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Subject:Re: Interview & testing From:Gwen Thomas <thomasgp -at- CBS -dot- FISERV -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 11 Mar 1999 13:35:06 -0500
Here's an example of a very useful test I was once asked to take.
The company produces financial software. Green-screen, extremely traditional doc set. The test? One page of "re-write for clarity" sentences and a brief excerpt from a functional spec describing a new report, with instructions to provide an outline of how to doc the report, with issues and questions to SMEs in the margin.
They had stated up front that they were only interested in people with directly applicable experience. (They needed someone able to hit the ground running.) If the applicant didn't choose one of the several "standard" ways of organizing the doc, the chances of hitting the ground running were pretty slim. And the sample functional had some red flags, so the applicant's response could indicate SME-interaction skills.