I went for testing today for a job I applied for at the local county library branch. It said this was preliminary testing covering "the basic skills" needed for the job. Whatever that means. I tried studying a little, which meant I looked over the New York Times bestseller lists and the Dewey Decimal System. I thought initially we would be tested on using the catalog and I knew that would be a piece of cake. I can use their online catalog backwards and forwards. Anyway, overall, I wasn't sure quite what to expect.
Well, there were about 70 people there! I was shocked. I don't know if everyone who applied was invited to the testing or if there was some pre-preliminary qualifiers. I mean, as part of the application process, there is an online test... one of those that asks if you like to work alone or work in groups, if you are a leader or a follower, if you are flexible or rigid regarding working hours, etc... I imagine some candidates can be eliminated based on their answers to those questions. But, geez, it was kind of discouraging to see so many candidates for this part-time job!
Anyway, so there were about 70 of us and it was kind of ridiculous. The "test" consisted of five questions. The first two questions basically described the work schedule and asked if that was satisfactory (nights and weekends) and what prior commitments one might have that could impede their availability to work. A third question asked us to describe in detail our previous experience working with the public. Only the final two questions had even a little to do with those "basic skills" for the job we would be doing. The one question told us to name the titles and authors of three recently published books and tell us why we might recommend those books to others. Umm, yeah, that might sound easy but it wasn't. Recently published? What does that mean? What's the cutoff for 'recent'? I picked one that was published in the past few months but the other two are from like 2003 and 2004 because I just couldn't think of anything else, even anything I hadn't actually read but knew what it was about. It's not like I have the money to buy newly published books and if I wanted them from the library, there is usually a wait!
Okay, the fifth question was the kicker, though. It listed ten people or things and asked us to describe who or what they were. Briefly, I guess, since there wasn't a lot of space. Assuming the test gets changed up regularly and also that the few readers of this blog are not going to be taking the same test, the ten things were:
Jimmy DiMora
IPod
Call & Post
Sam Fulwood
Charlie Frye
Rachael Ray
YouTube
Broadband
Jump Drive
The 4400
Yeah. Well, some of them (like Jimmy DiMora, Sam Fulwood, Call & Post & Charlie Frye) are local things. And, considering I haven't lived in Cleveland much for the last two years, I was a little annoyed. Luckily for me, I had no problem at all with the others. Or Charlie Frye, since that's sports-related and I know sports. My guesses were pretty close, too, although I'm not sure what kind of answer they are looking for. I guessed that Jimmy DiMora was "a public official in Cleveland" when in fact he is the County Commissioner. Technically I'm right, although pretty vague. I guessed that Sam Fulwood was the editor-in-chief of the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper when in fact he is just a columnist in the Metro section. But kind of close, right? And I put that the Call & Post was a newspaper serving the NE Ohio area when in fact it is a Cleveland-area African-American newspaper. Close but kind of missing the key ingredient.
So, the test was kind of bizarre, not at all what I expected, and frustrating to knowingly be competing against so many others. I fully do not expect to make it to the next round at all. Did I mention that this job doesn't even require the Master's Degree that I will go into debt paying off? So if I can't get this job, is there hope for a Master's Degree job?
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