Sky Engineer recruitment assessment

[Eater Sundae]

Not sure if this is the case for Sky, but you may have run into a new style of testing that seems to be gaining popularity among large employers.

 

As I understand it, the test designers come up with a huge number of questions which may be only loosely related to the job and they give them to people already doing the job. They record which answers are given by the most successful people in that job.

 

Then the give the same questions to new jobseekers and see how close they get to the profile of the successful workers. The test designers claim that it's a good predictor of who will do well in the job, and that it can't be gamed because the answers don't have a specific logic to them.

 

I'm not well placed to comment on the science behind that approach, but on a personal level I don't like it. I suspect it means employers miss out on good employees who may think a bit differently, and many applicants like the OP are left scratching their heads wondering what they did wrong.

 

Anyone else know anything about this style of testing?

 

I've never heard of that, but it actually sounds pretty sensible in my opinion, assuming it works.

 

If there is a correlation between performance and how people answer a series of questions, then why not use it. It might leave some failed interviewees scratching their heads but what matters is getting the right people into the right jobs. So, if it works, then use it.

 

In a previous job role I have been involved in interviewing prospective employees. The applicants were required to have a specific level of education, so that side of it was straight forward. The rest boiled down to whether they could handle the role and would fit in as part of a team. It was clear that some interviewees were very good at being interviewed and others weren't. It was necessary to see past the interview.

 

The industry is pretty close knit with several companies working in the same way for the same client. It was not unusual for people to move between companies. There were many cases where someone in the company already knew a prospective employee and was able to advise how well that person would fit in and meet his/her responsibilities. This worked very well, and gets around the limitations of whether or not the applicant interviews well.

[El Cid]

I have no doubt SKY will have paid a bunch of consultants a fortune for dreaming up the questions they ask job applicants.

 

I am a bit of a traditionalist and believe the best engineers should get jobs involving engineering. Similarly, I believe the best heart surgeon should

get an heart surgeon's job at an hospital.

 

The only thing that really matters in heart surgery, is a good outcome from surgery. But a logically thinking engineer would need a great many social skills to keep Joe Public happy.

[Gamston]

The only thing that really matters in heart surgery, is a good outcome from surgery. But a logically thinking engineer would need a great many social skills to keep Joe Public happy.

My logic is, if SKY employ the best engineers, then their Joe Public customers are more likely to be happy.

 

However, you make a fair point because some customers will find something to moan about, regardless of how well a job has been done.

[andyofborg]

Doing what some people do when eating them, leaving the black ones till last, might not get you the job

 

if the airplane was full of jelly babies rather than jelly beans then leaving the black ones until last makes sense.

 

---------- Post added 17-05-2016 at 19:16 ----------

 

I suspect it means employers miss out on good employees who may think a bit differently, and many applicants like the OP are left scratching their heads wondering what they did wrong.

 

 

that's true of pretty much every sort of process used to reduce the number of applicants to a sensible number who can be interviewed and tested.

[sutty27]

I have no doubt SKY will have paid a bunch of consultants a fortune for dreaming up the questions they ask job applicants.

 

I am a bit of a traditionalist and believe the best engineers should get jobs involving engineering. Similarly, I believe the best heart surgeon should

get an heart surgeon's job at an hospital.

 

Sky engineers are the public face of the company so if I was a Sky boss I would want a competent engineer with good communication skills, that is patience, attentive, calm under pressure with the ability to read customers and have good time management skills, there are probably some more skills I missed out.

 

---------- Post added 17-05-2016 at 21:27 ----------

 

The only thing that really matters in heart surgery, is a good outcome from surgery. But a logically thinking engineer would need a great many social skills to keep Joe Public happy.

 

Beat me too it.

[Gamston]

Sky engineers are the public face of the company so if I was a Sky boss I would want a competent engineer with good communication skills, that is patience, attentive, calm under pressure with the ability to read customers and have good time management skills, there are probably some more skills I missed out.

Yes, you missed climbing a ladder

[sutty27]

Yes, you missed climbing a ladder

 

Ah yes forgot about them needing a good head for heights.

[alchresearch]

Years ago I used to do deliveries and installs of computers. Some of the states of the houses would make me retch. You need to have a strong stomach and remember not to eat or drink anything offered, then wipe your feet on the way out.

[sutty27]

Years ago I used to do deliveries and installs of computers. Some of the states of the houses would make me retch. You need to have a strong stomach and remember not to eat or drink anything offered, then wipe your feet on the way out.

 

It's an eye opener when you see how some people choose to live, the worst house I ever worked in was covered in poop, even on the walls, a jar of vicks was an important part of my tool box.

[Bargepole23]

I have no doubt SKY will have paid a bunch of consultants a fortune for dreaming up the questions they ask job applicants.

 

I am a bit of a traditionalist and believe the best engineers should get jobs involving engineering. Similarly, I believe the best heart surgeon should

get an heart surgeon's job at an hospital.

 

What engineering do you think a Sky engineer does?