten a job offer from a place that uses prescreening tests -- usually big soulless corporation type places. At this point, I refuse to fill them out. It's either that or *lie* through my teeth on the tests; and I stopped working for people that I had to lie to in order to work for several years ago and am *not* going back.
It takes a *lot* of preparation on my part to walk in and "be charming" with a stranger. Once I've gotten myself ready and actually done it, it's not like I can turn around, run across town, and casually conduct three more interviews the same day. I don't go through all that just to be told by some lowly receptionist "you won't be meeting with *anyone*; so just sit quietly here and take this standardized test which will waste several hours of *your* day before we send you a brush-off form letter two weeks from now".
It would definitely be easier if I could just bring myself to give them the answers they *obviously* want. (They're not exactly "hard": e.g., "I am a team player"/"Agree" or "Disagree"? It's obvious what they *want* to hear.) The problem is that there's no room for subtlety or nuance: there's no option to say "I prefer working alone, anywhere between 70 and 90% of the time, but *do* find satisfaction when the end product of my labours fits seamlssly into a greater whole, the production of which has involved many others as well".
But I've *always* done better in person that with tests -- not terribly well, usually, but *always* better. (Part of me is just sick and tired of being tested all my life.) It's devilishly hard for me to get "ready" for an interview -- after I've gone through the whole "preparation" thing two (or more) times already for what seems to be the three-step process of (a) walking in, (a.1) determining who's in charge, (a.2) getting a feel for the place, and (a.3) asking for an application to begin with; then (b) (b.2) calling back, after (b.1) filling out the application with all the dreadful stuff you've already written out *quite* clearly on your resume, except that no employer on earth can apparently ever be bothered to actually *read* resumes, making me wonder why we as a culture *have* them); and (c) *finally*, if you're *very* lucky, coming in for an interview.
I'm not going to waste time I could better spend on any other part(s) of that process elsewhere on companies that demonstrate such disregard for my own time and effort before I even show up. It's a matter of basic self-respect, if you ask me. And I'm sure it'll be different for other people, so I repeat: this absolutely, positively ain't advice.
I'll quit ranting now. Enjoying the conversation. Thanks, all.
I flunked the Wal-Mart pre-screen a few times but finally passed it a year later because I had taken notes on what my earlier responses were. Of course, the note taking slowed my first test completion time, but eventually I passed with that information!
However, I was not called for an interview. Two years after that, I passed an online assessment of both personality and customer service skills for a telecom out of LaCrosse, WI. The web application actually simulated customers calling with billing problems!
I was amazed to pass those only to show up to the interview over-dressed -- everyone else in the position I applied for was in jeans, and the interviewer stared at me the entire time no matter how much or little I smiled, though I erred on smiling too much and being confident I'd be able to sell upgrades despite lack of commissioned sales experience. Anne didn't buy it!
On a humorous note, I learned her email handle -- first initial, middle initial, and last name -- is spelled "analpart"! I really let her have it on that one because she wasted our time by ignoring my explicit lack of sales experience on my resume. What a dummy, that exec!
22 Mar 2013, 10:42 pm
24 Apr 2013, 6:48 pm
15 May 2013, 8:39 pm
16 May 2013, 12:26 am
17 May 2013, 5:16 pm
17 May 2013, 5:19 pm
31 May 2013, 1:08 am
25 Jul 2013, 6:51 am
01 Aug 2013, 1:52 pm
02 Aug 2013, 10:35 am
Hello again everybody. I have another question for you guys. Once I get a new job, do you guys have any advice for me on how to keep my job? Let me know. Thanks. 
01 Oct 2013, 9:53 pm
12 Nov 2013, 10:15 am
12 Nov 2013, 10:20 am
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