Jumping Through Hoops

I had an interesting Saturday morning. I took a writing test for a job as a reporter at website located in New York City.

The test consisted of a reading comprehension portion, as well as a headline and lead paragraph writing part. Then, we had to compose a 500- to 1,000-word article from information given to us. It took about three hours.

The reading comprehension part was tough. It was one of those tests where you read a paragraph and then are asked to pick a response about what was written. I hate to admit it, as much as I like to read, I’m not good at those kinds of tests. I never know if I’ve picked the right answer. They all seem correct. It always seems like a series of trick questions to me.

I felt much more comfortable with the writing part. It’s what I’ve been doing for my entire career.

But as TV pitchmen say, But wait, there’s more!

If one does well on the three-part test, then there is another test in which the prospective reporter will participate a simulated interview to assess his or her interviewing skills. If that hurdle is passed, THEN we will be called in for one or possibly two interviews.

Now, since my dance card is pretty much free these days, I had no problem taking the test on a Saturday morning.

And I can certainly understand why a publisher would want to see an applicant’s writing and reporting style. Every place I’ve interviewed requires that you take a writing and/or editing test. However, that is usually done at the same time as the first interview, not before you are even invited in for a talk.

This seems a bit excessive to me. I half expected the HR person to ask us to jump through a flaming hoop after we completed the test.

What does a person have to do to get a job these days? My sister had to go through two interviews just to get a part-time job in grocery store. Multiple interview stages…background checks…three-hour writing tests, all are becoming ever more common in a time of near 10% unemployment.

While I can understand an employer’s wish to get the best hire through rigorous review, for us unemployed people this is just another frustration and barrier we confront. The only thing we want to hear is, “You’re hired,” and as soon as possible…you know, before our unemployment benefits or savings run out.

Again, I think it’s just another way employers are winnowing down a large number of applicants. Heck, just by the fact that they asked applicants to show up for the test on a Saturday morning probably discouraged a fair number of people. If we showed up, we must be serious about wanting the job, right?

About 12 to 15 of us showed up at 10:30 a.m. I can’t be sure if all were currently unemployed, like me. Perhaps some wanted to switch jobs. But as I looked around the table, I’m pretty confident a good number were unemployed. Most had the blank stares and glum expressions of those who have probably been out of work for far too long and sent out far too many resumes with little or no response.

The HR lady, I think, tried to be cheerful, but stopped when she realized it wasn’t going to work on us. I can recall only one other person actually smiling as we waited to take the test. We wanted to take the test and be done with it.

It’s hard to say how I did on the test. The reading comprehension portion was multiple choice, so I can only hope I picked the right answers.

How I did on the writing portion is dependent on whoever reads it, and that makes it an inherently more subjective evaluation.

I’m not sorry I went, however. Brushing up on my test-taking skills is a worthy effort. At the very least, I’ll be better prepared for the next writing test.

Will I get the job? Who knows? There are about six to eight openings (hard to believe, but the company is in an expansion mode), so my chances are better than for other job openings, when there could be 30 applicants for one open position.

That is, if I passed that tricky reading comprehension part.

But hey, at least the company didn’t immediately reject me because I’m currently unemployed.