just wait, it's coming! dddragon presents: Is Anything Truly Random?

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Job Searching

I've been workin' mighty few hours @ the Call Center ... because "business needs" didn't need ME. I have put in some applications, but stupidly didn't really start looking until recently. I didn't realize that it would take so long to really find a new job.

Yesterday I took a civil service test for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania - Clerk Typist II. I forgot to practice typing and feared that I would really do poorly. After all, I haven't had a typing test in over 30 years! When I got to the testing room, I found out that we only needed to do 40 words per minute to pass ... geez, surely I could do that!

To be honest, I don't think that I've ever typed for a solid five minutes like that before - for years I've been editing or composing as I typed, which meant pausing and backspacing, etc. The young woman to my left seemed to be typing so fast! But after the first test I had 54 wpm with seven mistakes (I admit to backspacing a good bit to correct mistyping) so I didn't have to take the second typing test. The young woman was shaking her hands as if she'd gotten cramps in them - perhaps she was typing TOO fast, eh?

Then we had the written test - and it was easy. Basically, it was to show that you know how to file in alphabetical and numerical order, basic grammar and math and office behavior. It was 135 questions.

Now, I know that the state doesn't move fast, but it's even slower at the moment ... normally I wouldn't hear for two to four weeks about how I did. But now we've got to add two weeks because the computers are down ...

argh.

6 Comments:

At 7:34 PM, Blogger TLP said...

I can tell you right now that you did well. So there. No more waiting.

Taking tests the pits.

 
At 12:38 AM, Blogger The Lazy Iguana said...

THe government is slow as my favorite S word. Slow as molasses. flowing UPHILL. In January.

I was cut out of the budget for my government job last year on October 1. I may get it back, but guess what? It is almost October 1 a year later.

 
At 10:56 AM, Blogger Doug The Una said...

Good work, Dddragon! No wonder results are so slow to come in. 40WPM indeed!

 
At 3:08 PM, Blogger Jean-Luc Picard said...

You did wwell there. I thought they might have gone higher than 40 wpm.

 
At 6:28 PM, Blogger pilgrimchick said...

Wow. It is taking me forever to find a new job myself, actually, and I don't hold a lot of hope for the near future, either.

 
At 10:32 PM, Blogger tsduff said...

You don't post much, do ya?

Nice on the test - I dread tests. I know of what you speak. Typing tests didn't used to scare me, as I wanted to be a typewriter when I grew up. Now I'm grown up, and can't type like I used ta. Hope it worked out okay.

 

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