Schizophrenia

4:00pm

No word yet on the job at Sierra College. But I did hear back from the county about one of the jobs I applied for a while ago. I took a test with the county a couple of weeks ago for a human resources position and I got the test scores back. They sent me an email on the 20th of this month saying:

"At this time your score does not qualify you to be referred to the hiring department for the next phase of the recruitment process. However, you may be eligible for referral at a later date and will be contacted at that time."

Totally understandable! I knew there were going to be other people who scored more than I did - I am a terrible test taker and walked out of there not feeling very confident about my test score since there were LOTS of math questions that I haven't seen in years (seriously, math is the reason why I never took the GRE to get into grad school, and it's one of the reasons why I went into Communication instead of something more technical). In fact, the ONE question I should have known the answer to I totally spaced on. It was something like what do you do, in order of sequence, in research: a). gather data b). pick a sample c). organize data d). interpret data. Obviously I know which order these come in when I am doing research - anyone with half a brain that has been through even 5 minutes of college can tell you......but the way they worded it was very confusing (I did not replicate exact wording because I think I signed a confidentiality waiver of some sort when I was there). For the life of me, I couldn't remember if A or B went first because I may have interpreted it a bit differently. It comes down to quantitative or qualitative research - of which I know both very well having done tons of studies in graduate school. But, the test did not specify quantitative or qualitative. In any case, this part of the email I got today:

Dear Ms. Perez,

Congratulations! You are invited to participate in the oral board examination for the position of (omitted in case someone from this particular organization googles the name of the position)............

The interview will be held as follows:

LOCATION:
DATE:
TIME:

If you have not already provided written verification (e.g. copy of diploma, transcripts, certificates, licenses) of education and/or licenses listed to meet the minimum qualifications for this position, please bring them with you on Wednesday, April 11, 2007. These documents must be received prior to becoming a finalist for the position.

I think that this organization should explain why I was rejected last week but asked to do an oral exam this week. I don't get it. Is it possible that because I have a MA degree they are making an exception? Did they just figure out that level of intelligence has little to do with a single test....or a single degree for that matter? It infinitely bothers me when people are evaluated simply because of a test or a degree. For everyone out there....DEGREES DON'T MATTER.....A SINGLE TEST DOESN'T MATTER.....THE ABILITY AND EXPERIENCE OF THE PERSON AS A WHOLE IS WHAT ULTIMATELY MATTERS!!!!!!! I am not a test score.....I am certainly NOT a degree (and I absolutely loathe that people classify me as someone who has a masters degree). It's something I DID during a couple of years of my life, it's not WHO I AM.

Ok, I will get off of my soapbox now. :) Thanks for listening. Again, I will update you if and when I hear back from Sierra College.