18 ms·

What does “putting humans through the mud” achieve?

oskarw85 3y ago
Negative selection
jabroni_salad 3y ago
I took such a test at my first ever job, and it was only two topics repeated 15 times: 1. what is the value of these coins 2. is it ok to steal If you can't count money or think it is ok to steal then you cannot work in retail.
- Symbiote 3y ago
  I took a more general test at a job agency, as there was warehouse work, cleaning, assembly line and so on available. I argued at the end that I had 100%, since 295 × 3 (or something) could not possibly be the answer given on the answer sheet, as the last digit wasn't 5. They eventually found a calculator and found their answer sheet was wrong. Supposedly, no-one had noticed before, though now I wonder if it's possible it was a test of personality. Probably not, as many people probably would find that question difficult on a test with questions like "Put Smith, Jones and Patel in alphabetical order".
- robocat 3y ago
  Money is becoming uncommon in New Zealand for payment. Some shops don't accept cash or otherwise make it more difficult to use. Employees can steal other things, but the opportunity to steal money has been significantly reduced.
  - WoodenChair 3y ago
    That's kind of irrelevant. The vast majority of retail theft is not cash.
mistrial9 3y ago
pack dominance
0x457 3y ago
Selecting people with low self-worth that can be easily broken. You don't want a free thinker with vocal opinions and entitlement (warranted or not) working at your McDonalds - you want a drone that is just good enough to do the job. Hiring process often is a reflection of work culture. Shitty process will remove candidates that won't fit the culture.
- giraffe_lady 3y ago
  I think most of the jobs that use this kind of filtering are also low wage / low prestige where churn and training represent a significant fraction of the labor cost. So they are probably simply selecting for a certain degree of precarity & economic desperation, trying to exclude people who are looking for a little extra money to meet personal goals or fill periods between better paid work. I'm trying to phrase this neutrally but IMO this motive is just as bad.
  - johnnyanmac 3y ago
    I too miss when a job could just be agreed upon labor for income and not this attempt to shackle a worker to some quasi indentured servitude. There's that meme of "no one wants to work anymore" and meanwhile these entry level labor jobs act like they want to test for government clearance just to flip a burger or deliver mail.

Negative selection

I took such a test at my first ever job, and it was only two topics repeated 15 times: 1. what is the value of these coins 2. is it ok to steal If you can't count money or think it is ok to steal then you cannot work in retail.

Symbiote 3y ago
I took a more general test at a job agency, as there was warehouse work, cleaning, assembly line and so on available. I argued at the end that I had 100%, since 295 × 3 (or something) could not possibly be the answer given on the answer sheet, as the last digit wasn't 5. They eventually found a calculator and found their answer sheet was wrong. Supposedly, no-one had noticed before, though now I wonder if it's possible it was a test of personality. Probably not, as many people probably would find that question difficult on a test with questions like "Put Smith, Jones and Patel in alphabetical order".
robocat 3y ago
Money is becoming uncommon in New Zealand for payment. Some shops don't accept cash or otherwise make it more difficult to use. Employees can steal other things, but the opportunity to steal money has been significantly reduced.
- WoodenChair 3y ago
  That's kind of irrelevant. The vast majority of retail theft is not cash.

mistrial9 3y ago

pack dominance

0x457 3y ago

Selecting people with low self-worth that can be easily broken. You don't want a free thinker with vocal opinions and entitlement (warranted or not) working at your McDonalds - you want a drone that is just good enough to do the job. Hiring process often is a reflection of work culture. Shitty process will remove candidates that won't fit the culture.

giraffe_lady 3y ago
I think most of the jobs that use this kind of filtering are also low wage / low prestige where churn and training represent a significant fraction of the labor cost. So they are probably simply selecting for a certain degree of precarity & economic desperation, trying to exclude people who are looking for a little extra money to meet personal goals or fill periods between better paid work. I'm trying to phrase this neutrally but IMO this motive is just as bad.
- johnnyanmac 3y ago
  I too miss when a job could just be agreed upon labor for income and not this attempt to shackle a worker to some quasi indentured servitude. There's that meme of "no one wants to work anymore" and meanwhile these entry level labor jobs act like they want to test for government clearance just to flip a burger or deliver mail.