WTF: Federal job applications

[terpkristin]

I just gave up trying to apply for a job for an aerospace engineer with the FAA. I really thought the job looked interesting, but after 20 minutes fighting with the retarded questionairre and application process, I said "screw it, it's not worth it."

I'd like to think I'm a reasonably intelligent person. But if anybody has ever taken a test in multiple choice format such as:

Q: What is the answer to this question?
A) Answer A
B) Answer B
C) Answer C
D) Answer A unless B is present without C
E) All of the above unless C conflicts with B
F) None of the above

The best thing I can liken it to is taking the exam to get your National Registration as an EMT: a bunch of multiple choice questions whose answers are intertwined and not necessarily "wrong" but there might be a "more right" answer.

To top it off, the stupid application form asks you to save it every 15 minutes or so, so I tried to save it after entering 1 of my 5 (ish) relevant work experiences, but doesn't allow you to go back and change it after you save it. Who the f**k designs these things? I'd rather ram my head continuously into a brick wall than try to figure out what the hell the questions are asking. I especially like the ones on education where they can't simply seem to ask "What is your highest level of education" but instead want to know if your school was acredited by the engineers board as a part of a professional engineer's curriculum, which they ask you *15* different times. Screw it.

/tk

[rkmsuf]

have your roommate do it for you

[gstelmack]

I tried working as a government contractor once. I gave up when it became obvious they were far more interested in the documentation about what I was doing than in the actual project itself...

[Klinglerware]

Perhaps the test is really evaluating your patience and ability to deal with working for the federal bureaucracy?

Seriously though, I vaguely remember the GREs having a similar format...

[Mr. Wednesday]

I don't remember anything really crazy like that in the GREs.

Addressing the original answer structure, I could conceive of a situation where that might make sense. I'd need to see the question and the actual answers.

[Eaglesfan27]

I used to work for the FAA when I was in high school and after my first year of college during the summer. I remember the headaches of their security clearance and application process.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Those questions remind me a little of both the LSAT and the bar exam. Man the bar exam was awful. Just awful. I hated that exam. That and the three weeks leading up to it.

[Buzzbee]

tk - You should feel good! It is the government's way of weeding out the smart ones. Only the people who click and don't care are good enough to get through.


I do find it funny that after 4 (5?) years obtaining an engineering degree (aerospace to boot) it only took 20 minutes for a government application to bring you to your knees.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Buzzbee

tk - You should feel good! It is the government's way of weeding out the smart ones. Only the people who click and don't care are good enough to get through.


I do find it funny that after 4 (5?) years obtaining an engineering degree (aerospace to boot) it only took 20 minutes for a government application to bring you to your knees.

Not so much to my knees but to disgust me.
And for the record, it was 3.5 for my undergrad (physics) and 3.5 for my Masters (aerospace engineering). Though the Masters would have been shorter if I hadn't had 8 surgeries.

Totally disgusting. I'll futz around with it later, but it was enough to annoy me to not want to get involved with the mess that is the federal government.

/tk

[duckman]

Couldn't you type up your entries on Word before you fill out your application? That way you can cut and paste it.

[terpkristin]

I did have my resume open in Word and was just cutting and pasting, but I didn't keep track of how long it was taking and they log you out after 15 minutes.

It was easily the second most ridiculous thing I have ever tried to do in my life, the first being my NREMT exam. I'm mostly convinced that most people just fudge answers on that section in the hopes of making it to the next round for interviews etc so they can submit a real resume. There is just no way I could tell, after a point, if I was even answering the questions right, and sure as hell didn't want to sign my name to it knowing I may have completely misunderstood questions and thus "falsified" my responses by answering a different question than I thought was asked.

I'm' convinced that most people with half a brain would say "f it, private industry is so much better anyway."

/tk

[Leonidas]

I have a theory that federal agencies use the paperwork as a means of finding qualified applicants simply by the inane BS the process puts you through. The objective being that if an applicant is willing and able to go through all that crap they'd be a perfect fit for the kind of BS they will encounter in the federal workforce. And if you think about it, this theory would save considerable time, effort, and money to the screeners who could see the qualified pool of applicants diminish by maybe 80% just on the application form alone.