Job Hunting? Dig Up Those Old SAT Scores
- Thread starter blakpacman
- Start date
From personal observation, SAT scores generally correlates well with mental ability, and major companies know it. People I knew who scored in the 1500s (of 1600) are mostly in careers that make > $250,000/yr, one career being Executive Director at a major investment bank while still being in his early 30s. There is one exception of someone who scored > 1500 who did badly, but that's because he assumed he could coast purely on his intelligence, thus not studying in university, then dropping out to join a tech start-up that subsequently failed.
I see this type of request all the time in the Bay Area. Many job postings ask for SAT scores along with GPA's for all sorts of career levels. I had never seen anything like it until I moved to SF. Originally I thought it was just part of the "Silicon Valley" mindset that had carried into other industries, but now I feel its commonplace in a lot of job markets throughout the US. It just seems odd to ask for your SAT scores when looking for candidates that come with years of industry experience in Finance and also come with professional references as well. I agree with the entry level jobs who are looking for people with little to no experience. I guess it just depends on the type of company and the philosophies of upper management who make the hiring decisions.
It's the closest thing to a normalized test out there.
It's far from perfect and says little about a candidate with 20 years experience, but it doesn't hurt to have the info.
It's far from perfect and says little about a candidate with 20 years experience, but it doesn't hurt to have the info.
semi-related SAT news - college board returning to 1600 scoring system with essay now optional:
http://college.usatoday.com/2014/04/24/new-sat-same-old-standardized-testing-problems/
http://college.usatoday.com/2014/04/24/new-sat-same-old-standardized-testing-problems/
I guess. Anything to make it harder for the applicant.
Getting a job is like winning the lottery.
Once I applied for 20 jobs, only got 1 call back and that was Mcdonald's.
I agree. All the other data carries a lot of variance. Sure, one could have lots of experience but was that due to luck, environment, knowing the right people, etc. There are literally infinite amounts of combinations that can explain a person's life story. But a normalized test centers data among all applicants. I'm sure if one is much older is used more as a tiebreaker rather than "the" criteria they look at.
This is just more stupidity, presumably by those who do not have high SAT scores.
While I had a decent score, I will never forget getting my first job on a trading desk out of college. The recruiter didnt want to see my resume, just asked my gpa and SAT score. When I replied truthfully, I was told it wasnt good enough and was completely blown off.
When I called back 2 days later and gave my "new" nnumbers, GPA + .3, SAT +100, my resume was then accepted and forwarded to the firm, where I ended up getting the job and beating out other "more qualified" candidates.
The true problem is that people are lazy, that we live in a cover you ass type society, and no one knows how to make qualitative decisions anymore.
While I had a decent score, I will never forget getting my first job on a trading desk out of college. The recruiter didnt want to see my resume, just asked my gpa and SAT score. When I replied truthfully, I was told it wasnt good enough and was completely blown off.
When I called back 2 days later and gave my "new" nnumbers, GPA + .3, SAT +100, my resume was then accepted and forwarded to the firm, where I ended up getting the job and beating out other "more qualified" candidates.
The true problem is that people are lazy, that we live in a cover you ass type society, and no one knows how to make qualitative decisions anymore.
