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Subject:Re: Taking Tests From:Marilynne Smith <mrsmith -at- CTS -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 29 Dec 1995 00:18:00 PST
At 12:40 PM 12/28/95 EDT, Tom T Kiersted/asf wrote:
<snip, snip, snip>
>I'm not a big supporter of standarized tests (though I've always done well on
>them). As the truism runs, "Tests test best testees' test-taking and testers'
>test-making." I say let companies hire and promote those with the skills sets
>best suited to them and the heck with certification.
I certainly agree with you here. A long, long time ago, I applied to a well
known insurance company for the position of receptionist. The job was to
answer the phones, collect payments brought in person, and direct people to
the person they needed to talk to. I felt I could do that job well.
They gave me an aptitude test that was slanted towards the insurance
industry in general. I took the test. My time wasn't up. I went over my
answers. My time wasn't up. I was bored, so I went in search of the person
who was monitoring the test and turned the test in early.
They called me for an interview. They said I had the highest score they had
ever received on this test. They hired me on the spot (at a chillingly low
wage). Because I did so well on the test, they put me in a position where I
opened the mail containing monthly payments, recorded the payment, and
totaled it up at the end of the day. This was shown to me as a great honor
and befitting my test scores.
Now days, any time I think I'm bored, I think back to when I had that job.
Nothing has ever, ever, ever been as boring as that job. I'm a people
person, not a numbers person. I can do numbers well, but I don't *like* to
do numbers. Not surprisingly, I didn't do well at that job. I was too
bored to pay attention.
Well, since then, taking a test to determine my aptitude for a job has not
found high favor with me. That's how I got the most boring job of my life.
Marilynne
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Marilynne Smith
mrsmith -at- cts -dot- com
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