No, I won’t take your pre-employment assessment. Here’s why.

Recently I’ve been on the hunt for the next adventure in my career. A handful of times throughout my search I’ve received email responses to job applications, similar to the following:

Dear Alexander,

Thank you for your interest in [Unnamed Company] and congratulations on making it to the next step in our hiring process! Having reviewed your career history, we are pleased to extend you an invitation to complete our two pre-employment assessments: a cognitive assessment and a personality assessment.

Ugh.

First, the term “pre-employment” is being used pretty loosely here. This is the first communication I’m receiving from the company. So yes, technically this is pre-employment, but a better term would be “pre-interview”. And while I doubt this language is meant to be deceiving, it does kinda make it sound like I’m further along in the process than I really am.

Second, these tests have very little to do with the position. The cognitive test involves 50 problem solving and math questions to be answered in 15 minutes. I can see how a test like this could be useful for a bank teller or auditor position. But I’m a designer. “Assessing” my job aptitude based on my ability to do long division without a calculator is ridiculous.

I routinely see posts on LinkedIn about how the hiring process is broken and how we need to stop treating people like numbers. And at the same time I see more and more of this type of thing going on. I guess this is what people are talking about. It just leaves me wondering if and when things might actually start changing.

So, in true hyper-critical form, from a current job seeker, here are three reasons why I won’t take your pre-employment assessment test.

It’s a bad first impression

It doesn’t exactly send a great first impression when your first interaction with a potential team member is to tell them they’re not worth your time.

I understand the desire to automate the hiring process. It requires time and resources that many small companies or startups just don’t have. But when you give someone an assessment before talking to them, you send the message that only your time is valuable, not theirs.

It also doesn’t say much for your company. If you’re so busy that you can’t make time to vet a new hire, that’s a red flag to me. It tells me your workplace is either chaotic or poorly managed. And I’m not eager to dive head first into either of those situations.

It also tells me your recruiting team isn’t worth much. Isn’t that what recruiters are for? Screening job candidates? Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but on some level this tells me there’s a lot of inefficiency at your organization. If you have a recruiting team, a pre-employment assessment is an unnecessary added layer of process.

It’s insulting

Congratulations! We’ve reviewed your resume and work history but despite these things, we’re going to assume that you’re a moron. We’re going to need you to go ahead and fill out this intelligence test now. Thaaanks.

I get it. Sometimes people lie on their resumes. But indicating to a potential employee that you don’t trust them is not a great way to start a relationship. Whether you have a recruiting team or not, it shouldn’t be hard to figure out if someone inflated their skills and experience or not.

Requiring a candidate to take an assessment test before even talking to them on the phone is asking for a lot of up front investment on their part without any reciprocation on yours. I’ve already spent time filling out an application, writing a cover letter, and crafting a creative response to your question of what makes me unique in 140 characters or less. Now you want me to jump through some more hoops before I’ve even had a phone screen? Wowee, what an opportunity!

It says something about your culture (it sucks)

I’ve heard before that personality tests are, at least in part, to help determine culture fit. But, um, that’s what culture interviews are for. If you want to assess how well I’ll fit into your company culture, let’s sit down and have a conversation. Like human beings. Not robots.

Asking a candidate to take a personality test in order to judge culture fit says one thing: monoculture. It tells me you’re looking for people who think and act exactly like you. That’s not a culture I want to be a part of. I want to work with a diverse group of individuals who think and act differently than me, who can challenge me and push me to be better. I’m looking to join a team, not a cult.

Last but not least, in this whole situation your company culture comes off as super antisocial. It tells me you’d prefer to give me a test instead of talking to me. Why on earth would I want to join a group of people who would rather not meet me?

In Summary

The interview process should be like a conversation, not an interrogation. It should be a mutual evaluation for fit. So if I’m talking to you as a potential employer, I’m deciding whether or not I want to work with you. And if you don’t have time for me, I don’t have time for you.

Update

Since writing this article, I’ve started a new role at a great company that didn’t require me to take an assessment test. It wasn’t the only reason why I chose that company, but it certainly didn’t hurt. After all, I spend a significant amount of time with the people on my team. I want to know they view me as a human being, not a walking skillset.

More where this came from

This story is published in Noteworthy, where thousands come every day to learn about the people & ideas shaping the products we love.

Follow our publication to see more product & design stories featured by the Journal team.