peopleanswers.com

[rayea]

hi!!!!!

has anyone done an assessment for a job through peopleanswers.com? the hospital i applied to emailed a letter and told me to take the evaluation and it was timed (part of it) and i didn't catch that i was suppose to start until eight minutes into the ten minute test - haha i know. the next day i received an email stating that they were pursuing other candidates . it was for a mental health rn position and the timed questions were like "if john has ten blocks and three friends how many blocks can he give each friend?" - easy but not sure what they were looking for and the untimed portion was all about "work is the most important thing in the world" and "i would do anything to be a ceo" and a lot of business questions so just curious how i should respond the next time because apparently i am a lousy nurse because john did not share his blocks ((

please help if anyone is familiar with this testing

thanx,

rayea

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Oh Heavens to Betsy! Not another screening tool. I haven't heard of this one before.

Pre-screening tools are widely used these days. Some, like the one you dealt with, are overt but others are covert. For instance, many retail stores only accept computer-based applications that must be done in person. These are designed to weed out candidates with literacy/math issues in addition to lack of computer skills. In the US, there are Federal laws (FLSA) to prevent discriminatory practices, but these only apply to people in one of the "protected classes" and it's very difficult to prove. Employers are permitted to "test" or screen for any thing that is relevant to the job (bonafide occupational qualifications).

This gives a green light to all those "tests" that are supposed to measure cognitive & emotional (compassion, integrity, assertiveness, etc) factors that are considered essential qualifications for employment. Sheesh. Some of these "tests" are hairbrained and very questionable... it's become a very lucrative field for anyone who convinces the company that they can help find the ideal employee. I can understand (and support) checking for 'hard skills' such as math, reading, computer literacy, etc... but I'm not a fan of the online (easy peasy) measurements of soft skills. This is just too complex and there is no real one-size-fits-all substitute for actual human interactions.

I am so sorry you got caught up in this. I know it is not much comfort, but you probably dodged a bullet... you wouldn't want to work for a company whose value system supports this type of selection process.

[rayea]

hi HouTx

you are a doll to answer me and very informed :). i do thank you :)