From: kirk@tallis.enet.dec.com (Matthew B. Kirk)
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.misc
Subject: Re: entry level blues
Date: 6 Apr 92 19:47:27 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation


In article <1992Apr4.204833.22509@acsu.buffalo.edu>, spillers@acsu.buffalo.edu (Lars B. Spillers) writes...
>Here is a new angle on the subject of entry level jobs: why don't
>companies do more testing?
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> 
>I would like to formally request all you employers out there to test
>your applicants. You don't want geeks? Write a geek test. You are
>worried that good grades dont imply many job skills, write a skills
>test. You are worried about writing and communication skills, then
>test them.
> 

From the other side of the coin - just about all companies do some testing.
Generic things companies test, and that cause most people to not succeed:  

1. How does your resume look?  Is it neatly formatted (this does NOT require
   a laser printer, just some care)?  Did you care enough to form complete
   sentences?  Is the spelling correct?  

2. What sorts of jobs have you had in the past?   For example, if all you've
   done is work at Burger King, then you're not going to get a potential 
   employer's attention as much as someone who has two research papers
   published.  There are enough people out there that have real experience
   (with summer jobs, or paid research projects, or thesises), that many people
   don't even look at new grads who don't have it.  Also, are the jobs you've 
   had related to the position we have open?  Are they technically demanding?
   Note for this last requirement that computer-operator or student consulting
   jobs aren't all that interesting when compared against the people whose
   summer jobs consisted of writing compilers or operating systems for
   professors or companies.

   Note that this requirement does not apply to the same extent summer hires.

3. Did you pay attention to the application requirements?  My group 
   requires a cover letter describing your last computer-related position
   from all applicants responding to network advertisements.

   Was the cover letter coherent (many aren't)?  Was it sufficiently detailed 
   so as to give an idea that you can talk about the subject (many aren't).  
   This tests technical writing. 

   Is the cover letter in the form of a standard business letter (I don't 
   particularly care which standard, just that you knew how to generate 
   one). Many students don't even include a cover letter, or if they do 
   include one it's so generic as to be obvious that they didn't read the
   advertisement.

4. Many people have different theories about what GPA indicates.  Some of
   the people we interview have perfect GPAs, and a few are below 3.0.
   A low GPA is usually offset by strong work experience and references.
   A high GPA cannot offset lack of work experiences or poor references.
   However, all other things being equal, a high GPA is best.

   And college is a test too.  Can you do work?  Is it on time?  What sort
   of quality (e.g. better = higher GPA).

Bear in mind that we see about 200 responses to each network ad, and we
screen several hundred resumes each year that we receive from the 
company employment office.  For us, the simple tests I outlined above 
screen out perhaps 90% of the applicants.  Poor telephone interview 
results screen out even more (another communication and technical
knowledge test).

So keep trying... and remember that each and every contact you have with
a potential employer is a test. 

=============================================================================
Matthew Kirk				  	     kirk@tallis.enet.dec.com

All opinions expressed here are mine and do not reflect those of Digital
Equipment Corporation.
=============================================================================