> Really basic stuff. But it was amazing how many recent college grads
> couldn't answer them correctly!  What was more amazing is that we
> found that the test was really a very good way to filter out the
> duds, and find the kids who actually *understood* what they were
> taught. It separated them out from those who were good as memorizing
> answers but didn't grasp what they were supposedly learning.
>
> I wish I still had a copy of the test.

About the time I finished my apprenticeship the company was looking to take 
on a new batch of apprentices, and the guy given the responsibility of 
sorting the wheat from the chaff ended up giving two simple tests, first a 
maths test that allowed him to see that they were up to speed on the level 
of maths that should have coming out of secondary school, and secondly a 
very simple test to see if they recognised various electronic and radio 
symbols and circuits, to see if they had been playing with crystal sets and 
things as hobbyists. Neither test was particularly arduous, but a surprising 
number failed.

When I was looking to leave secondary school, and was looking around for 
employment, I applied to Burroughs, and they had a mechanical aptitude test 
(these were the days of mechanical calculators, magnetic stripe card 
accounting machines were just coming on the market, computers were still 
'only 6 needed in the world'). 

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