It has been YEARS since I was last told to stop writing and put my pencil down, #2 of course, and turn in my paper. Until yesterday that is.
Once again, in this crazy yet necessary job search I am on, I was surprised to find an entirely new application process for a position I am interested in.
Initially it was familiar, fill in your personal information, upload your resume. I clicked “Next” and was taken to ten (10) multiple choice questions, all specific to my experience as it related to the position as it was posted. After I had completed them, I clicked “Next” once again and received a message offering Congratulations! that I had passed that initial phase of the process. Below this congratulatory message were four (4) essay questions. I kid you not.
If you are reading this blog you know I like to write. But I was not expecting this in an online application. They called it an online interview which is what it was.
I think you were given 4000 characters for each answer. I felt like I wrote a good amount, but on one of the questions I was done answering, I think I had 3,000 characters left!
The other strange thing was the message at the top of the page said each question should take about 30 minutes (is that in metric???) and that if you couldn’t finish everything, you could save your application and return to complete it at another time.
I was pretty satisfied with my answers. There was no spell check available in this program so I copied and pasted everything into Word to check my spelling. Then I thought maybe I would print my answers out from Word and look them over and send the application in before bed. I’m usually one to go with my first instinct but I figured it couldn’t hurt to give it a quick review.
I hit “Next” and was taken to a fairly empty page where the only thing that was there was:
Thank you! You have successfully submitted your application!
WHAT? I thought I was going to be able to save and review? All I could think of was what if someone had NOT finished and tried to save and instead the incomplete application was sent in?
This job search never ceases to amaze, discourage, baffle and/or disappoint. And I’m a POSITIVE person . . .
