QUESTION  TRADE  TESTS

22  3

certain  kind  of  work,  that  he  will  be  able  to  select  others
who  will  succeed.  A  successful  industrial,  production,
or  mechanical  engineer  is  by  no  means  a  successful  employment ­
  interviewer.  He  may  be  a  good  judge  of  human
nature  and  he  may  not.  His  success  may  rest  largely  on
other  grounds,  such  as  special  experience,  education,  or
ability  in  a  certain  field.  It  is  most  often  the  case  that
if  asked  to  state  just  what  are  the  requirements  of  his
position  or  what  factors  in  his  own  make-up  have  enabled
him  to  succeed,  he  is  unable  to  give  a  clear  and  unambiguous ­
  answer.  Although  he  knows  what  his  work  is
and  although  he  possesses  the  qualities  necessary  to  succeed ­
  at  it,  he  is  still  unable  to  state  them.
At  this  point  the  significance  of  trade  tests  or,  to  use  the
more  inclusive  term,  occupational  tests,  becomes  once
more  apparent.  One  of  the  commonest  forms  of  the  occupational ­
  tests  is  a  series  of  questions  relating  to  the
duties  of  a  particular  occupation.  Accompanying  these
questions  is  a  set  of  answers  which  may  be  expected  from
an  applicant  who  knows  the  work  under  consideration.
The  development  of  such  a  series  of  questions  for  industrial
use  is  by  no  means  a  simple  task.  The  faults  pointed  out
are  only  too  likely  to  be  committed,  as  the  following  incident ­
  will  show:
A  foreman  of  unusual  ability  in  handling  men,  who  had
once  been  an  employment  manager  and  had  interviewed
many  hundred  of  applicants,  was  asked  to  answer  the
following  request:  “Please  put  down  ten  questions  which
you  consider  the  most  important  that  might  be  asked  a
candidate  for  the  position  of  gun  assembler.  These
questions  should  be  asked  with  a  view  of  drawing  out  the
candidate’s  knowledge  of  his  trade  and  show  his  skill  as
a  thoroughgoing  assembler.  Give  also  the  correct  answer