I HATE Taleo Assessment Exams!

I think every job hunter has run across these stupid little exams. Let me paint the picture. You wake up bright and early in the morning. You have a pep in your step that today is going to be the day. You prepare your coffee, fix your hair, and act like you’re actually going somewhere except for the fact that you are spending the day at home… job searching. But you want to feel like you’re doing something.

You hit your job sites (Monster, Careerbuilder, ~~Craigslist~~… ya know, reliable sources) and you start reading the latest posts. You finally find something that looks like you can do (that’s not an appointment setter or selling door to door) … and do fairly well…and lo and behold they are paying decent with full time hours! So you click the link, submit the resume and then….

the infamous pop up screen shows…

THE JOB ASSESSMENT TEST… powered by Taleo

That’s right… you thought you were done just submitting your resume and nice cover letter? Nope… if you want to proceed you have to pass their little personality test. It’ll ask you little things like

Do you lose your temper
Do you like to lead vs follow
Were you absent any time in school?
Can people tell if you’re emotional?
Can you sit still for long hours?
Do you want one thing to do or many things to do?
Do people listen to you when you talk yada ..yada.. yada…

So you think, “Eh, I can pass this easy.” But it’s not easy… it’s long, AS HELL.. and after a while you feel like you’re being interrogated about every little detail of your childhood upbringing and all you’re applying for is a retail job at the mall. After a while the thought of, “Why do they need all this info for this job” start coming up. They ask you trick questions of true and false and MOST LIKELY vs NOT LIKELY questions that border between personal ethics or just random shit that you feel like you should answer because it’s what they want to hear–or is it?

Should I tell a company that I need a break or that I enjoy working long hours non-stop…I mean isn’t it the LAW that employees get two breaks and a lunch during an eight hour work day? Would I be forfeiting my rights in some type of cyber-contract if I said I didn’t want that? Confusion just fills my mind.

Whatever the right answers are, I’m definitely not giving them. Usually after spending over two hours to fill out the job application and assessment test… 30 minutes later I receive the email that I’m not qualified for the position.

REALLY? I graduated college and I can’t get a retail job at the mall?

What happened to proving yourself and talking to real humans to get a job, now I’m assessed by an automatic system that has decided that my personality type is not “marketable” or conducive to the workplace (whatever that may be) . I took one personality test that told me that I was very much the right brain thinker. I do realize that the majority of people are left brain and I wonder if the simple way I’m chemically wired is what is being assessed.

Well EMPLOYERS here’s my assessment of MYSELF!

YES I need a break, I’m human (even computer need to reboot) . Yes I get upset but I deal with it on my own (mostly by blogging ). Yes I’m a leader but I can follow. Yes I wan’t a good paying job. Yes I want a career! Yes, if people take the time to know me they can tell that I can do whatever I set my mind to.

But when I keep getting rejected by a computer that’s programmed to pick people by “types” this is what irks me.

Everybody is different and job diversity is not just picking people who are diverse ethnically but also in personality. Every one makes decisions differently.

But if this is the only factor keeping me out of jobs then I will just stop wasting my time on taleo moderated jobs. There’s a company that I know will embrace me as much as I will embrace it and that company will involve a human element. In our need to be more efficient in society, I believe we have lost what it means to be human and to relate to each other. If a company can’t relate to aspiring employees on a human level, then I doubt it can relate to it’s employees and that trickles down to how employees relate to customers and clients.

Okay I’m done venting. Tell me what you think and what’s your experience in the job market.

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51 responses to “I HATE Taleo Assessment Exams!”

willboywonder

September 7, 2011 at 1:54 pm

As someone who has worked in HR – in a healthy work organization (and I want to emphasize the work healthy – and yes, there are many out there), I can say that these tests are used not to judge/discriminate but used to:
(1) assess your honesty levels (it’s a good bet that if you answer all those questions and your response makes you look like Mother Teresa, you’re probably not telling the truth and they aren’t likely to hire you; and/or
(2) to determine a good position for you in the company. Some jobs require you to sit in the same seat all day while others may need to you move around or go out into the field and some jobs require you to be a take-charge person while others require you to do what you’re told without thinking too much and other jobs because of the nature of the work need you to have good attendance and some jobs need you to interact with customers/the public and you have to have empathy and listen well to their needs, etc. Asking those questions can help the managers know how/where to place you if you’re not applying for a specific position.
Yes, I agree its annoying having to fill them out, especially when they already know who they are going to hire. If they know that you’re not getting the job, then you shouldn’t need to do those tests. Those tests should be only for someone confirmed to be hired, or at least someone who is one of the finalists. They really ought not to require EVERY person who applies for the job to take the tests.
And I also hate that a computer program screens you out before a human being ever gets to see your paperwork. Computers make mistakes, especially since a human programmed it and configured the settings. Maybe you’re the best person for the job but if you get weeded out too soon, they will never ever find that out. These companies want you to have a lot of experience but nobody will give you any experience. Frankly, I think I might prefer to hire the person who may have less experience than the other candidates. That way you can coach and train that ‘fresh’ employee into the model employee. Worst of all, is when they never let you know that you’re out of the running. They can have that same computer send you a rejection letter or postcard. You call and they tell you a decision has yet to be made, or they stress for you NOT to call. The hiring process can be discouraging. It makes me appreciate every job I have, even the ones I don’t like. Trying to get a job is a hard job.

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JessicaJ

September 14, 2011 at 1:48 pm

To the person above, have you ever actually taken this assesment? My boss actually took it and had a score of 48 out of 100… Doesn’t make sense…

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1. JessicaJ
  
  September 14, 2011 at 1:48 pm
  
  I meant Assessment*
  
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Joe Fazio

January 12, 2012 at 9:26 am

Dude those tests shouldn’t even be there. they ARE used to discriminate. accepting that kind of selection prevents people from success and breeds contempt and hatred.

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P

September 11, 2013 at 4:29 pm

OK i can tell you FOR a fact they are biased i applied for a job assembling bikes at toys r us and one for stocking at night 2 applications i got a call from the HR person saying they recived my application but they said that they did not have a record of my assessment test i replied polity there should be since the application process wont Finnish unless you take the test she said ok hang on a minute there might be a glitch she came back two minutes later and said i failed the asements test HOW CAN YOU FAIL the test when it says there is NO wrong or right answer? AND NOTHING on that assessment had ANYTHING to do with assembling A bike which i have 20+ years of bike repair/ assembling under my belt

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1. Montré Bible
  
  September 11, 2013 at 4:31 pm
  
  So they wouldnt hire you based simply on the assessment test! Thats crazy! And they wonder why unemployment is high
  
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2. P
  
  September 11, 2013 at 5:52 pm
  
  yes
  
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Will Saunders

September 14, 2011 at 2:51 pm

Hi, yes, I have taken the assessment. We had to take them as part of our training in administering them. The actual score, by itself is really meaningless. The score really allows the person reviewing the results to look at where the test taker falls in relation to others who have taken the test and can assist with not just the types of interview questions to ask but also in assisting with job placement. It’s pretty regimented. People with one score may do better in jobs that bring them into contact with lots of people (socializers) where as someone with another score may do better in solitary jobs. The score isn’t really a pass fail, so to speak, so someone with a 48 isn’t necessarily failing. Yep, the tests can be frustrating to take and yep, some employers can use the results to make unfair judgments about the job applicants. But in a healthy organization, the Taleo Assessments can be quite beneficial to both the applicant as well as to the organization.