QUESTION  TRADE  TESTS

217

The  next  question  is:  “Where  do  you  live?”  And  after
that,  usually,  “What  kind  of  work  do  you  want?”  One
interviewer,  who  was  surprised  at  the  consistent  intelligence ­
  with  which  illiterate  applicants  answered  the  first
three  questions  and  the  complete  obtuseness  which  they
usually  displayed  to  subsequent  questions  was  inspired  by
an  idea.  The  next  interview  which  he  conducted  was
something  as  follows:
Interviewer:  What  kind  of  work  do  you  want?
Applicant:  Antonio  Digigli.
Interviewer:  What’s  your  name?
Applicant:  Fifty-four  William  Street.
Interviewer:  Where  do  you  live?
Applicant:  Machine  job.
These  three  questions  had  become  so  stereotyped
through  constant  use  that  their  meaning  and  order  had
come  to  be  commonly  known  and  illiterate  applicants
could,  as  a  result,  often  mislead  the  interviewer  for  several
minutes.  However,  aside  from  these  simple  and  stereotyped ­
  questions,  there  is  a  large  number  of  questions  which
may  be  asked  even  of  applicants  who  have  already  filled
out  a  complete  application  blank.  This  is  due  to  the  endless ­
  variety  of  circumstances  which  surround  the  choosing
of  a  new  employee.  Every  applicant  is  different  from  other
applicants  in  one  or  more  ways.  The  difference  may  lie
either  in  his  previous  history  or  experience  or  in  the  kind  of
Work  for  which  he  is  applying.  The  questions  which  are
necessary  to  bring  out  these  differences  are  one  of  the  most
important  phases  of  employment.
A  very  large  industry,  well  known  for  its  employment
methods,  provides  on  its  application  blanks  a  series  of
items  as  a  guide  to  the  interviewer  in  selecting  candidates.