Had a virtual interview today for a Training Department Manager position. Major corporation, great benefits, great pay, right in line with my background, experience and education. Interview went great. Felt really good, like I had sold them on hiring me. Was told they would like me to take a skills assessment. No problem, I thought, probably Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, (which I’m certified to teach). Nope, as the title says, it was a typing test. One of those where you have two minutes to copy a random paragraph, without being able to correct any errors.
Now, mind you, my typing is good. 65 wpm, usually very few errors. I’ve have a bit of practice over the last 40 years. But there is absolutely no need for a Manager anywhere to need fast, accurate typing skills. Especially not with word processing programs, autocorrect and spellcheck. Heck, I use a text expander for probably 40-50% of what I type for work anyway.
I wanted this job. I was excited. But now, I know I’m going to decline. I can’t make myself work for a business that thinks a typing test is a useful tool for testing management applicants. Just the thought makes me dread what other backwards thinking I would be stuck dealing with.