Poetry Requirement on a Job Application??
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So, I'm working as an independent contractor doing mostly backend and middleware, and I finally decide to try to pick up some more work outside my current client; business is slow with my current customers, and it's probably a good time to start poking around... Tonight, I came across a promising item that seems to be a good fit: Technologies I'm familiar with, remote work, the whole shebang. The "Apply Now" link takes me to the company's application process, and I start going through the usual 3-5 pages of who/what/when/why... ...and then I get to the last text area to be filled: "Please write a 40-60 word poem about your current or a recent position." Huh? I can only guess that these types of tests are supposed to do something like screen for creativity, or frighten off the less-than-serious applicant. Has anyone else come across this kind of stuff--or something weirder? Just to complete the story, I decide to forge ahead; if they want me to sum up my life as a coder in 40-60 words, who am I to question the wisdom and might of HR? Behold, my Miltonian masterpiece!
Lo! The worlds of knowledge that dance mind,
Building bridges of code to speak both kind.
Arrows of packets, racing through the night,
Sysadmins finally sleep peaceful at night.Look to the Voids, darkness still reigns,
A wish to forge bonds! Break open chains.
Blacksmith! Bytesmith! Job never done,
Still we fight on, our day in the sun.Burma shave.
vuolsi così colà dove si puote ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare --The answer to Minos and any question of "Why are we doing it this way?"
There once was a man from Nantucket whose dic - err, maybe not on a job interview ;P
Once you lose your pride the rest is easy. In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you. – Buddha Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
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Sounds like it's meant to weed out non-English-speaking applicants. :suss:
There once was a lowly programmer
Who often was heard to stammer
"Oh, why won't they learn
when I say 'hit RETURN'
I mean with a thumb, not a hammer!"PIEBALDconsult wrote:
Sounds like it's meant to weed out non-English-speaking applicants
Seems to work.
Peter Wasser "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
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So, I'm working as an independent contractor doing mostly backend and middleware, and I finally decide to try to pick up some more work outside my current client; business is slow with my current customers, and it's probably a good time to start poking around... Tonight, I came across a promising item that seems to be a good fit: Technologies I'm familiar with, remote work, the whole shebang. The "Apply Now" link takes me to the company's application process, and I start going through the usual 3-5 pages of who/what/when/why... ...and then I get to the last text area to be filled: "Please write a 40-60 word poem about your current or a recent position." Huh? I can only guess that these types of tests are supposed to do something like screen for creativity, or frighten off the less-than-serious applicant. Has anyone else come across this kind of stuff--or something weirder? Just to complete the story, I decide to forge ahead; if they want me to sum up my life as a coder in 40-60 words, who am I to question the wisdom and might of HR? Behold, my Miltonian masterpiece!
Lo! The worlds of knowledge that dance mind,
Building bridges of code to speak both kind.
Arrows of packets, racing through the night,
Sysadmins finally sleep peaceful at night.Look to the Voids, darkness still reigns,
A wish to forge bonds! Break open chains.
Blacksmith! Bytesmith! Job never done,
Still we fight on, our day in the sun.Burma shave.
vuolsi così colà dove si puote ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare --The answer to Minos and any question of "Why are we doing it this way?"
Maybe someone was a poetry major in college and now works in human resources. I wonder if the higher-ups at the company know that this individual could be alienating potential talent. Perhaps you should send a copy of the ridiculous request to them.
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So, I'm working as an independent contractor doing mostly backend and middleware, and I finally decide to try to pick up some more work outside my current client; business is slow with my current customers, and it's probably a good time to start poking around... Tonight, I came across a promising item that seems to be a good fit: Technologies I'm familiar with, remote work, the whole shebang. The "Apply Now" link takes me to the company's application process, and I start going through the usual 3-5 pages of who/what/when/why... ...and then I get to the last text area to be filled: "Please write a 40-60 word poem about your current or a recent position." Huh? I can only guess that these types of tests are supposed to do something like screen for creativity, or frighten off the less-than-serious applicant. Has anyone else come across this kind of stuff--or something weirder? Just to complete the story, I decide to forge ahead; if they want me to sum up my life as a coder in 40-60 words, who am I to question the wisdom and might of HR? Behold, my Miltonian masterpiece!
Lo! The worlds of knowledge that dance mind,
Building bridges of code to speak both kind.
Arrows of packets, racing through the night,
Sysadmins finally sleep peaceful at night.Look to the Voids, darkness still reigns,
A wish to forge bonds! Break open chains.
Blacksmith! Bytesmith! Job never done,
Still we fight on, our day in the sun.Burma shave.
vuolsi così colà dove si puote ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare --The answer to Minos and any question of "Why are we doing it this way?"
I had it only once...They asked me to write a two page story in my native language...Not a single person in the entire company could read or understand Hungarian...This was a real fun...
Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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I had it only once...They asked me to write a two page story in my native language...Not a single person in the entire company could read or understand Hungarian...This was a real fun...
Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
Volt, valóban, mert nem olvastam magyar vagy a történet nem a magyar? ;P If that doesn't mean anything, feel free to blame Google Translate. :rolleyes:
You have just been Sharapova'd.
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Volt, valóban, mert nem olvastam magyar vagy a történet nem a magyar? ;P If that doesn't mean anything, feel free to blame Google Translate. :rolleyes:
You have just been Sharapova'd.
It can be fun ti play with Translator...Like the game we had when you whisper a sentence the next to you in a circle and wait it to come back on the other side. As you can only once to whisper the final sentence rarely resembles the original, which cause much fun... It was, indeed, because I have not read the story or not the Hungarian Hungarian? (I doubt that was the original sentence :-D )
Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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It can be fun ti play with Translator...Like the game we had when you whisper a sentence the next to you in a circle and wait it to come back on the other side. As you can only once to whisper the final sentence rarely resembles the original, which cause much fun... It was, indeed, because I have not read the story or not the Hungarian Hungarian? (I doubt that was the original sentence :-D )
Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
Ah, the memories... :rolleyes: And that's indeed a crazy translation for what I entered. I did notice that by reversing the languages, but thought the original one (EN -> HU) might make sense, but :doh: Damn! Now I can't remember the exact sentence I translated in the first place. But it was something like: "Was is really because they didn't read Hungarian or your story wasn't in "real"* Hungarian?" :laugh: * by that I mean if you were screwing with them.
You have just been Sharapova'd.
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Maybe someone was a poetry major in college and now works in human resources. I wonder if the higher-ups at the company know that this individual could be alienating potential talent. Perhaps you should send a copy of the ridiculous request to them.
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So, I'm working as an independent contractor doing mostly backend and middleware, and I finally decide to try to pick up some more work outside my current client; business is slow with my current customers, and it's probably a good time to start poking around... Tonight, I came across a promising item that seems to be a good fit: Technologies I'm familiar with, remote work, the whole shebang. The "Apply Now" link takes me to the company's application process, and I start going through the usual 3-5 pages of who/what/when/why... ...and then I get to the last text area to be filled: "Please write a 40-60 word poem about your current or a recent position." Huh? I can only guess that these types of tests are supposed to do something like screen for creativity, or frighten off the less-than-serious applicant. Has anyone else come across this kind of stuff--or something weirder? Just to complete the story, I decide to forge ahead; if they want me to sum up my life as a coder in 40-60 words, who am I to question the wisdom and might of HR? Behold, my Miltonian masterpiece!
Lo! The worlds of knowledge that dance mind,
Building bridges of code to speak both kind.
Arrows of packets, racing through the night,
Sysadmins finally sleep peaceful at night.Look to the Voids, darkness still reigns,
A wish to forge bonds! Break open chains.
Blacksmith! Bytesmith! Job never done,
Still we fight on, our day in the sun.Burma shave.
vuolsi così colà dove si puote ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare --The answer to Minos and any question of "Why are we doing it this way?"
I'd have made a Haiku:
New pair of glasses,
Bug never passes,
See sharp ? -
So, I'm working as an independent contractor doing mostly backend and middleware, and I finally decide to try to pick up some more work outside my current client; business is slow with my current customers, and it's probably a good time to start poking around... Tonight, I came across a promising item that seems to be a good fit: Technologies I'm familiar with, remote work, the whole shebang. The "Apply Now" link takes me to the company's application process, and I start going through the usual 3-5 pages of who/what/when/why... ...and then I get to the last text area to be filled: "Please write a 40-60 word poem about your current or a recent position." Huh? I can only guess that these types of tests are supposed to do something like screen for creativity, or frighten off the less-than-serious applicant. Has anyone else come across this kind of stuff--or something weirder? Just to complete the story, I decide to forge ahead; if they want me to sum up my life as a coder in 40-60 words, who am I to question the wisdom and might of HR? Behold, my Miltonian masterpiece!
Lo! The worlds of knowledge that dance mind,
Building bridges of code to speak both kind.
Arrows of packets, racing through the night,
Sysadmins finally sleep peaceful at night.Look to the Voids, darkness still reigns,
A wish to forge bonds! Break open chains.
Blacksmith! Bytesmith! Job never done,
Still we fight on, our day in the sun.Burma shave.
vuolsi così colà dove si puote ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare --The answer to Minos and any question of "Why are we doing it this way?"
This would be my poem: Sorry, but I only work for bona fide companies. Don'tcha just love the way it synchopates in the third stanza?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Considering how difficult it is to separate engineering wheat from chaff, this method is probably as valid as any other. And as recent studies show coding is closer related to language skills than maths, it might actually be more accurate :-\
Ri_ wrote:
recent studies show coding is closer related to language skills than maths,
Interesting idea. That makes me appreciate my stint as a technical writer back when I was an intern even more.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
So, I'm working as an independent contractor doing mostly backend and middleware, and I finally decide to try to pick up some more work outside my current client; business is slow with my current customers, and it's probably a good time to start poking around... Tonight, I came across a promising item that seems to be a good fit: Technologies I'm familiar with, remote work, the whole shebang. The "Apply Now" link takes me to the company's application process, and I start going through the usual 3-5 pages of who/what/when/why... ...and then I get to the last text area to be filled: "Please write a 40-60 word poem about your current or a recent position." Huh? I can only guess that these types of tests are supposed to do something like screen for creativity, or frighten off the less-than-serious applicant. Has anyone else come across this kind of stuff--or something weirder? Just to complete the story, I decide to forge ahead; if they want me to sum up my life as a coder in 40-60 words, who am I to question the wisdom and might of HR? Behold, my Miltonian masterpiece!
Lo! The worlds of knowledge that dance mind,
Building bridges of code to speak both kind.
Arrows of packets, racing through the night,
Sysadmins finally sleep peaceful at night.Look to the Voids, darkness still reigns,
A wish to forge bonds! Break open chains.
Blacksmith! Bytesmith! Job never done,
Still we fight on, our day in the sun.Burma shave.
vuolsi così colà dove si puote ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare --The answer to Minos and any question of "Why are we doing it this way?"
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There once was a man from Nantucket whose dic - err, maybe not on a job interview ;P
Once you lose your pride the rest is easy. In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you. – Buddha Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
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So, I'm working as an independent contractor doing mostly backend and middleware, and I finally decide to try to pick up some more work outside my current client; business is slow with my current customers, and it's probably a good time to start poking around... Tonight, I came across a promising item that seems to be a good fit: Technologies I'm familiar with, remote work, the whole shebang. The "Apply Now" link takes me to the company's application process, and I start going through the usual 3-5 pages of who/what/when/why... ...and then I get to the last text area to be filled: "Please write a 40-60 word poem about your current or a recent position." Huh? I can only guess that these types of tests are supposed to do something like screen for creativity, or frighten off the less-than-serious applicant. Has anyone else come across this kind of stuff--or something weirder? Just to complete the story, I decide to forge ahead; if they want me to sum up my life as a coder in 40-60 words, who am I to question the wisdom and might of HR? Behold, my Miltonian masterpiece!
Lo! The worlds of knowledge that dance mind,
Building bridges of code to speak both kind.
Arrows of packets, racing through the night,
Sysadmins finally sleep peaceful at night.Look to the Voids, darkness still reigns,
A wish to forge bonds! Break open chains.
Blacksmith! Bytesmith! Job never done,
Still we fight on, our day in the sun.Burma shave.
vuolsi così colà dove si puote ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare --The answer to Minos and any question of "Why are we doing it this way?"
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So, I'm working as an independent contractor doing mostly backend and middleware, and I finally decide to try to pick up some more work outside my current client; business is slow with my current customers, and it's probably a good time to start poking around... Tonight, I came across a promising item that seems to be a good fit: Technologies I'm familiar with, remote work, the whole shebang. The "Apply Now" link takes me to the company's application process, and I start going through the usual 3-5 pages of who/what/when/why... ...and then I get to the last text area to be filled: "Please write a 40-60 word poem about your current or a recent position." Huh? I can only guess that these types of tests are supposed to do something like screen for creativity, or frighten off the less-than-serious applicant. Has anyone else come across this kind of stuff--or something weirder? Just to complete the story, I decide to forge ahead; if they want me to sum up my life as a coder in 40-60 words, who am I to question the wisdom and might of HR? Behold, my Miltonian masterpiece!
Lo! The worlds of knowledge that dance mind,
Building bridges of code to speak both kind.
Arrows of packets, racing through the night,
Sysadmins finally sleep peaceful at night.Look to the Voids, darkness still reigns,
A wish to forge bonds! Break open chains.
Blacksmith! Bytesmith! Job never done,
Still we fight on, our day in the sun.Burma shave.
vuolsi così colà dove si puote ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare --The answer to Minos and any question of "Why are we doing it this way?"
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G-Tek wrote:
that was going to read "diction", right?
Yeah, that's right diction. It was going to read diction. :-D
Once you lose your pride the rest is easy. In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you. – Buddha Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
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So, I'm working as an independent contractor doing mostly backend and middleware, and I finally decide to try to pick up some more work outside my current client; business is slow with my current customers, and it's probably a good time to start poking around... Tonight, I came across a promising item that seems to be a good fit: Technologies I'm familiar with, remote work, the whole shebang. The "Apply Now" link takes me to the company's application process, and I start going through the usual 3-5 pages of who/what/when/why... ...and then I get to the last text area to be filled: "Please write a 40-60 word poem about your current or a recent position." Huh? I can only guess that these types of tests are supposed to do something like screen for creativity, or frighten off the less-than-serious applicant. Has anyone else come across this kind of stuff--or something weirder? Just to complete the story, I decide to forge ahead; if they want me to sum up my life as a coder in 40-60 words, who am I to question the wisdom and might of HR? Behold, my Miltonian masterpiece!
Lo! The worlds of knowledge that dance mind,
Building bridges of code to speak both kind.
Arrows of packets, racing through the night,
Sysadmins finally sleep peaceful at night.Look to the Voids, darkness still reigns,
A wish to forge bonds! Break open chains.
Blacksmith! Bytesmith! Job never done,
Still we fight on, our day in the sun.Burma shave.
vuolsi così colà dove si puote ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare --The answer to Minos and any question of "Why are we doing it this way?"
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I'd have made a Haiku:
New pair of glasses,
Bug never passes,
See sharp ? -
Maybe someone was a poetry major in college and now works in human resources. I wonder if the higher-ups at the company know that this individual could be alienating potential talent. Perhaps you should send a copy of the ridiculous request to them.
My wife is taking more graduate classes in education, and she says this is the new trend, esp. in "hip" companies. Oh, well, guess no one there will be old enough to get the "Burma shave" reference...
vuolsi così colà dove si puote ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare --The answer to Minos and any question of "Why are we doing it this way?"
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So, I'm working as an independent contractor doing mostly backend and middleware, and I finally decide to try to pick up some more work outside my current client; business is slow with my current customers, and it's probably a good time to start poking around... Tonight, I came across a promising item that seems to be a good fit: Technologies I'm familiar with, remote work, the whole shebang. The "Apply Now" link takes me to the company's application process, and I start going through the usual 3-5 pages of who/what/when/why... ...and then I get to the last text area to be filled: "Please write a 40-60 word poem about your current or a recent position." Huh? I can only guess that these types of tests are supposed to do something like screen for creativity, or frighten off the less-than-serious applicant. Has anyone else come across this kind of stuff--or something weirder? Just to complete the story, I decide to forge ahead; if they want me to sum up my life as a coder in 40-60 words, who am I to question the wisdom and might of HR? Behold, my Miltonian masterpiece!
Lo! The worlds of knowledge that dance mind,
Building bridges of code to speak both kind.
Arrows of packets, racing through the night,
Sysadmins finally sleep peaceful at night.Look to the Voids, darkness still reigns,
A wish to forge bonds! Break open chains.
Blacksmith! Bytesmith! Job never done,
Still we fight on, our day in the sun.Burma shave.
vuolsi così colà dove si puote ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare --The answer to Minos and any question of "Why are we doing it this way?"
I think it's brilliant. In one fell swoop they've got a guide to how well you communicate, how you respond to unusual requests, flexibility, and all manner of other stuff whilst giving those who might be rather less serious about applying a fence they probably can't be bothered to jump. And they've given themselves a bit of entertainment in the process. Tis a thankless task reading these forms. How University Applications staff don't go stark raving mad is beyond my ken (although, thinking about one from my college days, perhaps they do!)
