Title is misleading, OP had to pay out of pocket for the test and potential employer notified them they would be reimbursed for the test. OP was indeed reimbursed for the test.
Never pay for any sort of job application or test/background check. If they’re hiring you they’re going to pay for it. If they ask you to pay (seriously, pay for an IQ test and we might hire you? That might have been the IQ test itself) it’s a scam.
I work in public accounting as well. When I was in college, I applied for a couple of finance jobs as well. One of those jobs (Northwestern Mutual internship - which is a scam) required a personality test, which I thought was odd. The recruiter then talked about my test results in the interview which I also thought was weird. Luckily I didn’t have to pay for those exams but having personality or IQ tests seems like a red flag, even if you don’t have to pay for them.
Are you in the US? It's actually illegal to use IQ testing to make hiring decisions (Griggs v. Duke Power Co.). Report that nonsense to your state Attorney General/labor department. They'll put a stop to it real quick and maybe get your money back.
If a potential employer ever asks for you to pay anything out of pocket (even with the promise of reimbursement) before you're actually hired is either a scam, shit tier company, or both. Immediate red flags and you should not give them any more thought or attention no matter how good the pay increase is.
This post has been flaired as “Vent”. As a reminder to commenting users, “Vent/Rant” posts are here to give our subscribers a safe place to vent their frustrations at an uncaring world to a supportive place of people who “get it”. Vents do not need to be fair. They do not need to be articulate. They do not need to be factual. They just need to be honest.
In 50 years IQ testing will be viewed much the same as phrenology is today. Companies will probably still use it bc Myers Briggs is already a joke and companies use that garbage routinely.
IQ tests or things like it aren't unheard of. My husband is an engineer - he's done some for some job applications, usually after the interview step. General mental aptitude tests can be important, some people don't pass them and that's an important piece of information for hiring, especially for older candidates that may be in the range at risk for age-related issues.
My father has been an engineer for 40+ years and has never once had to take an IQ test. He’s worked in defense, office supply, medical devices, and transportation. It just seems so outrageous to me and a huge red flag.
Once I had to do an IQ test for work and got decently high results (135). When I was hired, I went into the database and changed it to 138 cuz I wanted a higher score.
Your score was probably too high for what they wanted There was a guy who actually sued a police department for not hiring for this reason. He lost because the department argued that he would get bored and leave after 2 or 3 years.
Side note: this is still a thing, not necessarily with police departments. My husband took two interviews with the same university and they’ve hired much more under qualified candidates than him. Eventually we took the red flag and abandoned that university.
A SKILLs test is pretty common. An IQ test? Not so much. I'd suggest that you contact them, and ask for at least partial reimbursement for what you spent.
Psychologist here. I don’t have a ton of experience in Industrial/Organizational Psychology but I have lots of it with psychological assessment including IQ tests. I do have an opinion about this.
Maybe paying for the iq test was the test. Maybe you were supposed to refuse. Arby's made me take one to be a manager and the test was from the 1960s. It felt racist.
Tbh though, this sounds more like a scam, I was also scammed by a recruiter some place in Africa when I was fresh Out of college and desperately seeking employment. They made me believe I would get the job in order to pay the agency fees only to reach out to me 2 weeks later that the client is no longer hiring! Suckers!
When you say they gave you an IQ test, can you describe the test and was it administered by a qualified psychologist. Also, ‘middle class job’ is vague, can you be a bit more specific.
Two possibilities. They wanted people to get IQ tests or they wanted a way to exclude persons with a high intersectionality score without being sued for racism or hate. They might have been worried a white man might have better qualifications than some other group and needed a way to express this in a potential court case.
I don't think an aptitude test is unheard of for *some* jobs. An IQ test seems vague, tbh, but definitely a test for, say, logical thinking would make sense for some roles. And for some things - like programming - more extensive skills tests are sometimes used to make sure people have the abilities they claim.
For my $60K(USD) hourly job. I had to take and pass a 15 question math test prior to being accepted into 7wk unpaid training. Then upon completion of the training has to pass an audition. To be hired. If I didn’t pass we had time to retake the audition within an allotted time. And if you didn’t pass then than obviously it’s not meant for you. Sucks you had to pay for a test and not even get the gig!
This is what’s called a DUMB tax (don’t take it offensively, we all experience dumb tax) never ever pay for anything during an interview process. Other than maybe gas to go to the interview.
Yes, taking aptitude tests are common. It was surprising they made you pay and then reimbursed you instead of paying upfront, but either way many jobs have all sorts of hoops to jump through.
You’ll have to take personality assessments and technical question assessments for most jobs. My current job I did 3 technical interviews and a personality interview, each had a test to pair with the interview. I’ve never paid for one though.
Couple years back i also had to take an English test because there was another candidate just as qualified for the job as I was. Passed the test but they ended up giving the other person the offer guess cz I had an accent 🤣
What was the test? Many people don’t understand there is not a real IQ test. For example, in my job, I give the KTEA for academics, then the Psychologist I work with gives the WISC, which measures many things. Hers has FSIQ component, but not directly tied to the standard scores of the KTEA.
Don’t give up, OP. Out of all the jobs I’ve had, I only had to take a logic type test for one hotshot tech company. (And I turned them down anyway because the pay wasn’t very good.) Most hiring procedures are more straightforward.
I feel like the first test was flunked by agreeing to take the test. Sorry to hear this fam. The answer is no. If you are applying to a high end job they may in fact give you a test like a Code quiz but not anything you would have to come out of pocket for. If it’s a date they are paying they are courting you.
Title is misleading, OP had to pay out of pocket for the test and potential employer notified them they would be reimbursed for the test. OP was indeed reimbursed for the test.
Never pay for any sort of job application or test/background check. If they’re hiring you they’re going to pay for it. If they ask you to pay (seriously, pay for an IQ test and we might hire you? That might have been the IQ test itself) it’s a scam.
They said I would be reimbursed.
Tell that to the Florida DOE ,)
when i got hired at the post office i had to pay for a background check. was odd. anyway i know better otherwise
Sounds like it was a scam job posting intended to con you out of your test fee.
Yeah there was no iq test fee. Which means i guess op failed the IQ test.
Sounds like a scam job if you had to pay for the IQ test. Target desperate job seekers and refer them to a testing business and $profit$.
It was at a community health agency
I've never had to do an IQ test and I work in public accounting, where a majority of people are pretty smart.
I work in public accounting as well. When I was in college, I applied for a couple of finance jobs as well. One of those jobs (Northwestern Mutual internship - which is a scam) required a personality test, which I thought was odd. The recruiter then talked about my test results in the interview which I also thought was weird. Luckily I didn’t have to pay for those exams but having personality or IQ tests seems like a red flag, even if you don’t have to pay for them.
Maybe they weren't looking for someone "smart"
Are you in the US? It's actually illegal to use IQ testing to make hiring decisions (Griggs v. Duke Power Co.). Report that nonsense to your state Attorney General/labor department. They'll put a stop to it real quick and maybe get your money back.
That's quite a reductionist view that's half wrong.
Sigh, I wish you did more research before posting this comment.
You failed the IQ test when you paid for it....
He got reimbursed
Wait, you said “yes I had to pay for it” but now you’re saying you did in fact get reimbursed.
This is really weird. I have never had to pay for a test to get a job.
If a potential employer ever asks for you to pay anything out of pocket (even with the promise of reimbursement) before you're actually hired is either a scam, shit tier company, or both. Immediate red flags and you should not give them any more thought or attention no matter how good the pay increase is.
If you're in the United States, Griggs v. Duke Power Company made it illegal for employers to require applicants to pass IQ tests.
this feels illegal
Makes the whole "no body wants to work anymore" thing bullshit
He got reimbursed
Are you sure this wasn’t a personality test type thing?
Nah, I've done hundreds of those.
What’s the name of the test? I give IQ tests for a living and have not heard of this before. Who administered it?
This post has been flaired as “Vent”. As a reminder to commenting users, “Vent/Rant” posts are here to give our subscribers a safe place to vent their frustrations at an uncaring world to a supportive place of people who “get it”. Vents do not need to be fair. They do not need to be articulate. They do not need to be factual. They just need to be honest.
Your iq was probably too high for them.
We’re you applying for a job as a cop and scored too high?
Sounds illegitimate, you don't pay for pre employment tests regardless of why they are, good luck in the search you will find something
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He got reimbursed
For whatever it’s worth, I started shooting for those and yes, quite a few of them have IQ & aptitude tests: which I always absolutely blow away.
I am the same way
Maybe that was the IQ test itself….shouldn’t have to pay to apply to a job…
No one I've ever spoken with about job hunting experiences has said anything like this to me...
Scam. Never pay for a job interview.
I’ve had to take a personality and a logic test for jobs before but I never had to pay
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Someone bump this.
In 50 years IQ testing will be viewed much the same as phrenology is today. Companies will probably still use it bc Myers Briggs is already a joke and companies use that garbage routinely.
IQ tests or things like it aren't unheard of. My husband is an engineer - he's done some for some job applications, usually after the interview step. General mental aptitude tests can be important, some people don't pass them and that's an important piece of information for hiring, especially for older candidates that may be in the range at risk for age-related issues.
My father has been an engineer for 40+ years and has never once had to take an IQ test. He’s worked in defense, office supply, medical devices, and transportation. It just seems so outrageous to me and a huge red flag.
Once I had to do an IQ test for work and got decently high results (135). When I was hired, I went into the database and changed it to 138 cuz I wanted a higher score.
No What was your score?
123
You got scammed , you failed at life’s IQ test lol
Your score was probably too high for what they wanted There was a guy who actually sued a police department for not hiring for this reason. He lost because the department argued that he would get bored and leave after 2 or 3 years.
Side note: this is still a thing, not necessarily with police departments. My husband took two interviews with the same university and they’ve hired much more under qualified candidates than him. Eventually we took the red flag and abandoned that university.
Sauce?
First I have heard of such a requirement.
A SKILLs test is pretty common. An IQ test? Not so much. I'd suggest that you contact them, and ask for at least partial reimbursement for what you spent.
He got reimbursed
Psychologist here. I don’t have a ton of experience in Industrial/Organizational Psychology but I have lots of it with psychological assessment including IQ tests. I do have an opinion about this.
That’s a scam.
Maybe paying for the iq test was the test. Maybe you were supposed to refuse. Arby's made me take one to be a manager and the test was from the 1960s. It felt racist.
Tbh though, this sounds more like a scam, I was also scammed by a recruiter some place in Africa when I was fresh Out of college and desperately seeking employment. They made me believe I would get the job in order to pay the agency fees only to reach out to me 2 weeks later that the client is no longer hiring! Suckers!
When you say they gave you an IQ test, can you describe the test and was it administered by a qualified psychologist. Also, ‘middle class job’ is vague, can you be a bit more specific.
IQ tests and Myers-Briggs tests have both been found to be useless and classist by very qualified professionals.
I interviewed recently and had to take an IQ test too.
Logical reasoning tests are over rated. I feel what you need is some common sense and willingness to do a job.
Two possibilities. They wanted people to get IQ tests or they wanted a way to exclude persons with a high intersectionality score without being sued for racism or hate. They might have been worried a white man might have better qualifications than some other group and needed a way to express this in a potential court case.
If you paid by credit card I’d do a charge back. Sounds scammish to pay for a test and not get hired. Someone’s making money.
He got reimbursed.
This is not common and an applicant should never have to pay for a pre-employment requirement. That is a cost of doing business.
I have been reembursed for it
Fuck them. Really.
Bit common practice, it's a scam. You never ever pay for your interview.
Lmao. Need to get that IQ up
From what you've described:
Hi IQ's don't mean shit. In fact, a high IQ can be obstacle.
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Out of curiosity, what kind of company/field requires 5 interviews for 1 hire? Is this many interviews a red flag for company disorganization?
Scam... if you have to pay for any portion of a test as part of the interview or hiring process, it is a scam (at least in the U.S.).
What job requires you to take an IQ test? I've never heard of that before.
Maybe we should switch spots? I got denied for failing a "strength test"
Isn't IQ testing illegal? They do aptitude tests as a way around, but a straight IQ test I thought was not allowed.
I don’t know every state law but intelligence is not a protected class federally. (For the US at least)
Where did you take it? I wanna take one.
Care to provide more context. such as country and professional area or job?
I don't think an aptitude test is unheard of for *some* jobs. An IQ test seems vague, tbh, but definitely a test for, say, logical thinking would make sense for some roles. And for some things - like programming - more extensive skills tests are sometimes used to make sure people have the abilities they claim.
You got swindled
Could be a scam, could also be an incredibly sucky company. Sorry!
I did a test like that for one of the top FMCG companies. They said it is obligatory for everyone.
For my $60K(USD) hourly job. I had to take and pass a 15 question math test prior to being accepted into 7wk unpaid training. Then upon completion of the training has to pass an audition. To be hired. If I didn’t pass we had time to retake the audition within an allotted time. And if you didn’t pass then than obviously it’s not meant for you. Sucks you had to pay for a test and not even get the gig!
What the hell industry do you work in that you have to invest that much free labor into a job?
This is what’s called a DUMB tax (don’t take it offensively, we all experience dumb tax) never ever pay for anything during an interview process. Other than maybe gas to go to the interview.
I think you got scammed. Lots of these exist be careful.
I do not think so…I hope you didn’t get scammed :/
A pure IQ test is something I've never seen, but psychometric testing is fairly common in general for professional jobs.
Yes, taking aptitude tests are common. It was surprising they made you pay and then reimbursed you instead of paying upfront, but either way many jobs have all sorts of hoops to jump through.
You’ll have to take personality assessments and technical question assessments for most jobs. My current job I did 3 technical interviews and a personality interview, each had a test to pair with the interview. I’ve never paid for one though.
No. Your resume should say it all. IQ tests aren’t really that accurate, anyway.
Couple years back i also had to take an English test because there was another candidate just as qualified for the job as I was. Passed the test but they ended up giving the other person the offer guess cz I had an accent 🤣
Police, it’s too see if you are dumb enough as well.
Please do not give up, keep trying one day you will succeed!
Paying for it was the test… you failed
What was the test? Many people don’t understand there is not a real IQ test. For example, in my job, I give the KTEA for academics, then the Psychologist I work with gives the WISC, which measures many things. Hers has FSIQ component, but not directly tied to the standard scores of the KTEA.
Don’t give up, OP. Out of all the jobs I’ve had, I only had to take a logic type test for one hotshot tech company. (And I turned them down anyway because the pay wasn’t very good.) Most hiring procedures are more straightforward.
How much was this job going to pay?
That seems super scam like
I feel like the first test was flunked by agreeing to take the test. Sorry to hear this fam. The answer is no. If you are applying to a high end job they may in fact give you a test like a Code quiz but not anything you would have to come out of pocket for. If it’s a date they are paying they are courting you.
I'm thinking the real IQ test is whether you would agree to pony up cash for a job application.
What kind of test was it? And IQ test or something like DiSC or Big 5? These are incredibly common in hiring.
I disagree with others I think it was real unless they told you specifically who to pay for the iq test.
Military has the ASVAB which is similar to IQ test. Idk if this is the only case where a job might have an “IQ” test as a pre-requisite
This is likely an illegal practice if you are in the USA
You got scammed. No legit job will Have you pay for any test as a condition of employment. PERIOD. EVER
Pre-employment IQ tests are not legal in some states (eg California)
There is no way this is legal.
Some cops get IQ tested.
Pro tip: any job recquiring you to pay for tests or anything interview related is a fucking HUGE red flag. RUN.
IQ tests are not common, but my previous employer used Wonderlic.
Sounds like the test came back negative.
Maybe asking you to take the IQ test was the test. When they saw you actually agreed to it, they figured they needed someone with more backbone.