Had a phone interview today with a large IT consultancy firm, they want me to come in a do some "temperament" based psychometric testing, I hate that stuff, it basically consists of questions like these:
My strongest inclination is to be
a. Dominating
b. Charismatic
c. Conscientious
d. Steady
Or
A compliment would be to say that I'm
a. Charming
b. Patient
c. Logical
d. Sensitive
Or
I take the most pride in being
a. A winner
b. Competent
c. Authentic
d. Accountable
Dear god, and they based who they are going to hire off these questions.
My strongest inclination is to be
a. Dominating
b. Charismatic
c. Conscientious
d. Steady
Or
A compliment would be to say that I'm
a. Charming
b. Patient
c. Logical
d. Sensitive
Or
I take the most pride in being
a. A winner
b. Competent
c. Authentic
d. Accountable
Dear god, and they based who they are going to hire off these questions.
posted by serp at 12:30 PM
4 Comments:
My strongest inclination is to be
e. a cunt
A compliment would be to say that I'm
e. challenging
I take the most pride in being
e. right
^_^
haha. Well lucky there isnt the option:
e) Other (please specify): ___________
:)
But seriously wtf is with all this psych testing, it's all a bit of a load of crap. I've worked in an office for 5 years and half the people are nuts. I don't see how psychometric testing can be of any use but to just give HR something to do (which is often what stupid-and-useless office things are the result of, such as ergonomic assessments, 'is your desk ergonomic?'). Serp has his head screwed on, they should just hire him on face value and be done with all the HR bollocks. Good luck with it all serp!
Thanks mate, need all the kind words I can get! It is all pretty demoralising. It's funny how the closer you get to getting a grad position the more demoralising it is!
No worries! But keep at it, that's all you can do. You'll get an open door soon and you'll be glad you tried so hard. I feel for you :( I just think it's so crap how companies do this. Why are they so worried about employing someone who isn't perfect for the job? In my opinion, all this psychometric testing is just HR crap, because anyone with half a brain can figure out what they want to hear, and answer based on that. I mean can "I take the most pride in being" have anything to do with how well you can analyse foreign investment markets (ie perform your job duties)? They will only get two types of answers. Fake ones and real ones, and they won't be able to tell the difference.
Anyway I thought of you when I got this email from Engineers Australia about careers. I get emails like this from them pretty much once a month at least. The first part reads:
"I would like to invite you to attend the second session in the Career Lifecycle and Management series:
Session 2: Life after University ... how to win that job
This session will cover the following ideas:
- Career options for the various disciplines (including: skills shortages/salaries, etc).
- Working overseas versus working in Australia.
- where to look for jobs.
- how to apply for jobs (including resume/covering letter, etc).
- how to succeed in the interview.
- the role of work experience. "
I can answer all them without going to the thing:
- Career options for the various disciplines (including: skills shortages/salaries, etc). -- I read the news, and already know where the engineering skills shortages are. And salaries - does it look like I have an option if I have to attend your seminars about how to even get a job? I'll start out on some basic graduate salary which is wholly up to whatever company decides to employ me after me licking their ass and jumping through their 99 interview process hoops.
- Working overseas versus working in Australia. -- Firstly, engineering sucks in Australia. Underpaid, barely any jobs, most R&D is overseas. So there's your answer. But given my family and whole life is in Australia, I guess I have no option but to stay and bear the shortage of skills and salary. It's not that bad these days though.
- where to look for jobs. -- seek.com.au; monster.com.au; [engineering firm].com.au; etc.
- how to apply for jobs (including resume/covering letter, etc). -- Click 'Apply for Job'. Resume, yeah I probably could do with some pointers on that, but I think mine is ok. I change it for almost every job I apply for. Tell them what they want to hear pretty much.
- how to succeed in the interview. -- By myself. What else can I do? Be a fake?
- the role of work experience. -- Important. Experience is much higher viewed than degrees. At least thats what experience tells me from working in a few offices. But if you have no experience, how can it have any role in the interview process? You're fucked if there's heaps of other people with experience. :(
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