Ever had a writing test in an interviewHello all, Just wanted some words of wisdom to placate myself... I had an interview last week , and I thought it went well. They had me come back this week to take a writing test. The actual writing part I think I did ok on, but then there was a section where I had to respond to hypothetical emails from clients "writing" to me with emergencies. I answered to the best of my ability, but I am an entry-level candidate and haven't had that much experience in the field. So I guess my question is do you think hiring managers realize that when they give these kinds of test to entry-level ppl that the tests are really just a determiner of POTENTIAL, and not necessarily current ability? I mean, obviously if I got the job I'd learn about how to deal with certain situations and whatnot, but right now I am in a position where I did the best I could but don't know if it's what they were looking for... because I guess I wouldn't really know what they are looking for until I actually start working there, if that makes sense... Advice? I doubt they were looking for the "right" answers to the question. My guess is they were trying to find out if you have the basic written communication skills needed to deal effectively with customers. That you can spell, use proper grammar, construct a sentence of more than a handful of words, and be clear about your meaning. Unfortunately, SO many people today lack the above skills... If I owned a company in which my employees had to correspond on a regular basis with clients, I would want those employees to be as articulate as possible. It is a reflection on the company if its employees cannot spell or use appropriate grammar, etc. Based on your post, which was well written (I don't think you had one spelling error!!), I'll bet you did just fine! Good luck; hope you get the job, and let us know! As a writer, I am curious to know whether my assumption is correct. One of my biggest gripes in life is that schools are turning out people who do not have mastery of even basic English skills. It must be very difficult for companies to find people who can communicate well in writing with vendors, clients, customers, etc. "One of my biggest gripes in life is that schools are turning out people who do not have mastery of even basic English skills." That' s absolutely correct. I have said that many times on these Forums. he basics are not taught the way they used to be taught any longer. In my opinion, if a high school student does not demonstrate basic mastery of the English language, he should not be allowed to graduate with his class. If he wants to graduate any time soon, he should take remedial classes in English, pass the required tests, and then he should be ready to compete with other job seekers or continue his education. You see evidence of this deficiency on these Forums all the time! I am in a position where I did the best I could but don' t know if it' s what they were looking for... because I guess I wouldn' t really know what they are looking for until I actually start working there, if that makes sense... Advice? Unfortunately you are victim of really bad hiring practices. The use of behavioral/skills demonstrations (i.e., mock presentations, writing exercises, mock sales calls) are often done horribly in interviews. Ideally the interviewer should be clear as to the expectations of the exercise BUT many many many HR dolts don' t have a clue and just include random things because they are supposed to... "Yeah get them to write a sample press release." but most of these HR dolts don' t give the criteria for success... beyond maybe some stupid statement like "spelling counts." A well thought out behavioral exercise should be something like this. Using this laptop computer, you will have 45 minutes to write a 1 page press release on product X using the product x spec sheet as reference materials. You can also access the press release section of our website for other samples. The Press release will be scored by three people and the scores will be averaged. The average score will be 10% of your overall ranking. The press release will be scored as follows: 1) Accuracy 20%, 2) Creativity 20%; 3) spelling and grammar 30%, 4) Clarity 30%. Ideally the interviewers would have a rubric supporting the 4 criteria so they can objectively and fairly assign points across candidate for each of the somewhat abstract concepts. The morale of the story is this. You will never know, even if you are hired what the HR Dolts were looking for cause they likely don' t know. In the future, when given a behavioral/skills demonstration to do simply ask, "How will this exercise be judged?" Ask it an you will sound really smart and you will be able to write for success. I was sure they were looking just to see if you could write well, and could think. And I could tell by your post that you can do both! There' s no way you could know the "right" answer, not knowing their procedures.... While I agree they could have clued you in a bit more on why they were testing you, I see nothing wrong or unprofessional with this situation! When you are in the workplace, employers do not expect to have to babysit you once you learn your job. And they would like to see some common sense and ability to think on your feet, without having everything spelled out for you. What better way than for them to give an extemporaneous test? Actuyally, I think this is a great way to screen candidates. If you knew exactly what they were looking for and gave them just that, how would they really know whether or not you can "think"? JMHO, of course, but I would use something like this if I needed people who could communicate intelligently and coherently, and who had to, on occasion, figure out things for themselves! I see nothing wrong or unprofessional with this situation! When you are in the workplace, employers do not expect to have to babysit you once you learn your job. While I agree with your statement above, there is a difference between babysitting and giving clear expectations. AND I stand by my original statement that HR Dolts don' t know how to effectively screen candidates for Skills and knowledge. Being able to objectively define what knowledge and skills a candidate needs to possess is very important and in the absence of objective criteria employers end up hiring the best personality versus the best skilled person. I have seen it over and over again. HR Dolts don' t know how to effectively screen candidates for Skills and knowledge. Being able to objectively define what knowledge and skills a candidate needs to possess is very important and in the absence of objective criteria employers end up hiring the best personality versus the best skilled person.. I totally agree with you that many HR "dolts" do not know how to screen candidates. My point here was that this particular "test" the OP was presented with did not appear to be some subjective exercise, the purpose of which is questionable. Or unfair, or unprofessional. And I agree that some small amount of clarification would have been in order, such as "We don' t expect you to know how to answer this from a procedural right or wrong perspective." But giving an unexpected, unannounced test for which the candidate was not given "clear" expectations or directions is, I think, and outstanding way of doing just what you advocate--judging a candidate on his or her ability to do the job, not on his or her personality. One could have the greatest presence and personality in a face-to-face interview, and thus be very impressive, but if that person cannot write, on his or her own, a cogent e-mail to a customer, then his or her personality will not be the deciding factor. If you have to spell out to a candidate, "We are looking to see if you know good grammar, can spell, can construct a sentence of more than five words, and can politely & effectively handle a customer inquiry, and that you can think on your own" that defeats the whole purpose of the test! Of course if you know they are looking for those things, you will labor over your spelling and grammar, exercise your brain to its max if necessary, and you and may get it "right" for this test. However, that' s a totally unrealistic situation insofar as everyday work. A better way to judge effectiveness is to just give it to the person and see how they handle it. Not only can that give you a clue as to his/her ability to communicate, it could also provide insight into how that person handles the unexpected. Whacking a candidate in the side of the head during an interview might also be an indicator of how a person handles stress and I would suggest is a better exercise than an arbitrary and undefined writing exercise. If you have to spell out to a candidate, "We are looking to see if you know good grammar, can spell, can construct a sentence of more than five words, and can politely & effectively handle a customer inquiry, and that you can think on your own" that defeats the whole purpose of the test! My point is that Doltish HR practices where expectations are undefined likely is the predecessor to Doltish Management practices, where the expectations of the workplace are undefined and the employee is left to guess at at his/her performance. I say consider poor hiring practices as the canary in the coal mine of the management practices. I am not even going to pretend that I know more than every fifth word of what you and Ann Marie are trying to convey to each other. But, getting back to the question of a writing test in an interview, I not only want them, I expect them. Because my field is law, the way of writing is slightly different than Webster's dictionary. And I am not talking about "wherefores" "hereto", etc. I am talking about block quotes and witness and expert statements . Those are things that ALL decent legal assistants and even legal secretaries should be aware of without detailed instructions. Yes, there are different formats that the individual law firm makes use of, but the general principal is the same. Also when citing parts of the law as written in the different state's revised statutes. Individual law firms may want one thing, but with writing tests, they are looking for general knowledge. I, for one, welcome the opportunity to show, and share, my knowledge with these tests. | |
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