Impossible numeracy test at interview

wontfallforit

EL.Smith wrote: »

My question is.... has anyone else ever had a situation like this when applying for a job?

Yes. I've seen jobs that advertise for candidates with a min. grade C in maths (amongst other qualifications), and then the maths tests are super-hard.

I have a grade B, which doesn't exactly mark me out as a maths genius, but I sat my GCSE this side of the 21st century, it's still relatively fresh in my mind, and I've always worked with numbers. I'd consider myself slightly above average in regards to my maths skills, but I've sat tests advertised as "simple", and wondered how the hell anyone has passed them.

Graduate schemes are notorious for this. Many require a degree in any discipline (check), good A-Levels (check), GCSE maths & English (check). The English tests tend to be simple enough, but the "numeracy" tests tend to be a) strictly timed, and b) having little relation to everyday numeracy, going way more down the line of statistics, percentages, and probabilities.

Don't get me wrong, employers have every right to be as stringent as they want, but if they're looking for maths whizzes, perhaps they should advertise accordingly

wontfallforit

timmmers wrote: »

We came to the conclusion over a pint afterwards that since there were maths and computing graduates there, and people with various IT and programming degrees ...that the test was a way for them to cherry pick without risking accusations of discriminating. At the time the dept had only white ethnic backgrounds and no ladies....and this was made clear in the ad for the role (particularly welcomed etc ).

I don't understand how the tests could be designed to throw IT/maths/programming graduates a bone, so that they could cherry-pick ideal candidates. Why not just advertise for people with these qualifications in the first place?

I can understand them wanting to promote diversity, but there's nothing wrong with "discriminating" on the grounds of appropriate qualifications. None of those courses relate to particularly "white" professions (note the "brain drain" attracting similarly qualified people away from countries like Pakistan, as well as the old stereotype that some Asian peoples are simply "better at maths"), so singling out candidates soley on the basis of having an appropriate degree would probably be more likely to increase diversity within a company.

Whilst the mathematically and technologically-oriented professions surely employ far more men than women, they're certainly ethnically diverse as a whole (again, though there's fewer women choosing this career path, there's nothing to stop them from doing so).

Anihilator

A few options

1) The test was suited to the job and you and the candidates just didnt do very well
2) It was a trick to see how you reacted
3) The test was more to do with how you approached it and reasoning than the actual answers

EL.Smith

Serenity wrote: »

(Also wish I could see the question to check for myself!).

ETA: If you could just tell us the equation we would know as the results for any given input to certain equations can be astronomically different from any other input so the fact that your answer was a few million off the example doesn't, in itself, indicate anything.

I'll put the equation and if anyone can advise me if I'll get into trouble for this I'll remove it: it was

(a X b)41,000 + (c X d)4,100 = answer

a = 9,000,000 (approx.)
b= 1.4 (approx.)
c=3,000,000 (approx.)
d= 3.2 (approx)

there were several different questions where 'a' and 'c' remained the same (I've used approx. as I cant remember the exact figure), but 'b' and 'c' varied for each question.

in the example they gave the answer was 500,000 (approx.)

When I didn't get a figure anywhere near the example I ran the example through the formula and did not arrive at the example answer that they had provided.

I'm sorry if that doesn't make sense, I don't want to be more specific as I don't want to get into trouble. If anyone thinks they might be able to help with more info then I could PM you with the context of the question?

PasturesNew

I'd hope that a test wouldn't include something where you had to "speak out" ... if it were under test conditions I wouldn't speak out/query it. I'd just do my best and maybe make a note that it was irrational.

The act of speaking out, in such circumstances, would be anti-Aspergers traits ... however, once in the work place an Aspie is most likely to be THE one to speak out if something's not quite right about a task or process.

blindman

EL.Smith wrote: »

I'll put the equation and if anyone can advise me if I'll get into trouble for this I'll remove it: it was

(a X b)41,000 + (c X d)4,100 = answer

a = 9,000,000 (approx.)
b= 1.4 (approx.)
c=3,000,000 (approx.)
d= 3.2 (approx)

there were several different questions where 'a' and 'c' remained the same (I've used approx. as I cant remember the exact figure), but 'b' and 'c' varied for each question.

in the example they gave the answer was 500,000 (approx.)

When I didn't get a figure anywhere near the example I ran the example through the formula and did not arrive at the example answer that they had provided.

I'm sorry if that doesn't make sense, I don't want to be more specific as I don't want to get into trouble. If anyone thinks they might be able to help with more info then I could PM you with the context of the question?

You need to provide "answer" as this equation as it stands makes no sense

EL.Smith

blindman wrote: »

You need to provide "answer" as this equation as it stands makes no sense

This is what I did:

stage 1

9,000,000 x 1.4= 12,600,000

12,600,000 x 41,000= 516,600,000,000

................................
stage 2

3,000,000x 3.2= 9,600,000

9,600,000 x 4,100= 39,360,000,000
...................................
stage 3

516,600,000,000 + 39,360,000,000 = 555,960,000,000

so my final answer was £555,960,000,000 which was very different from their £500,000 answer.

Andy_L

That is the correct answer, what's the problem?

Zazen999

Are you sure it wasn't 9,000.000 and 12,600.000 and 3,000.000 and 9,600.000......?

Ignore me, that wouldn't work either as it would knock 12 zeros off.....

wontfallforit

EL.Smith wrote: »

This is what I did:

stage 1

9,000,000 x 1.4= 12,600,000

12,600,000 x 41,000= 516,600,000,000

................................
stage 2

3,000,000x 3.2= 9,600,000

9,600,000 x 4,100= 39,360,000,000
...................................
stage 3

516,600,000,000 + 39,360,000,000 = 555,960,000,000

so my final answer was £555,960,000,000 which was very different from their £500,000 answer.

That's the answer I get, too. It's a pretty straightforward question (unless I'm missing something), so how their answer is literally over a billion less is a mystery. Even if it was a simple error of not putting in enough zeros, you'd expect their answer to be £555k, not £500k

In what format were you given the answer? Before the end of the test? After? On a computer screen? On paper? Because something's seriously amiss.

It could be a printing error, or it could have been an intentional mistake, for the reasons you'd suspect.

Either way, I'd try to get in touch. If it's a genuine error, they'll want to know about it, in the interest of accurate testing.

If it was intentional...well, better noticing it late than never