On Sun, 22 Jan 2023 22:17:36 -0800, Rick wrote:
"Jethro_uk" wrote in message news:tqiv36$2657i$18@dont-email.me...
On Sat, 21 Jan 2023 15:27:28 -0800, Rick wrote:
"Jethro_uk" wrote in message news:tqgg6s$2657i$6@dont-email.me...
On Tue, 17 Jan 2023 16:21:15 -0800, Stuart O. Bronstein wrote:
Jethro_uk <jethro_uk@hotmailbin.com> wrote:
Totally OT: But I did read that famed fraudster Frank Abagnale
really did manage to pass the Louisiana State Bar in his conman
career ....
I am constantly surprised by the stupidity of some people who have
passed the Bar.
Weirdly I am not. But I learned long ago that pieces of paper are very >>>>poor proxies for intelligence.
Want to do well ? Choose good parents.
Conversely, there are also some very good lawyers who barely passed
the Bar because they are just not good at taking tests. Test taking
is a skill that doesn't necessarily correlate with knowledge or
competence in the field you are being tested on.
--
Totally agree.
When recruiting (technical IT roles), I've never paid attention to >>qualifications. And despite holding a few myself (many thanks to
companies that felt it important enough to pay for) I wouldn't want a
role in a company that did care about them.
It *used* to be the case that it was the level you studied to, rather
than the subject that showed you were capable. Which is why I started my >>career in IT being managed by people who had got into IT with English, >>History or Modern Languages degrees.
I also notice that society agrees with me. Why else do (some) firms
insist on giving you tests ? Clearly they don't trust the system either.
The most unusual test I was ever given during a job interview occurred
when I interviewed for an IT job as a Senior Systems Analyst. The interviewer (who was Director of IT) handed me six pencils all the same length and asked me if I could use them to form four equilateral
triangles. I asked a few questions about this and eventually completed
the task. The interviewer later explained he was less concerned with
whether I could solve the problem and more interested in how I
approached it and the kinds of questions I asked. In other words, he seemed to be saying that my approach to the problem was a better
predictor of success in the job than the mere fact of whether I could actually get the right answer. And yes, I did get the job and spent a number of successful years with the company. And yes, the problem could
be solved and there are actually two different ways to do it.
-
I once had to undergo a barrage of psychometric tests for British Telecom
for a management position in 1988. They hired a University to conduct
them.
It was inconceivable that they were merely interested in how good my
maths was as a graduate, so I was immediately on alert.
In the (spoken) rubric, the invigilator very clearly explained that there
was no way we would be expected - or able - to complete the test. Which
was the second shoe dropping.
I looked through the paper before attempting any questions and
immediately spotted that there was some interesting ones. two-page
questions that needed a one line answer, and two line questions that were pretty unfathomable.
I decided to mark the questions in order of ease and attempt them that
way.
As one of the 50 people that passed, I was told that the point of the
test was to see how you did under pressure, and whether you listened or
not. As well as a general check that you didn't think a company would
spend £400 per candidate doing a penny-ante math(s) test.
Having passed that test my next task was to write a letter to a customer
who had complained telling them to fuck off without them realising it (I
may have paraphrased the instructions, but the intent was clear).
I declined the job after they tried to play fast and loose with the
initial offer.
Customers of the artist formerly known as British Telecom (rebranded "BT"
after a £1,000,000 brainstorming exercise) will not be surprised.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)