Re: Why don't more job interviews use writing tests?

Subject: Re: Why don't more job interviews use writing tests?
From: Dick Margulis <margulisd -at- comcast -dot- net>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 19:51:56 -0500




Chuck Martin wrote:


Chuck Martin wrote:



This generated a number of replies. Some recall varying types of writing tests. But one response said, in part: "administering a writing test would take a lot of time for very little useful return."

It seems to me that if you give someone a subject and ask them to write about it, whether the subject is technical documentation or what they think of the sun rising this morning, it won't take more than a minute or two of reading the result to see a writer's skills.



Chuck,

While I basically share your sentiment and am not the person who posted that comment, I can see circumstances where it would apply. "Administering" a test is more than glancing at it for a minute or two in order to determine whether the person can write coherently. In a corporation of any size, administering a test also involves a certain level of record keeping to provide a paper trail in case a hiring decision is challenged by an applicant. You have to demonstrate that you tested every applicant for the position, that you did so in a consistent manner, and that you applied consistent and objective scoring criteria in a fair manner, and that the resulting test score resulting in an unambiguous contribution to the overall ranking of candidates. The seat-of-the-pants evaluation that we might be able to get away with in a small company (and even then it's a calculated risk) won't fly if there's an HR department within sniffing distance.

Dick

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