This is not just because I'm pissed off at Best Buy for not hiring me (I've grown up using electronics and computers and know my way around them better than the people that work there) so much as it is what I've found out about the actual application process. Let me just say here that I don't believe it's just Best Buy that does this. I'm sure it applies to other places that have online applications powered by Unicru (apparently Unicru runs the world when it comes to online applications). Basically here's how it works. You go online and fill out an application. Most of the application is pretty much standard (i.e, work history, references, and education) but then it gets into the psychological testing section. For the most part I think psychology is a sham and people are getting ripped off since most of these disorders such as ADD, IED (Intermittent Explosive Disorder) and the like are nothing more than restatements of the problem. For example ADD's diagnoses simply says, "Hmm...you're kid wasn't spanked enough and has trouble paying attention....hmmm...I'm going to diagnose him with Has Trouble Paying Attention Syndrome. In the case of IED the conversation would be, "Hmmm...you have no self control and lose your temper all the time....hmmm...I'm going to diagnose you with You Lost Your Temper Syndrome. There are some problems that can legitimately be linked to the brain if the brain is actually physically altered or if there is a legitimate reason for it but even many leading psychologists admit it's a load of crap. Anyways...where was I? Oh yes.
Okay so like I was saying the psychological aspect of the test is absolutely astonishing because of the amount of pointless questions that are asked. This is the format (These are all actual questions):
People do a lot of annoying things:
Most people would steal if they think they could get away with it:
That question was preceded in another section with this gem:
Most people can be trusted:
Sometimes I just don't feel like going to work:
I usually get more nervous than angry:
The list goes on and on of questions that don't matter. The problem is that after you wade through all of this crap, you submit your application. Unicru then scores the psychology part of the test first and based on your personality score they then submit it to Best Buy, Hollywood Video or any other number of companies that they take applications for. Now, I'm all for weeding out people like Charles Manson that would apply there but most of these questions are just pointless and don't allow for explanation. For example in the first question I would strongly agree that yes, people do a lot of really annoying things. With 6.5 billion people in the world I can't even begin to fathom the amount of annoying crap that people do but at the same time I don't think everyone on earth is a Steve Urkel waiting to ruin my day. Just because I think people do annoying things doesn't mean I think everyone is annoying. In the second question, I would strongly agree that most people would steal if they knew they would get away with it. That's just reality. But the reason they ask that is because if I think people would then apparently that means that the first chance I get I would plunder the store when nobody is looking (which I must admit at Best Buy that would be tempting...so many cool things I want and not enough money), but I have enough personal conviction against stealing that I wouldn't and I know that there are plenty of people that are the same. The third question I think they use to trap you. "Here, this guy said that most people can be trusted but later on he said people would still if they knew they would get away with it. He's a LIAR!" I honestly think that's how these questions work since they ask a generic question and then ask specific questions later that would seemingly contradict the previous question. There are a lot of people that can be trusted but there are plenty of people that are just no good. Man is not exactly inherently good. In fact man in his basic nature is downright nasty but for the most part the people you meet in day to day life are good but there is a prison system and crime infested neighborhoods too. So if I decide to say that I agree that most people can be trusted then I get nailed later for thinking most people would steal if they could get away with it. I lose. The next one seems to be a lose lose question as well. Yes, sometimes I wake up and I don't feel like going to work. Who doesn't? That doesn't mean I skip work when I don't feel like going. The question seems to imply that if you don't feel like it you don't go. But if someone answers that they strongly disagree and that they ALWAYS feel like going to work than that person is obviously a liar and can't be trusted. Which if they said most people can be trusted, then they probably lied about that and all of the other questions. The last question I'm not even sure what they want for that one. Because depending on how you answer you're either a basketcase or a rage-a-holic.
Those were just five questions that I could remember but believe me there were plenty more. Check it out for yourself. Here is how I know the system is flawed. A good friend of mine put in an application. She didn't want the job, doesn't really know much about electronics but decided to put one in just so she could tell her parents that she was putting in applications. She completely BS'd the psych. part of the application by clicking random answers. She got a call back two days later. My best friend (her boyfriend) and myself who have both grown up with computers and electronics and know our way around them very well applied and actually honestly anwered all of the questions. Neither one of us heard squat from them. In fact to our understanding if you fail the psych. profile your application is deleted and not kept for 45 days as the site would have you believe. It's stored for 45 days if you pass and your application is submitted but if not, you're out of luck.
Anyways eventually these two friends of mine spoke with a manager friend of their's who gave me a job and I'm supposed to start sometime this week.
Here's my point in writing all of this: Why the heck does it matter how you score on a psychological personality test? I understand if it's something like national security or something that would need to screen people but these are retail jobs at electronics and video stores. I wouldn't care if the guy that I worked with was a little quirky and neurotic as long as he does his job correctly. That's what the criteria should be, not a personality test or ethnicity (affirmative action is reversed racism and needs to be done away with...this isn't the civil rights era anymore and nobody needs to be forced to hire a minority). And don't blame the economy either because only 4% of people in the nation are unemployed (meaning they are trying to get a job but can't, not I'm too lazy to get a job because I've got 6 kids and live on welfare and I'm pregnant with a 7th because I can't keep my legs shut but the more kids I have the more welfare I get etc., etc.) Quit analyzing people's personalities (meaning multiple people's personality, not one person's multiple personalities....they can work too) and analyze their performance record. It's the only fair way to hire someone.
