How can I avoid taking employment tests?

Q: Employers sometimes ask you to take a test to see whether you have the skills necessary for a job. This can be a little insulting because tests don't always reveal whether you can do the job or how quickly you could learn to do it. When asked to take a test, how should you respond?

Nick's reply: Employment testing is invasive and inappropriate if the employer does not give the candidate prior notice that tests will be administered. A candidate should have an opportunity to decline without wasting anyone's time.

Some companies administer tests that are both fair and reasonable. Tests can be an efficient way to learn about a job candidate's grasp of how to do a job, especially if the work is technical. But reasonable employers wait until the candidate has been interviewed and judged first by a human.

I'm not a big fan of employment tests in general. Too often, employers come to view tests as a substitute for careful interviewing and assessment by the hiring manager. As managers who rely on tests slip into a false sense of security, they often ignore their responsibility to use their own judgment.

When the Human Resources department starts singing about the fairness and objectivity of a test-based evaluation process, you can bet the refrain is "lack of accountability." That is, if a new hire doesn't work out, they can blame the test rather than themselves.

How do you avoid the risks (and sometimes the humiliation) posed by tests, especially when they're administered carelessly?

Before you accept an invitation to an interview, explain that your time is very limited, but that you're glad to invest the same amount of time the hiring manager is willing to invest so you can get to know one another.

"I'd be glad to meet with someone from your HR office after I've first met with the hiring manager." Decline to meet with HR personnel first. "Sorry, but I've got to know there's a good potential match before I take any time off from work for an administrative interview with HR."

Then ask about tests. It's important to do this before you attend the first interview. "Do you administer any sort of test prior to the meeting with the hiring manager?" If they answer no, that's good. If they say yes, you need to be very clear: "If my meeting with the hiring manager results in mutual interest, I'd be glad to schedule the test for a mutually convenient time."

Don't let them commandeer your schedule or turn your job search into a one-sided examination. Some HR representatives will have a problem with this. That's why it's best to deal with the hiring manager from the start. If the manager doesn't like your attitude (or you don't like his), you may as well know now.

If it's HR that's creating the test obstacle, call the hiring manager and briefly explain the situation. "I'm very pleased that you're interested in meeting, and I'm enthusiastic about the possibility of working together. However, I'm sure you'll appreciate how tight my work schedule is. I'd prefer to defer any testing until after you and I have established that there's good reason to pursue working together. Can we set a date for our meeting?"

If you're going to take time away from work to discuss a new job, you have the right to suggest reasonable and mutually acceptable terms of engagement. The experience and the outcome of a test might be more to your liking after you've "done the interview" and decided this is a manager you trust -- and a job you really want.

Copyright 2009. Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate

Nick Corcodilos is author of "Ask The Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job" and the host of www.asktheheadhunter.com. He can be reached by e-mail at seattle@asktheheadhunter.com or at North Bridge Group, P.O. Box 600, Lebanon, NJ 08833. Sorry, no personal replies.