Re[2]: A Test to Select Competency

Subject: Re[2]: A Test to Select Competency
From: doug montalbano <doug_montalbano -at- CC -dot- CHIRON -dot- COM>
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 15:30:27 PST

John Gear <catalyst -at- PACIFIER -dot- COM> makes a cogent argument for

<deletia> ...some form of competency testing, at least as far as
establishing some minimum, threshold level of "fit" between the person and
the job definition. Obviously a poorly thought-out test will result in an
unreliable ("unfair" in some sense) result. But is the current "dating
model" hiring process so superior that it merits defending?

<astute observation about carefully-culled portfolios>
.. But a portfolio of work done in one set of circumstances may have
little or nothing to do with how one may perform in another, different set
of circumstances.

<other good stuff deleted, including some things I *DON'T* agree
with but find well-argued nonetheless>

John's reply inspires me to make this point:

At a previous job (a scientific regulatory agency) I was charged
with screening potential candidates for editor. Sure, I looked at
portfolios; but these showed me end products. I wanted to know
*how* this person worked. How can you do that without hiring her?
That's right, you test her. The trick is coming up with a test
that shows how a person works. Contrary to what someone else said
about human resources tests having consistent right answers, these
tests should have no one right answer. You're trying to determine
a style of working.

BTW, what I looked for most on the editing test was how the editor
-- not necessarily familiar with the highly scientific subject
matter -- handled asking questions of the SME, and how the editor
organized the text as a whole.

doug_montalbano -at- cc -dot- chiron -dot- com


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