Most jobseekers meticulously research the company and practice answers to frequently asked questions ahead of an interview. However, no amount of preparation can fully prepare a candidate for unexpected questions designed to catch them off guard.
This was the case with one employer who deliberately uses such tactics – as she believes it helps identify candidates who are unsuitable for the role. Revealing her strategy on a Reddit thread entitled “Managers, do you have special ‘tests’ for interviewees that you put them through without their knowing? “, she confessed: “I invented a little test that got some positive interest from HR and some more dubious attention from the legal department. I call it the ‘alphabet test.'”
During interviews, she would ask candidates to “please do me a favour and take a pen and paper and write the alphabet for me.” She claims this simple request helped her understand two key factors. She elaborated: “This taught me two very important things. One, if they knew the alphabet, which was actually relevant to a most basic function of the job and surprisingly (or not) an occasional problem. Two, whether or not they could follow instructions and perform a very simple although seemingly stupid task as requested without asking me ‘why?’.”
The young CEO further explained how her company utilises a straightforward alphabetising system to operate swiftly and efficiently, noting that misfiling can cause work delays. Responding to her post, one user commented: “This would be good in finding the mindless drones. As a manager, I would want people to understand why they are doing what they’re doing and how it is relevant to the job, the department or the company. Sure, you get a lot of “personalities” that way, but I find it preferable to working with sheep.”
Another user chimed in: “People need to be able to carry out mindless tasks as well. I suffer from colleagues who feel they are too good for some extremely basic things, such as loading the printer with paper, or cleaning their dirty plates away from the rest area after they have finished lunch, or are unable to take a parcel down to post to have it shipped.”
“These a**holes will do what they can to claim to be too busy for these demeaning and menial tasks, and try to get them shifted to someone else, or just ignore a problem until someone else has to take care of it. Too many primadonnas like this, at a workplace, and you’ll suddenly find yourself spending money on consultants in order to save what remains of teamwork ability at a workplace.”