OneTest - B.S.

Earlier this month (April, 2004) i received this e-mail from the Coles Myer Ltd recruitment team, who seek job applicants for Coles Myer Ltd, a company which runs a whole bunch of stores and supermarkets:

Congratulations, you have advanced further in the recruitment process for a position with Coles Myer Ltd and as a result, we would like you to complete some online assessments.
IMPORTANT: Please read this email carefully even if you have previously received a similar email. You have received this email because:

You are being invited to complete an online assessment for a position with Coles Myer Ltd , or
You have completed Onetest assessments previously and Coles Myer Ltd would like you to release your results to be considered for positions with Coles Myer Ltd.
Assessment Instructions:- For more details on the Onetest assessment process and system requirements please read the following instructions carefully before you start the assessment. For more detailed information go to: http://www.onetestexpress.com.au/information/
Commence Assessment:-

Login at http://careers.colesmyer.com
Click on the Applicant Sign-in link
Enter your username and password
Click on the TEST link and follow the instructions
You are required to complete this assessment within 7 days of receipt of this email.
Regards

Coles Myer Ltd RECRUITMENT TEAM

It seems that they use an online testing service, called "OneTest" (their motto is "recruit the best").

OneTest provides you with a series of 50-odd questions relating to problem-solving abilities. They describe it in the feedback report that was e-mailed out shortly after i completed the test, "The following report describes your performance on Onetest's Cognitive Ability Test (OCAT). You completed this test as part of your application for a position with Coles Myer. This assessment presented you with questions made up of words, numbers, or images and shapes."

The second part of the test is a "OneTest Work Preference Profile" (OWPP), which i'll discuss below.

I just wanted to post this editorial for the use of anyone who comes across similar tests when applying for a job. There are presumably a lot of applicants signed up on the Coles Myer Careers Site, and many of them may be asked to complete a OneTest exam.

The First Test, the OCAT, is a simple problem-solving exam. In your results, you are measured against a sample group of results that OneTest collected earlier ("comparison group"), and your position relative to them is given.

My problem with this test is the patently false information provided along with it.

"The assessments are not designed to be reflective of study or prior learning and as such there is no need to 'study' prior to completing the assessments." And "Can I study for this assessment? No. It is difficult to study for this type of assessment because they are designed to measure abilities that do not rely on any specific knowledge however, preparation is very important." (Both quotes from: http://www.onetestexpress.com.au/information/, in the "What to expect" and "Cognitive Ability" links.)

This is a lie.

You can absolutely study for this kind of test, and it might be a good idea to do so.

The questions are, as i said, problem-solving questions. Many of them are simply mathematics "Word Problems" - remember the kind of thing you had to do in Year Nine maths classes at high school? If you wanna have an edge on OneTest, just crack out the musty old textbooks stashed in your cupboard (or find your old exercise books) and go over the practise problems.

Other questions are more obscure; eg// there are ones which present you with a series of graphics, and ask you which two graphics are unlike the others. Still, it's just a matter of learning how the question works, and looking for sample problems to study with. I'd look for practise "IQ" tests as a way to study for these questions.

All of the questions can be studied for. Practise makes perfect: any maths teacher will tell you that. Problem-solving tests can always be studied for.

In fact, the only kind of test that cannot be studied for is a test of preferences. eg// "What's your favourite colour?" And that brings me to...

...the OWPP. I'm pretty sure this is the one i failed on; my score was fairly decent on the OCAT portion of the test, but i don't think my results in this test would have looked so good to somebody employing for a store.

The test assesses how closely matched you are to eight kinds of "work categories", namely: Investigative, Creative, Mobile, Clerical, Quantitative, Interpersonal, Selling, and Manual.

My scores here were more on the creative/investigative side, and less on the interpersonal, selling and manual sides (Which, of course, i find quite offensive: i was assessed as having less bias towards interpersonal, selling or manual jobs, and quite possibly considered less appropriate to be interviewed because of this OWPP result).

Now, this test is done by looking at artificial dualities. Each question gives you two options, and says "Which one of these two situations would you like the most?" eg// "Would you rather write a report on gardening, or be a gardener?"

My advice is not to go with your gut. Don't answer as if you were taking a genuine personality test, like i unfortunately did. You are not taking an honest personality quiz, or a harmless internet survey; you are submitting an application for a job.

First, try to identify which of the above eight areas the employer is likely to be looking for.

Then, just use your head to guess which of the two options in any given question will favour these areas in your results.

Sorry i can't be more specific - it would be better if someone could get their hands on the code used in the test, to see how each kind of answer is weighted! But anyway, that's my rant over.

Long live scepticism.

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