You’ve applied for a new job at a large company. They have called you in for an initial screening and an aptitude test of sorts along with a room full of applicants. You feel like you’re in school again as the human resource representative explains that it is a timed exercise and following the instructions precisely is the key to a perfect performance.
Your heart beats faster as they hand you a pencil and a thick packet of paper. The cover reiterates the rep's remarks, “Be sure to read this test thoroughly.” Time starts and you turn to the fist page with a gulp.
At the top in bold letters it states to use a pencil, show your work and to print legibly. You begin to fill in the typical job application info making sure you don’t slip into a print cursive mixture like you sometimes do when writing rote facts quickly.
After that is a section full of math problems from simple arithmetic to advanced algebra. Though you weren’t expecting this exactly you channel your inner child and try to remember what your 5th period math teacher had said about the quadratic equation. Was that ax^2+bx+c=0?
The experience is beginning to remind you of one of those dreams where you can’t remember your locker combination and you’ve shown up to class in your underwear. Another applicant in the room must have had the same nightmare because they stood up and pushed in their chair. They walked to the front of the room and put their pencil in the can and their paper face down on the desk before exiting without saying a word.
According to the clock there’s over an hour left. You seem to be further along than the other applicants remaining in the room so you refuse to admit defeat. Fortunately it’s just a few more problems before the essay section. Standard question like “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?” seem simply refreshing and you remember to pay close attention keeping your hand writing consistent and answering in complete sentences. Even though you have a pencil you don’t want to erase.
After a few pages on current events, you see the light at the end of the tunnel. You’ll be the first person to finish aside from the one competitor who had crumbled under the pressure. Confidently you turned to the last page and read the instructions, "Once you have read this test thoroughly, as instructed on the cover, do not fill out any answers on the previous pages. Write your name on the cover and your favorite animal on the back of this sheet. Stand up, push your chair in and return your pencil to the can on the desk. Place your paperwork face down next to it and exit the room silently."
Your jaw drops, your heart sinks and your hand shakes as you try to undo your mistake. Without a sound you stand up, push in your chair and put your pencil in the can. As you place your smudged paperwork face down on the desk you notice the pristine packet of the person who had exited early. On the back printed in pencil it says, “Penguin.”
Tell me your favorite animal in the comment below. For more information on scientific careers, visit ScienceCareersite.com
By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a multimedia developer with experience in web, film, photography and animation as well as traditional fine arts like painting and sculpting. In addition to writing for [name of site], she is co-founder of design and promotion company, BlackChip Solutions with fellow Nexxt blogger, Staci Dennis. Heather’s spare time consists of making puppets, teaching Sunday School, building Legos and doing science experiments with her children.
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