Be Careful Relying on Experience
Experience is almost always a variable that employers look at when making hiring decisions. It is also common for those with experience to have different hiring standards, such as lateral police officer. While experience can be an important variable it is important to know that experience is just time and does not elaborate on quality. Below is an example correspondence from an "experienced" firefighter that was not successful on our entry level test. Please prepare to be shocked.
(the following text contains offensive language and content)
Sender name: Don
Sender email: Gof***yourself@aol.com
Title: Applicant
Organization: Go f*** yourself
Mailing Address: 123 eat my d*** lane
City: A**vile
State/Prov: CT
Message: I took the fire team test twice. Your test is horse sh*t. I bought the study guide and got 100.00 both times around. I failed the actual exam. I f***ing hate your test and whoever designed that f***ing test should kill themselves. I hope all of you who had something to do with the establishment of this exam burn in f***ing hell.
PS. I have been in the fire service for nearly ten years. Suck on that.
The email was sent to a general inquiries contact through the Ergometrics' website. Testing can be frustrating for those who do not pass, but no employer wants an employee that reacts to frustration in this manner. These types of reactions are caused by stressful situations. Stressful situations can, and do frequently occur on the job. Ergometrics' tests are specifically designed to identify difficult situations where mistakes commonly occur.
This applicant or "potential employee" has experience. Prior experience listed on a resume may appear to be a good thing, but you have no idea of the behavior that lurks beneath and it is often hard to get the "real" information from the prior employer. The majority of our candidate complaints of this nature come from those with experience. Experience has little to no correlation with entry level test performance. Experience is only a factor of time and not of quality. Resume reviews will only tell you the amount of time that an applicant has done the job, but nothing of the quality of that job or performance ratings. Experience is nothing but a number, while job simulation gives you a deeper view into how candidates' will actually respond to real life situations.
Negative hires are costly for the department in regards to increased staff time dealing with problem employees, decreased morale, greater use of sick leave and one of the most costly of all, turnover. But even worse than turnover is the retention of a negative hire. How much damage can a negative hiring decision do to your department? The best tools are needed to get the best results.
Ergometrics' tests are specifically developed to simulate stressful situations that commonly occur on the job. It is a "day in the life" snapshot of employee behavior. Organizations receive both numerical scores and more in-depth dimensional scores that provide information on candidates' individual strengths and weaknesses that might not be apparent from a resume. It might take weeks, months or longer on the job to identify these behaviors and their impact on your organization.
This may be one of the most harsh messages we have received, but it is certainly not the only one. Although we do not appreciate the threatening tone, we feel that ultimately we are doing our job and helping departments make quality hiring decisions.