Job Discussion Forums

[voltaire]

I just tried to have an interview with High/Scope. I especially wanted to ask them what the slash was for in their name. I also have long wondered how a scope could be high? Deep or long, or micro I could understand, but why 'high'?

I say "tried" because, as they warned me on the phone, I would first have to sit through two-hours of observation. I then assumed they would have been prepared for my arrival, but the teacher I sat in on to 'learn the High/Scope way' had no idea I was coming. She took it well though. So well, that I hate to say I found her teaching to be quite amateurish and apathetic. She would half-heartedly begin teaching the difference between for and since, kind of get the students to try, and then stop, telling them she didn't want to 'overwhelm' them. Seemed more like she didn't want to actually teach them. So after an hour of watching her studiously avoiding challenging the students, I got to watch her do the exact same lesson with another group. They had learning disabled students in with near native speakers and whoever else. The teacher said this was to get them to help each other, but I knew the real reason was the owners couldn't be bothered to provide suitable circumstances and curriculum.

But what really bugged me is that after two hours of this, I had to find my own way back to the Human Resources Office in a large, complex unmarked building. Here I was told thast before my 11:00 interview I had to fill in an application. For some reason, this was in Indonesian as well as English, and left little room for responses. Nevermind that I had already given them a very complete resume. Of course it was full of irrelevan t questions like the age of my siblings. So when I was nearly done with this I was told the person who was to interview me would be ready at 1:00 - still nearly two hours away. The 'good news' was they had a psychological test for me to do and that would take more than 45 minutes!

This test asked you to mark 1-8 your order of preference to a group of statements. Items included: "I would prefer to work outdoors', "I think I'm right about most things most of the time", "I want a high salary", "I really enjoy working with animals", and "I don't mind repetitive tasks." That last one seemed especially important because these same questions (soe exactly the same) appeared repeatedly throughout the 18 groups of preferences to list 1-8.

I couldn't understand the connection between the items, and so could not compare them. I mean, yes, I would like a high salary, but what's that got to do with wanting to work outdoors? Do they have outdoor teaching positions? Then there was the six other things to grade along with these.

Well, I know when my time's being wasted, so I asked if I could proceed to the actual interview (which I had to wait five hours for, remmember) without doing the test. They said no, so I left.

Maybe I'm just too lazy to sit through a psychological test. Can you tell me: am I crazy?

[sidjameson]

Tell me all this was for a job that was very challenging and paid $$$$$. Not for some 2 bit 8 juta a month deal.

You were crazy to not have walked earlier.

[voltaire]

[gugelhupf]

You mean you didn't know that High/Scope was, shall we say, a little left-field?

[beefer]