Assessment: Damned if you do, Damned if you don't?

I sit here taking an assessment for a job at a well known burger chain (okay, its McDonald's, bleh...) and I must say it seems like no matter how one chooses to answer some of these questions are impossible to answer without seeming like an utter tool bag. The assessment follows a 'choose the statement you agree with most' format, from which you are prompted to choose from several sets of two statements.

For instance, "It is important to have nice things so people know how successful you are" versus "I do not have much sympathy for those less fortunate than me."

How am I supposed to answer that without feeling like an ass one way or the other? I strongly disagree with both of those statements, so how do I answer? I cannot, in good conscience, provide an honest answer. So what do I do? Well... I have to lie, another act that I strongly disagree with. Unfortunately the above example is not the only instance in which I have felt conflicted regarding the answer I provided.

So what is this some kind of Tavistock Institute psychological mind-eff? Or am I just overthinking it?

Either way, I need a job so I guess, regardless of how uncomfortable it makes me feel, I will just have to lie. I don't think its important to have nice things so other people know how successful I am, if they don't like me because I have an out-dated phone, they can piss off. I do sympathize (strongly in fact) with those that are less fortunate than myself, as many times I have been quite down and out indeed.

So, I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't, either way I come out looking like a douche-bag.

Here is another gem: "If no one is aware of my success I feel less successful." VS. "I often get angry and over react to situations."

Both are so far from my own personality I just end up having to lie again...

*sigh*

a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

That would definitely cause me to hesitate. I would probably say "WTF" out loud and might even go ask who ever handed this to me "what the hell is this garbage" but I understand you need the job. Who knows maybe they are looking for people to question it

a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

Welcome to the new world. Psycho-babble infested. P.R. dominant irrelevances.

Honesty is not a priority in today's corporate world. At a guess, the deeper assessment in that no win choice is which is worse politically?

Sympathy for the less fortunate is the priority of the two. (Anyone eating at MacDonald's merits sympathy. Be it financial or a time issue.)

Therefore, choosing the wearing nice things to show worth is the politically less damaging choice.

I've probably got it wrong....LOL

a reply to: Shepard64

When I first read it I was, quite literally, taken aback by the absolute duplicity of it. The problem with questioning it is that the assessment gives no room for middle ground. It's either A or B, there is no C. I guess I could e-mail corporate but that seems like it would be pointless, pluse I don't want to be on the McDonalds corporate watch list...

a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

maybe the real test is - will the idiots actualy answer a OR b ??????????

Many of those questions are staged so you don't answer the wrong one- not necessarily so you answer the right one.

often getting angry and over reacting just flags you to not get hired.

"It is important to have nice things so people know how successful you are"
-This is the answer they want. They want to hire people who want to own "nice things", which to them implies people who want to work hard and get ahead in life.
I guess they don't see the irony, there.


You are being forced to lie, and tell yourself that you're a consumerist whore.
That's the american way. The trick is to not fall for it. Make the lie, but make it consciously- your "public" face is a lie. We all wear masks, after all. We don't have much of a choice.

originally posted by: nwtrucker
a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

Therefore, choosing the wearing nice things to show worth is the politically less damaging choice.

I've probably got it wrong....LOL

Well, if you got it wrong so did I because that is the one I ended up choosing, seeing as how I was prompted to choose the one I most readily agree with (without over thinking it, the assessment actually encourages one to answer from the hip, so to speak) and I really do have a lot of sympathy for those that are less fortunate.

I would tell management you disagree with both and see what they say.

a reply to: ignorant_ape

Well, technically there is no A or B. Its presented in a statement format in which one must choose between the two statements provided. If you want to complete the friggin' ASSessment you have to choose one or the other, even if you find both statements morally repugnant.

originally posted by: lordcomac


"It is important to have nice things so people know how successful you are"
-This is the answer they want. They want to hire people who want to own "nice things", which to them implies people who want to work hard and get ahead in life.
I guess they don't see the irony, there.

Yup. Thats the answer I gave them as well. I think they see the irony all right. They just like watching their puppets dance is all.

You are being forced to lie, and tell yourself that you're a consumerist whore.
That's the american way. The trick is to not fall for it. Make the lie, but make it consciously- your "public" face is a lie. We all wear masks, after all. We don't have much of a choice.

Exactly my contentions, well said.

a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

i shall type slowly - for the benefit of the slow :

maybe the real test is refusing to answer

such " tests " do exist

a reply to: ignorant_ape

Oh, I see. You are suggesting that I simply don't apply for the job and thus remain unemployed. Have I got it now that you have slowed your typing speed?

a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

FFS - i think you are actually under qualified to work at mcdonalds .

the assesment is NOT the application - do you not realise that ??????????????

based on the sample questions you posted - i would be more interested in hiring someone that refused to fill in the assesment than any answer they gave

a reply to: ignorant_ape

Since I seem to be pissing you off so much, how do I complete an ONLINE application which requires me to complete the assessment without actually completing the assessment? The only option is to not complete the assessment and thereby decline to complete and submit the application. So, how do I do it?

I'm truly sorry someone pissed in your cheerios this morning but that is still no excuse to attack and undermine the intelligence of other members and, I believe, against the general decorum set forth by this lovely forum.

Good day.

originally posted by: CagliostroTheGreat
a reply to: ignorant_ape

Since I seem to be pissing you off so much, how do I complete an ONLINE application which requires me to complete the assessment without actually completing the assessment? The only option is to not complete the assessment and thereby decline to complete and submit the application. So, how do I do it?

I'm truly sorry someone pissed in your cheerios this morning but that is still no excuse to attack and undermine the intelligence of other members and, I believe, against the general decorum set forth by this lovely forum.

Good day.

Hack into the site and modify the content

a reply to: newWorldSamurai

Hell, if I could do that I would be working for the NSA...

(is he kidding?)

a reply to: ignorant_ape

Right but the problem is you aren't being realistic. CTG needs/wants this job. If he refuses to fill out that online assessment, his application would likely be incomplete" and therefore probably digitally trashed as garbage. NEXT!

I get what you are saying and totally agree...in theory

If this was an application for old school Facebook or Google I'd say you might well be right. Refusing to take the assessment may show Zuckerberg or Page/Brin that you think differently from the rest. Hence...you should be working for us (FB/Google I mean)

This is McD's....they hire people of all backgrounds and have these applications with assessments. If you refuse to fill it out, to someone like a hiring manager for McD's, it is going to look like you don't care enough to even try.

McD's versus original and innovative places like FB/Google/Zappo's are in a whole other world as far as execution and hiring.

Those other places want you to be original and new. That's why Gates would talk about hiring lazy people...they are gonna be the men/women who find efficient shortcuts and make a product better.

A place like McD's is much more likely to look for people to fall in line with policy as innovation isn't likely the key. Then in CTG gets the job he can attempt to move up proving he is a hard worker and works with the system.

It isn't perfect and I'll repeat again that were you a CEO and the trick was to NOT take the test...I'd love to work for you...that's creative and decisive and new...Fast Food is not precisely those things..and while those level of tests DO exist...they don't typically exist in a place like this. Knowing this from the times my wife as a younger woman worked in places like taco Bell, Little Caesar's and such. If there was any incomplete portion of the app...there is no app

And whether you want to admit it or not, the assessment for many companies IS part of the app

a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

It's wildly known that you should answer those stupid questionaires with the answers that the place of employment WANTS to hear and not so much what you actually think. I hate those things, because they trick people by making you think they want your honesty, but they are really trying to weed out people that aren't paying attention.

a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

I hate those tests. Then, you find another set of statements later but with different wording. Really, if I don't agree with any of the provided statements, I write my own down.

ETA: I see that's it's on computer. Well that sucks. So much for writing your own statement.