# Job assessment tests are unfair and strange!



## kiwikiwi

The working world has always worked fine without these ridiculous Job assessment tests came around. I failed one the other day for Walgreen's and I felt I had many unfair questions. The job simulation section asks about situations whose answer is not clear unless you have worked in that place for some time. They are related to that specific place policies and regulations that a stranger doesn't know one iota about. For example asking what you would do if somebody returns an item and it was broken, or helping to sort a bad situation out...or merchandise questions... the possible answers are not something that you should know just using common sense. The common sense questions are obviously understandable and easy but these 'simulation' crap is meant to be tricky and makes you waste more than an hour trying to figure it out like an idiot.

These tests incite people to lie just to get through the hoops. A simple interview would get the job done and it would be more direct, honest and resourceful than just staring at a screen.

I have seen professionals not get the job just because they didn't pass the stupid test. What would happen if someone keeps failing it ..will they never get a job then? How many of these tests have you taken yourself? Did you pass or fail?


----------



## lonerchick

I've taken a ton of these tests. I have no problem with the tests that are for stores. I run into problems with culture fit and job fit. I do poorly and rarely get interviews for those positions. However I worked for a place that had one of these tests before. They have poor employee morale because they rely to heavily on that stupid test when hiring people.

And I always lie about how outgoing I am on those tests.


----------



## kiwikiwi

lonerchick said:


> I've taken a ton of these tests. I have no problem with the tests that are for stores. I run into problems with culture fit and job fit. I do poorly and rarely get interviews for those positions. However I worked for a place that had one of these tests before. They have poor employee morale because they rely to heavily on that stupid test when hiring people.
> 
> And I always lie about how outgoing I am on those tests.


Oh yes the personality testing is heavy too..sometimes you are not sure if they actually want an extroverted person or someone who does his job quietly..I remember reading these laugh invoking questions for a job at subway. " I am fun at parties" "I am the center of attention" as if you needed to be some chatter box to make a sloppy meatball sandwich or to keep quiet to keep the line going? lol There's no way of knowing for sure :/


----------



## lonerchick

Funny thing is those super extroverted people are sometimes the worse employees in retail. Unless it involves sales.


----------



## kiwikiwi

They are also employing people who speak no English at all and I'm like how is that possible?


----------



## pork

I've never taken a test like that then again I've only had three jobs my entire adult life and all of them were because I talked to a hiring manager and they apparently liked me enough to not have to go through the whole interviewing process.

I'd imagine that computer tests are inefficient when it comes to judging a potential employee because computers cannot test things like hard work, consistency, innovation, and judgement.


----------



## thinkstoomuch101

I've had those. But i'm not sure how it works for all companies. Hospitals call those "assessment tests" -* surveys*.

So, when i've spent over an hour filling out an on-line application at 2:00 a.m., nothing can be more frustrating than this pop up that says:

"thank you for your online application, which is not complete until you have completed this *mandatory* "assessment survey".. This will take at least 45 mins."..:blank

I've learned to start filling out my applications at a more reasonable time, because those things will last between 15 to 45 mins.

and yeah, at 2:00 in the morning? damn right, i got rejected.

:lol


----------



## helpless

I just recently had my first assessment test, and was told that I had not passed it.

The questions involving dealing with dissatisfied customers would vary from how an employee is trained by different stores, and would not always be the same in every store.


----------



## JayDivision

Yeah, assessments bug me too, even though I think i'm starting to figure them out(at least when it comes to customer service jobs).


----------



## Owlbear

I failed the Walmart one way back, and the website told me I could apply again in six months. So here you've got a guy with a masters degree who while not social can be almost OCD with details and following orders on the job, physically fit, and has a high IQ, but somehow he's not worth hiring while those workers I see lounging in the aisles somehow passed the test.


----------



## huesos

I've read about those kinds of tests online, and apparently, you need to answer every question either with "Strongly Agree" or "Strongly Disagree". They'll also ask the same question several times with different wording, so if you are lying, make sure you are at least consistent.

Those tests really are not a good indicator of who will be good at a job, but they seem to be used mostly for very entry-level jobs, for people who have little or no previous job experience to judge their work ethic by. They also don't take into account that a lot of people will make themselves adapt to whatever job they have as long as they are on the clock. For example, I don't like people that much, but I work with them just fine in customer service. If I really didn't like the idea of it, I'd look for a different kind of job.


----------



## helpless

Thanks for telliing me about strongly agree or strongly disagree.

I'm planning to take the test again in 60 days.

They very annoying thing is that before I took the test, I was told that I would not be told what my score was.

How can I expect to ever pass the test if I don't know what the passing score is, and what my score was when I took it?


----------



## helpless

The Wal-Mart application said that passing the assessment test was required for "some" jobs, but did not say which ones.

I don't see why a person who can't pass the test would not be able to do a good job of stocking shelves.

Before requesting to see the hiring manager at Walmart, I told the people at the hiring table that I had not passed the assessment test, and was told that "they" were really in need of employess (95 in fact), to go on ahead and continue with my applicaton, and ask to see the hiring manager.

The hiring manager had 25 people ahead of me, so I put my name on the waiting list and was notified by a phone call the following day that I wouldn't be considered because of failing the test.

I suppose I could ask to see the hiring manager now that all those 95 jobs had been filled, and ask which jobs do not require passing the test, and if I was told "I can't tell you that," no problem.

I am wondering if temporary jobs require passing the assessment test.

I am not giving up on Wal Mart, tho, and will continue to apply every 60 days just for my own amusement, even if I never pass the assessment test, unless I do find a good job that I like, and pays well, so I wouldn't have time to fool with applications for jobs I knew I had no chance to get.


----------



## helpless

Well, I have lost track of how many days it has been since I did "not pass" Wally World's Assessment Test.

Probably 120 days, I'd think.

Next week, I will make my second application to Wally World, and make some notes on the assessment test while I take it.

I have thought of contacting the Hiring Director to find out what jobs at Wally World do not requre passing the assessment test.

I just wonder if she would tell me?

The Wally World material I got printed out (for free!) at Goodwill Industry's employment office, says that "some" of the jobs there require passing the assessment test. I want to apply for one of those jobs, although I would like to see if I can figure out what the right answers would be to pass the test.


----------



## twitchy666

*How does workplace relate to school?*

my offices were always far too similar to school

We all had shirts, ties, desks, seats, pen & paper
and screen, keyboard, mouse

blackboard, whiteboards.

I wanted outdoors. Indoors is OK.

Closest I ever got, that was any different from school was pizza delivery by moped. Freezing cold & pitch dark.

Every occupation was always hinged on learning, for me. Every street in town I learned thoroughly. That helped me scope the whole place, and decide from a list of potential new homes by remembering how happy the customers were. 
Now regretting where I live now, a bit.

What I gain from life is experience. More important than just money. Both very linked.

Relationship between boss and worker is always compromise from me, not from them. I'm open. Why every company, HR, boss so tunnel-visioned, cream-of-crop elite, only? Human population are ants, fish, sheep, to them. Must be perfect. Seems sensible. Does controlling people make them happy? Do they ever fail? Layer cake.

I'm on outskirts of never-allowed-back-in. One time out means never restart?

I bet there are plenty of special people who can cope with induced loneliness and rejection for long periods. Should be different social policies out there

Probation period lost? No range of compromise?

---------------- ignore that.

I meant to say Microsoft tests I've done, pertaining to my SQL expertise... NOT .net

The tests are not real world enough at all. Nor are hearing tests!

We get multiple-choice or radio button HTML test forms.

All kinds of... which is the best or right SQL query?
Reading through several examples to understand which bits are different, so taking a while investigating what's wrong and why, per example. Logical tests, but I dislike the format, layout and how virtual the content is.

I prefer to produce my own query to meet ad-hoc demands of managers.

I'm very ad-hoc. I Like my own way

Hearing tests have no real sounds at all. No birds tweets from trees. No jackhammer, no voice, no traffic, not any alarm beeps or microwave or phone ring.

Headphones of nigh silence. Press button if can hear some constant frequency. Boring. I press. I managed a mild comment and responded with description of what I heard, so they did take the button away, putting it on the desk. That was astounding. Kind, understanding. I didn't request that. 
I spent my time announcing there was no ear damage. Sensitive ears. I said let's not waste our time. Problem is processing human language. I expected an advanced solution, if it was a type of amp for ears so I could hear better...? I'd trial it for real, but pushed into standard sine wave test. Later, I feel like going back to shout at Reception how oblivious they were to my needs. NHS understood my problems much better in socially anxious symptoms. The private sector shunned NHS, saying it was cheap. Try our expensive kit; you'll hear much better!


----------



## kickedsaass

helpless said:


> Wally World's Assessment Test.


lol

Funny to see so many graduates working retail.


----------



## helpless

Great News, Everybody!

Took the Assessment Test for the second time on Saturday of last week, and Passed it!

And, I think that the sharing of the experience of huesos might have made the difference.

This time, on the agree or disagree questions, I put strongly agree or disagree.

But, now I have the Drug Test to pass!

I know a lot of people here on the Mesage Board take "benzos," such as diazepam.

I only take that drug occasionally, usually 1/2 of a tablet at a time, but I'm sure that would show up on a drug test.

I've got a friend who works at Wally World, and he has told me that if a drug that has been prescribed for you shows up on a test, you cannot be fired.

But, how about being hired?

I think that even if a drug were prescribed for you, you probably would not be hired if it showed up on a pre employment test.

I'll be searching the board for a thread on that problem.

Still have a good feeling about passing the Assessment test, even if I never get hired at Wally World.


----------

