Several months ago I was required to take an on-line employment test.
It was very short and took only 7 minutes.  I had  to choose from
among about 50 different behavior characteristics in 2 parts. Part 1
asked me to select what I thought other people expected of me and part
2 asked me what I really thought of my true behavior. I was cautioned
not to redo or change any answers. When I finished part 1 only then
did I see part 2 and could not go back. I was told I did poorly. 
Yesterday, I was told by another employer that they will require me to
take a job test on "jobsonline".  I do not wish to do poorly.  What
tips or guidelines would you offer me?"

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Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 26 Nov 2003 11:15 PST

Hello profbrooks-ga,

I started to research your question but I need further information
from you to be able to proceed.

I wanted to take a look at the online employment test that you say you
had to take. I went to jobsonline.com and discovered that this name
now links to monster.com. I couldn?t find a standard candidate
assessment test at this site. Further investigation of jobsonline.com
showed that they provided a large affiliate network for job boards and
one of their offerings was a Job Aptitude Test. It sounds like this is
the test you took.

Please tell me which job board you are referring to for your current
application or the name of the employer that you?re applying to so I
can track down the test. Once I?ve seen the test, I?ll be able to
answer your question about what strategy you should use to be able to
get satisfactory results.

I look forward to your clarification.

~ czh ~

Hi,

Those employment tests can be frustrating. I took one a few days ago
for a job, and I spent more time than I probably should have trying to
figure out exactly what it was the employer wanted to know. Company
loyalty seemed to be one thing the employer was looking for, although
it's possible the company may have been looking for creative people
who might be willing to "roch the boat" a bit.

So that experience suggests the first tip: Study the company in
advance as much as you can to get an idea of its corporate culture.
That could give you some idea of what sort of traits the company might
be looking for. Be aware, however, that some tests are designed to
look for inconsistent answers or other clues that indicate the person
may be fudging.

Without knowing the specifics of the test (I could find no specific
test from a place called "Jobs Online"), the best that can be done is
to offer some suggests that should be good for any employment test you
take. One of the best guides to that subject is located is this one:

Ask the Headhunter: Employment Tests: Get an Edge
http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/gv000802.htm

This article offers lots of advice, and you should read it throughly.
Here are a few of the tips is suggests:

1. Keep a good attitude.
2. Prepare for the test if possible, but keep in mind that preparation
may not help for certain tests.
3. "There is some controversy as to whether people are able to
successfully manipulate personality test scores. My advice is to be
yourself, but also apply some thought to your answers. Try not to
over-analyze."

Another suggestion is to take some sample tests. I don't know exactly
what kind of test you're going to be taking, but here are some sample
tests of various kinds you can try:

International Personality Item Pool
Here you can take an actual personality test and find out the score
right away. This might give you some idea of what various questions
are looking for.
http://cac.psu.edu/~j5j/test/ipipneo1.htm

The Big Five Personality Test
Like most personality tests, this one has no inherently "right" or
"wrong" answers. But a prospective employer may not see things that
way.
http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/

LearnATest
Here are dozens of sample tests you can take for instant feedback. A
fee is charged,
http://www.learnatest.com/

Math Tests
http://amby.com/tests/math/

Clerical Tests
http://amby.com/tests/clerical/

Free Practice Exams
Most of these are for various computer-related skills.
http://www.testfree.com/exams.asp

Plus-32
From this site you can download free versions of software used by
employers. This site is designed for employers who wish to have a look
at the software, but I don't see any reason why someone like you
couldn't try it out. (Note that since the URL of this site isn't a
domain name, you might want to be cautious in running any software
without finding out more information first.)
http://216.219.197.57/

Here are some other articles or sites dealing with tests from a
potential employee's perspective. Hopefully one or more of them will
offer some insight:

Exams and Testing
Scroll down the page for lots of tips.
http://www.collegegrad.com/book/19-6.shtml

Uses of Pre-employment Tests in Selection Procedures
http://www.psychtest.com/PreEmploy.html

Pre-Employment Tests and Examinations
http://www.twc.state.tx.us/news/efte/pre_employment_tests.html

How To Take Newspaper Tests
http://www.freep.com/jobspage/toolkit/teststrategy.htm

Rights and Responsibilities of Test Takers
http://www.apa.org/science/ttrr.html

Interview Tips
Despite the page's title, this page really is an overview of
employment tests. I suppose that an interview is indeed a type of
test.
http://www.careerplaceonline.com/template/modules/content/content_advanced.cfm?content_id=1010

Pre-Employment Testing of Applicants
This article discusses the legal issues involved.
http://www.nolo.com/lawcenter/ency/article.cfm/objectID/8671B547-F9BD-4405-964D7DD2F5573019/catID/A353C662-F63B-4FB9-8CCC3B667D1711AE

I hope you find these resources useful. There's plenty of good advice
to be found in them, and I hope they help give you the score you want.

Best wishes,

Mvguy-ga






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