Marxxx:
I received a call from the Hr unit that they are sending 5 Trainees to me for confirmation. I was surprised because they didn't give me a prior notice. When I Queried the lady from the Hr unit she said the Senior Partner (HOD) contacted them that he will travelling to the UK that I can go ahead with the confirmation.

I was a bit nervous because I find it difficult relating with people, what do I ask them? Moreover I have too much on my hands already. I told Hr to give me an hour so that I can coordinate myself ....The truth is if you confirm a trainee and He/she under performs, it tells badly on your record. Here I am always striving to maintain a spotless record now this challenge doesn't look good.

Exactly an hour later Hr unit called again that they are on their way, I told her to take them to the conference room.....30mins later I joined them Lo and Behold I saw 5 well dressed gentlemen and ladies 3 guys and 2 ladies. I stared at them and they were looking back at me (which kind witch be this I said to myself) They thought I was testing them truth is I don't even know what to say or ask....."tell me your names I started".....after all the blah blah.....i went through their cv's it was good. 3 had first class. it was B.A trainee, I looked at their aptitude test performances read their essays great; yet I didn't know what further qstns to ask. So I wrote down a simple arithmetic on the board and I gave them 90s to solve. Only one got it right within the time frame (A lady!!!!; she bagged First class from Reading University UK). I thanked them for their interest in joining us. I sent my remarks to Hr and they were shocked. Hr Manager had to call me explaining that they have spent so such on the recruitment exercise and approving just one means they have to continue the exercise. I simply told him Mr ***a** you can confirm the rest.

This was the simple problem I wrote on the board.

€/€ - €/6 = €/12......what is the value of €?

So I am asking you, how good are you with basic reasoning?

The guys who trained those graduate trainee in your company are dullards.

Op you are so wicked. beside, exam is not really the best way to test one's knowledge. you should have just allowed another person do it. I bet you , if you were the one on that hot sit you and a question like this " who is the president of Liberia " is asked, I guess you would have failed it too.

tearoses:


You don't get offers rejected not because the company is all that, but because job seekers don't have a choice so they take any/everything that is thrown at them.

You don't have all the blame though; your company placed you in a difficult position and In a way you are a victim too.
Your boss should have briefed you on what he needed you to do before he left or at least contacted you whilst he was away to warn you in advance of today's visit.
He is still officially at work, so she should still be contactable and HR too should have been very clear on their expectations and guided you through.

Hopefully its a lesson all round and you should be requesting to attend a suitable course to help you respond to these kinds of situations better in the future.

The truth is that the best performing individuals work for the most flexible and people oriented companies.

As a trainee here; you also get a share from the profit made by the firm. I won't disclose much but let me tell you, Mckinsey gives housing allowance of over a million to B.A's yearly....here as a Trainee at least you get a quarter of a million as your housing allowance This was over six years ago, I don't know how much they get now....let alone their take home. Senior partners here are paid in Usd....bro I can't divulge more than this....I am yet to see someone who rejects an offer though

Mrlekan07034617:



Hello Ma'am I see no wrong with what op did, for crying out loud those guys are graduate and this mathematics question is damn to cheap for 4 of them to Bleep up.

We all did mathematics in school @least to 'o' level stage. Forget it when it comes to job interview u expect anything, and besides the Op too needs not to confirm people of poor/low reasoning which might tarnish his records.

We understand the terrible situation out there when it comes to Job hunting but still the Op just did what he had to do.

you are right about that though. But whenever I conduct recruitment exercises, I use such questions only for written exams. Moreover, I'd have to go thru the pages of their credentials because I got to ask them questions based on how they presented themselves.
I'm sure they all came prepared but not expectant.
Mathematics use to be my best subject but schooling in 9ja university killed my morale oh. abeg no laugh oh!

Marxxx:
As a trainee here; you also get a share from the profit made by the firm. I won't disclose much but let me tell you, Mckinsey gives housing allowance of over a million to B.A's yearly....here as a Trainee at least you get a quarter of a million as your housing allowance This was over six years ago, I don't know how much they get now....let alone their take home. Senior partners here are paid in Usd....bro I can't divulge more than this....I am yet to see someone who rejects an offer though

Like I said, you don't get rejections because there are many applicants chasing few jobs.

its also not all about money.....there are people behind those payslips and it sucks even more when foreign companies who know better treat Nigerians very badly just because they can.

Keeping an applicant waiting for 1,5 hours is totally unacceptable and this same Mckinsey dare not do that to an applicant in the UK

Tacticalmind:
Marxxx , I couldn't careless if you don't confirm any of them. Stuffs like this happen everytime in the industry and for sure, if I were your boss and you confirm anyone that later messes up, I'll surely put the blame on you. Candidates get disqaulified at job interviews for doing something as small as eating two apples. We've redrawn employments from guys for talking too much, even while in their hotel rooms after work. So, I, personally don't care the methods you employed in testing whatever the aspect of their intelligence you're testing. However, what I care about is your arrogance and attitude. If you work in my department, I would sack you for your attitude, even if you're the best I've got. And I'll always give you a bad reference or correspondence as the case maybe. Working is not just about your efficiency in working alone, it has a lot to do with how you work with your team and from what you've said here, you're obviously not a team player. Those that you work for, if they're really professionals, would have sacked you. Or, they're just tolerating you.

You sound like one from the Hr unit. Unfortunately things here is a bit different. You are promoted based on efficiency. In fact the partners here in Nigeria are just here to attend meetings, win clients and we clean up the mess. As long as you are efficient we will find a place for you. We are that flexible. If you are a lone ranger/sadist....we will send you to research unit. In some branches outside Nigeria there are some of our colleagues who don't interact with females and they do their job.....If you prefer working alone there are special tasks...."work never ends"....your personal evaluation is done in the UK based on the number of task you have done efficiently. Instead of firing me, I will gladly tell you that those that we joined the firm together are 3 steps lower than me. I could have left the firm for but the freedom I enjoy here and the way they vary their style to accommodate you is something I can't trade easily

Funny enough it's situations like this I pray for. Situations that let you know it's only by grace. Imagine not having a stellar CV or high aptitude test scores like the other 3 and the HR manager throws this question at you and you hit it under 30seconds.

Marxxx:
Mind your language your man!

u HR enh sometimes It sometimes its seems like rocket science to understand y u guys choice to demoralize n discredit someone's hard work which took combine efforts from both parent n individual for several yrs to build.

that u have a job n r in d position to outsource others doesn't mean you should ridicle or make poor n job testing applicants look useless n worthless even knowing no one is ever useless. ask urself, did u graduate with a 1st class? even though u did, it is eveytin u no?

since u no ur weakness with meeting ppl u could ve as well appoint someone else with directives or better still get back to them thru mail after accessing their document/CVs instead of lashing their hope after all the stress, time n money they've spent getting to that stage.

diaris god o! beta pray for God's forgiveness n call the once ur instinct tells u will perform because to me? they r all ova qualify.

abbey621:


You are assuming the positions they applied for relates to engineering or has a mathematical component. Even at that, choosing a candidate because they can solve one arithmetic question shows that the hiring process is fundamentally flawed.

You also do not know if the role applied for relates to engineering or has a mathematical component, my assumption was if it does, the question asked the 5 candidates is not out of place and on the basis of that I disagree that the hiring process is flawed.Besides you do not dictate to a potential employer about questions you want him/her to ask you rather you are asked questions that the employer deems necessary to ascertain certain qualities and abilities that the employer may need in prospective employees.The question could be quantitative, behavioural or qualitative in nature

@ Marxxx,

I can understand the position you were in and the pressure you were under and the fact that you didn't want to dent your record but what you asked them should have been part of the aptitude test, since 5 out of 6 failed, you should have asked them all an interactive question, to see how well they hold their own. We all can't be good in all aspects, no matter how 'sharp' someone is, it's difficult to get all questions right when under pressure.

My question is this: the lady you confirmed based on her quick response, what's the guarantee that she won't under perform on the job and still dent your record or is solving mathematics part of the job function?

Always give people second chances because you may need it yourself too someday

My thoughts though. Enjoy

Modified: @Marxxx, because I kept seeing people referring to your other post, I decided to read it. Having read it, I am even now more certain that you shouldn't have brushed the trainees off the way you did. You are trying to push your girlfriend into a job, you feel she has the potential but you said yourself that she has bad village accent and has refused to reinvent herself. So how would you feel if someone refuses to see her potential at an interview in one of the companies you know their hidden slots as you claimed and is fixated on her accent and refuses to employ her. Then you also stated that the first time you went to Lagos was for job interview and you did well at the interview but also had terrible accent but you were employed inspite of it and you have now worked on your accent Abi? And you talk well now. So if someone looked beyond how well you did at interview but was also fixated on your accent would you be where you are now?

It boils down to the same thing, give people second chances mbok (as udysweet will say)

bezimo:


You also do not know if the role applied for relates to engineering or has a mathematical component, my assumption was if it does, the question asked the 5 candidates is not out of place and on the basis of that I disagree that the hiring process is flawed.Besides you not dictate to a potential employer about questions you want him/her to ask you rather you are asked questions that the employer deems necessary to ascertain certain qualities and abilities that the employer may need in prospective employees.The question could be quantitative, behavioural or qualitative questions.

When I said that the hiring process is flawed, I'm talking from an employer's perspective. I've hired my share of candidates and I've also been to many job interviews. Trust me when I say that you can't hire the best candidates based on one arithmetic or critical thinking question, this is not an opinion but facts based on expert analysis. In fact hiring managers are advised to follow best practices/standards when it comes to the recruitment process, if you visit sites such as [url]shrm.org[/url] and become a member, you'll be enlightened at how the best companies in the world hire and retain top talents.

abbey621:


When I said that the hiring process is flawed, I'm talking from an employer's perspective. I've hired my share of candidates and I've also been to many job interviews. Trust me when I say that you can't hire the best candidates based on one arithmetic or critical thinking question, this is not an opinion but facts based on expert analysis. In fact hiring managers are advised to follow best practices/standards when it comes to the recruitment process, if you visit sites such as [url]shrm.org[/url] and become a member, you'll be enlightened at how the best companies in the world hire and retain top talents.

I won't want to challenge you further on your position. It's clear we have different views.
But on a lighter note, it seems you never liked maths during your undergraduate and high school days hence the expression of your displeasure for the Op hiring approach of using high school basic algebra to assess the candidates.

bezimo:



I won't want to challenge you further on your position. It's clear we have different views.
But on a lighter note, it seems you never liked maths during your undergraduate and high school days hence the expression of your displeasure for the Op hiring approach of using high school basic algebra to assess the candidates.

On the contrary, I studied Computer Science with Mathematics and I can appreciate the critical thinking aspect of mathematics both abstract and linear. I've since ventured more into business and management with my 2nd bachelors in Business management, an MBA and an MS in Information Systems, currently I'm juggling working for one of the top 50 companies in America with running my own consulting business and finishing up my PHD, let's just say mathematics is the last thing on my mind....

Marxxx:
I received a call from the Hr unit that they are sending 5 Trainees to me for confirmation. I was surprised because they didn't give me a prior notice. When I Queried the lady from the Hr unit she said the Senior Partner (HOD) contacted them that he will travelling to the UK that I can go ahead with the confirmation.

I was a bit nervous because I find it difficult relating with people, what do I ask them? Moreover I have too much on my hands already. I told Hr to give me an hour so that I can coordinate myself ....The truth is if you confirm a trainee and He/she under performs, it tells badly on your record. Here I am always striving to maintain a spotless record now this challenge doesn't look good.

Exactly an hour later Hr unit called again that they are on their way, I told her to take them to the conference room.....30mins later I joined them Lo and Behold I saw 5 well dressed gentlemen and ladies 3 guys and 2 ladies. I stared at them and they were looking back at me (which kind witch be this I said to myself) They thought I was testing them truth is I don't even know what to say or ask....."tell me your names I started".....after all the blah blah.....i went through their cv's it was good. 3 had first class. it was B.A trainee, I looked at their aptitude test performances read their essays great; yet I didn't know what further qstns to ask. So I wrote down a simple arithmetic on the board and I gave them 90s to solve. Only one got it right within the time frame (A lady!!!!; she bagged First class from Reading University UK). I thanked them for their interest in joining us. I sent my remarks to Hr and they were shocked. Hr Manager had to call me explaining that they have spent so such on the recruitment exercise and approving just one means they have to continue the exercise. I simply told him Mr ***a** you can confirm the rest.

This was the simple problem I wrote on the board.

€/€ - €/6 = €/12......what is the value of €?

So I am asking you, how good are you with basic reasoning?

Hmm...Mr Marxxx the OP,I had to spare precious time to read through this thread.I must as a matter of fact say that the equation you gave them to solve is actually very elementary but the thing is you really can't judge folks who scaled through more brain tasking hurdles before getting to that stage because they failed a simple equation!!! Well,when next you find yourself in such a situation I think it will be better to have an intellectual chat with them.what if they just melted under pressure for reasons known to them?i actually solved that question with one line&that's like 10secs or so but what guarantees i'll do well on the job?it wasn't well done bro.

Marxxx

I must say you are really some weirdo. I could only imagine the kind of lifestyle you choose for yourself, having gone through both of your threads..
And I must admit you're really good at what you do.

My main concern is what happened to the other four trainees you didn't confirm?

After you called the HR Manager and told then your decision to come and confirm the rest, what was their reply?
I await your response.

E =4 but in the grand scheme of things, what did this accomplish even if one were to get it correct? That the person too a very basic (around 6th grade math course)? How does this demonstrate their ability to propel your company forward? If I were your supervisor, I would have given you the evil eye for such foolishness as a hiring manager. Your exercise only helped to boost your little ego and nothing more. mttttchew.. lol

tearoses:
This is very interesting
Recruitment surely has a long way to go in some sectors
First you kept applicants waiting for a minimum of 1,5 hours then you asked them questions they were not prepared for.
Can you imagine the amount of stress they were under during the wait?
In some places, you will be looking at a lawsuit.

Your company also seems very disorganised.
I wouldn't want to work for such a company & I certainly wouldn't want to work for you.
Also as a team leader you should by now be attending/attended management/leadership courses.
Today you failed as badly as these applicants.

Thirdly, the method you chose, due to your own personal inadequacies and lack of training wasn't the best way to make a decision
You should have engaged them and worked out how best they fit your team bearing in mind they will be working for you & they have already been through a rigorous recruitment exercise.
One single person can tip the balance of a team and the most knowledgable person may not be the best person for the team/job

Hopefully that girl with a first from Reading will not let the side down and she will give you a run for your money and show you how its done.....

He should have assessed them using competency based questions but then again he explained he wasn't prepared for the task hence the questionable decision making process he deployed to select the successful candidate

Besides, he should have tested their numerical reasoning skills with something financial trainees are expected to be familiar with e.g cross currency conversion mental maths

I interview programmers from time to time and those that usually get the job aren't necessarily the best technically gifted but those with the right blend of technical ability and demonstrable people skills

What you make happen for others will happen to you. Two points, you are not a leader, rather a manager. Failing 80% First Class graduates because of fear of their future performance is clear indication that you are highly risk averse and not a good candidate for leadership. Secondly, the math test does not in any way prove anything. A "dumb" may have come across such a problem just a day before and pass it while a genius may fail it. Please improve you decision making ability.

Haha....Mr. Versatility dey give excuse. What old lecture note? Lol. You see how dumb I just made you look? Now you don't have time, but I thought you have read wide. You still have some 56hours more to answer the damn question. Go gather all your superiors and professors. You are free to cheat sef. If you answer it, I'll give you N500,000. On my life!

Mrlekan07034617:


Lolz you are really funny!! So if I get this so called question of yours, its obvious u just went with speed into your old lecture notes to attack me because I advice its important one reads wide.

Just calm your nerves already because I don't have time for what u stated up there, I'm expecting your next comment and if possible another question from you.

Marxxx:
wow I think I have had enough from you for one night. Do me a favour, please do not comment on any of my topic or quote me again. I have taken cognisance of your monicker I will ensure I do same...I will very much appreciate you keep to this.

And if I do? oops I just did have not even started with you and your claiming you've had enough

InformedLola:
Op, I hate to insult people on social media but I just have to say you are a buffoon who is just too full of himself. You refused to confirm those guys because of this simple bit of maths you posted? How is that equation a means of judging critical reasoning?

You are so myopic that you forget there are key leadership attributes that should be looked out for in addition to analytic thinking. And I must say it is probably because you lack those attributes yourself.

I surprise oooo!!! Its not a must that applicants ability be tested by mathematics alone? @ Maxx,You said one of the applicant has a B.A Degree, definitely such a person will not be that good at mathematics like the B.Sc and B.Tech or B.Eng.................... you need to revisit your decision. thats the best for you and the candidates, remember you are once like them looking for job not knowing what the future holds. Thanks and make corrections please.

correctyourself:


I must say you are a wrong person to be in your position, just because you don't know what to do you decided to play out of the rules because you want to protect your records and thwarted the efforts of those that have been working to make sure they got to that level even when you saw that their records from the recruitment process is good, don't worry this will expose you to your organization that you lack what it takes to handle such issue, must they know everything that you knew? By the way, are they not trainees? and what did you understand by (trainee) , By the grace of God that decision will be revised while your capacity would be made known to your organization.

Have it in mind that decision will affect you, as it is now you have shown to your colleagues whom you are by making them feel having worked and gotten to this stage they did nothing. So annoying, I just hope when the main person that is in charge comes back he/she should have second/positive look on their performance and as well review your own contract/position before you run your organization's (employees retention strength) from 100% to 0%.

Amen to this comment.

Almighty GOd . Baba dada. Pls don't let me come acrross such a horrible person like the OP in my life . You think it's by arithmetic? Or are they coming to your company to solve one useless arithmetic.you will reap what you sow . Remember your own kids too. Bs

bezimo:



I won't want to challenge you further on your position. It's clear we have different views.
But on a lighter note, it seems you never liked maths during your undergraduate and high school days hence the expression of your displeasure for the Op hiring approach of using high school basic algebra to assess the candidates.

So, students of Humanities will never pass recruitment test in your organization. so far its all based on arithmetic, i guess the language in your office is arithmetic too, your organization is an algebra company full of arithmetic.

[quote author=jaybee3 post=42592111]



Nope. You have to find the multiple of the denominators.

My grouse is: Why just one question? You can't use one question to determine how "mathematically" sound someone is. Even Cowbell Mathematics Competition no dey ask just one question....lol

[quote author=Asapcymg post=42592688]
I am a lady
What gave you the impression that icoped your answer. I worked it

zeezy1:

I am a lady
What gave you the impression that icoped your answer. I worked it

Just accept the correction already. The answer is 4 not 10

Hey marxx, I have one funny question. What if the girl that got it right had seen the question before somewhere else. Maybe in a test or during an online research. This simply implies that you did not chose the best candidate. I was 3rd during my interview process and I was just selected because they needed 3 people. I have been first in all my appraisals, 4 years running. I believe in giving people a chance. Those people had scaled thru a rigorous process. Thier performance during the training process would not have affected your official "swagg". All you had to do was confirm them and you had to play high and mighty just because you did not know what to do. What happened to testing thier zeal for the job? Attitude bro, attitude matters alot.

ladyF:
€ is 4.

It's [size=15pt]LadyF[/size] again

The guy below me tho, that is long process. E/E =1. It'll save you the time for cross multiplication

Never mind my dear, just love longing things.......lollllzzz

Marxxx:
I received a call from the Hr unit that they are sending 5 Trainees to me for confirmation. I was surprised because they didn't give me a prior notice. When I Queried the lady from the Hr unit she said the Senior Partner (HOD) contacted them that he will travelling to the UK that I can go ahead with the confirmation.

I was a bit nervous because I find it difficult relating with people, what do I ask them? Moreover I have too much on my hands already. I told Hr to give me an hour so that I can coordinate myself ....The truth is if you confirm a trainee and He/she under performs, it tells badly on your record. Here I am always striving to maintain a spotless record now this challenge doesn't look good.

Exactly an hour later Hr unit called again that they are on their way, I told her to take them to the conference room.....30mins later I joined them Lo and Behold I saw 5 well dressed gentlemen and ladies 3 guys and 2 ladies. I stared at them and they were looking back at me (which kind witch be this I said to myself) They thought I was testing them truth is I don't even know what to say or ask....."tell me your names I started".....after all the blah blah.....i went through their cv's it was good. 3 had first class. it was B.A trainee, I looked at their aptitude test performances read their essays great; yet I didn't know what further qstns to ask. So I wrote down a simple arithmetic on the board and I gave them 90s to solve. Only one got it right within the time frame (A lady!!!!; she bagged First class from Reading University UK). I thanked them for their interest in joining us. I sent my remarks to Hr and they were shocked. Hr Manager had to call me explaining that they have spent so such on the recruitment exercise and approving just one means they have to continue the exercise. I simply told him Mr ***a** you can confirm the rest.

This was the simple problem I wrote on the board.

€/€ - €/6 = €/12......what is the value of €?

So I am asking you, how good are you with basic reasoning?

Now u see why man should never be God, You dashed their hope just because of this simple mathematics that even a primary school student can answer in 90s, they surely failed in that time because much complex quarry is expected from you which you yourself could not chunked out because u are empty and not as smart as they are hence your silly question. I just wish ur HR could see this post and judge you accordingly for costing them a lot unnecessarily.

You are noted today as u can never be trusted with power, u will misuse it definitely.

@ OP, u are wicked and Devilish, if those 5 pple were to be white pple will u interview them again?. for them to av pass through the recruitment process it means they can perform the role they are been hired for. yet you ended up putting more pple on the street, may GOD have mercy on U , wicked soul!.