why do I suck under pressure

[chbix]

Ok so I goto take a test at the city of corona for a IT tech position.  The test is 30 multiple choice and 3 essay questions.  Ok so I start taking the test feel good about the first few questions, then they have questions about a network problem, well all 4 of the anwsers they give could solve the problem.  Then a few of the questions were about where such and such file is located, well hell if I had access to the computer I could tell you.  I dont remember all that stuff off the top of my head.  Needless to say I got 16/30 right.  The essay questions were easy and really didnt have a right or wrong anwser were just there to see how you communicate.  Plus with 200+ people applying for 1 position I didnt think I had good odds anyway.  Its the second test like that I have taken for an IT position and they do nothing but make me feel like a retard.  Why the hell am I spending 10k a year for college if I cant even get an IT job..........


we apologize for this rant, you may now continue your regular day.

[Jake D]

Did pressure have anything to do with why you did bad on the test?

[gazingwa]

If you don't know where the file is... gues windows, system, or system32....

[cay]

If I was marking the test, I'd treat responses like

Start -> Search -> For Files or Folders...

or

$ man find

as correct answers.

Although I've been on the receiving end of that sort of test, I've never had to administer one -- I can see how they must be necessary given the IT market right now though.  Hundreds of applicants for a single position isn't the outlier anymore.

Good luck on the job hunt, chbix.

C

[Anonymous]

Money my boy!

If there are 4 ways it CAN be done, choose the cheapest!!!

OR, the fastest because time is money too...

Is this a UNIX system? please, not Window$.  Hope it's not critical...  HA!

Anyway, I hope it's a networking position where you actually TOUCH something.  ALL (OK, 95%) of programming jobs will be gone in 5 years.  Unless you have to physically touch something (and NOT just a keyboard) to do the job, it's history... Off to India it will go...

They do this because they DO want that one in 200 who knows off the top of his head just about ALL there is to know about computers and networking.  Why pay someone to look up information?  Why pay for time doing a search?  Get it?

Keep learning, keep studying, keep trying.

You CAN'T be lazy in a competitive job market.

[gazingwa]

2nd joe's statement, there are people out there that have that memorized.....

And yes, programs can be written anywhere in the world, only highly specialized programing jobs, custom stuff for local business will be done in the states....   Sad really, nobody was worried about the factory jobs years ago... now they are here to take the white collar jobs too

[chbix]

If you don't know where the file is... gues windows, system, or system32....

believe me I tried.  But the anwsers where like winnt/system, windows/system32, etc.  I dont have every file in each folder memorized.



Quote:   If there are 4 ways it CAN be done, choose the cheapest!!!


it really wasnt that kinda questions.  It was stuff like joe complains that he cant access the internet.  A) run internet connection wizard  B) verify the ip address, c) ping network card using 127.0.0.1 to ensure it is working, and then something else, well hell you could do all of them to fix.  

I have a job, and the money is decent but I hate sales.  Its like why pay 50,000 in college to not use it?  At this point in life, I have to make x amount of money to support the wifey and 2 kids.  In order to get the IT jobs that pay that much i need expereince, but to get the expereince I need to take the $7/hr crap IT jobs.  Its a lose lose situation.

The job was for IT technician, sounded like a combination of duties, and from the given questions it was all windows based.


And no it probably wasnt the pressure, well maybe.  It was a timed test which added pressure, didnt have as much time to really think about the question.  Like I said a few of the questions could easily be anwsered.  I recall one that asked in what file contained boot up options.  and they gave a list, boot.cfg, boot.ini, sys.ini, and something else.  I couldnt remember which one had that information (it was a specific boot up option) but i could have ran msconfig.exe and found out in 20 seconds.  

Just kinda frustrated right now.  Not sure where my life/career is going and it sucks.

[RVertigo]

Corona?  Was it Sierra?

I worked at Sierra when they were in WA.

[chbix]

Corona?  Was it Sierra?

I worked at Sierra when they were in WA.

Huh?  It was for the City of Corona.

[RVertigo]

OOOOohhh!  Sierra On-Line is out in Corona...  I was just trying to make the world smaller than it is.

[chbix]

i wish it was for sierra on-line, I love their games   :guns:

[RVertigo]

I did Tech Support for all the Sim games...  and I tested Homeworld Cataclysm   and Ground Control  

[chbix]

ive done beta testing, but not for pay.  Did EVE, Earth and Beyond, and planetside, all MMORPGS only played Earth and beyond past beta.

[RVertigo]

Personally, I friggen' hate testing games...  Although, I'm not sure if tech support is better or worse.   :lol:

[chbix]

it wasnt that bad.  I got to play games for free, and report any bugs that I found.  I got in the later portions of the testing so they games where pretty good.  The only massive problem i found was that all 3 of those games had really bad lag issues when you got a few 1000 people in one area.  but then again they all do.  I enjoy playing games so it wasnt that big of a deal to me.  From the way you talk and how you said you worked for sierra, probably a tad bit different from the testing I ahve done.

I agree tech support can get boring, but hey its a $$ and i get to do something Im good at.

[RVertigo]

Well, it really depends on the type of game testing you're doing...  Play testing can be fun if the game is fun...

But...  testing the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over SUCKS!!!

Ground Control was the worst...  Every day the same... for FOUR MONTHS.   :x

[cozy]

Get more education, you won't have to compete as hard for dime a dozen jobs. Positions like that usually end up going to someone who's connected on the inside anyway.  and F*CK windows, learn to be a specialist in some other technology.  

[RVertigo]

Diversify!

MS is sweating over Mac moving to Intel's architecture...  So, there's a chance Macs might be taking over in some areas...  

And some linux/unix wouldn't hurt...

[Anonymous]

Negative.

You NEED to specialize!  You need to be the BEST at a certain thing.  You NEED to be the one who aces the test for whatever specific job you're looking to do.

If you simply want to be in the running for the million dead end, pay nothing, shaZam! jobs, then fine do as idiot boy suggested, be like him.  BUT if you want the big bucks you need to know one area BETTER than the back of your hand and then HUNT down a job.  The BEST jobs NEVER make the want ads.  You need to go to a university/tech school, hob-nob with the professors, have them recommend you.  Join a co-op school/work program.  Join a professional organization, network!!!!

If you want true success you'll heed this advice!

I've been there, I'm done with my career (at 42) and I do what "I" want now.  Listen and be successful!

[davipu]

goodbye joe.