Pre interview tests?

Are pre interview teat common?. I just took an assessment test from a help desk company here in Las Vegas . It was split into sections hardwear windows Linux networking and programming. There was a few more sections as well. I have been studying for my A+ so the hardwear and windows section were easy. But I bombed 100% on the other sections. Seeing as I applied for a help desk spot I wasn't expecting the other topics .

Is this something that is normal ?

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Comments

srabiee

What sort of programming questions were they? And what helpdesk job requires programming? Very odd.

DWither

srabiee wrote: »

What sort of programming questions were they? And what helpdesk job requires programming? Very odd.

This company had multiple jobs listed so I'm starting to think they may just give the same assement to everyone . Which seems strange.

srabiee

Well that would certainly make more sense. If that's the case, hopefully they compare the results based upon the exact job position that you were applying to.

olaHalo

What company was it?
I did an interview when I was starting out that seems similar to what you had.
It had programming, networking, desktop, linux, and web design questions on it.

wastedtime

I have taken a number of pre-interview test. With everything to include programming/scripting, spacial orientation, situational math, and theoretical essay question. I find it odd that they have that unless they are looking for someone with general scripting/programming to do bash/powershell type scripts. I have mixed feelings on the test. They could help qualify you for a job that you may not have been considered for without it. Some take a lot more time then should be required of a candidate that hasn't even had a interview yet.

DWither

olaHalo wrote: »

What company was it?
I did an interview when I was starting out that seems similar to what you had.
It had programming, networking, desktop, linux, and web design questions on it.

Sitmulous technology

olaHalo

DWither wrote: »

Sitmulous technology

Sounds about right.
They were a direct competitor to the company I was talking about. They pretty much sell the same services.
Hope the interview went well

DWither

olaHalo wrote: »

Sounds about right.
They were a direct competitor to the company I was talking about. They pretty much sell the same services.
Hope the interview went well

The thing is it wasn't an interview. You test then interview if they like the results.

gespenstern

MSPs do that, especially for regular grunt positions. Been there multiple times.

--chris--

I have seen it twice in my short IT career, so it must be somewhat common.

The tests start off easy and gradually increase difficulty to see where you start bombing. Then they touch base if they want to interview or you usually dont hear from them again.

olaHalo

DWither wrote: »

The thing is it wasn't an interview. You test then interview if they like the results.

I see.
Mine was the same way. Except they interviewed me just after taking the test and looking it over.
So I took the "pretest"
Secretary took my results to the interviewer.
He approved I guess and then interviewed me right there.

I have also seen some online pre-tests that are timed and have very odd questions that would be hard to google.