Knowledge Test

[PTS]

Have any of you ever created or seen a "knowledge test" for either new hiring candidates or for current employees.

I would like this for two reasons. 1. To help qualify new applicants when they claim to know everything but really know nothing. Or if they claim to be experienced climbers. When you have several per application process a written test would take up less of my time. 2. To encourage my staff to expand there knowledge to better serve our customers. This would also help with the raises.

 

[BostonBull]

Ask someone form the big three...Asplundh Dave or Bartlett. Or the other place to look would be one of the unions.

 

[dakota]

Hire by attitude, then train for aptitude.

If you insist on tests for applicants, don't use psychological tests - all the good climbers would fail.

 

[PTS]

When I was a cop I always had to take a knowledge test when applying for a position. They would score and compare. I want to be able to do this and I would like to divide the test into sections so you could see what the strengths and weeknesses are.

 

[clearance]

When I was a cop I always had to take a knowledge test when applying for a position. They would score and compare. I want to be able to do this and I would like to divide the test into sections so you could see what the strengths and weeknesses are.

PTS-you are not hiring hundreds of people, why not just question them and use your cop instincts?

 

[Dadatwins]

Hiring should be based on experience and attitude, the best hires are those that are eager to learn with a willing attitude. If you are hiring for an experienced climber no written test will help, folks can be book smart but not know the first thing to do once in a tree. Start them at a minimum training wage until you see what they can do and raise accordingly. When I worked for the big orange many years ago it only took me 2 weeks to get foreman $$$. Seemed to be a fair system, start low with a promise to be paid fairly after proving myself. Of course if you intend on hiring a trainee pay them a start wage and raise them up as they become more experienced possibly have an evalution every 3 months.
Most of the best tree climbers I know would laugh at a written test, but would be an asset to any company that hired them. Unfortunatly the hardest test for most applicants is the p** in the bottle test.
Good luck.

 

[clearance]

Hiring should be based on experience and attitude, the best hires are those that are eager to learn with a willing attitude. If you are hiring for an experienced climber no written test will help, folks can be book smart but not know the first thing to do once in a tree.

The truth is spoken, textbook hero-workplace zero.

 

[jp hallman]

When I was a cop I always had to take a knowledge test when applying for a position. They would score and compare. I want to be able to do this and I would like to divide the test into sections so you could see what the strengths and weeknesses are.

I knew you were a cop...You have that "look".
Forget about the testing. Unlesss you plan on hiring hundreds of workers per year. Look at the guys(or gals) tools, ask a few pointed questions. You have to know your stuff first.

 

[lawmart]

When i worked for various municipalities we had to take test , to get promoted knowledge and skilled based.
the problem with that was if you were a good climber and wanted to advance in the office , or inspector or some thing like that , it as very hard to advance.
since they had a very hard time to get skilled and knowledgeable climbers that could do the work.
They would just wanted to keep you as a climber and that was all.
All the people that had limited climbing skills got and no knowledge got moved into the office.
Start them off at a reasonable wage then evaluate them every 3 m. and see if they deserve a raise. I think with a basic interview and have them work for a day to see there climbing skills you cant go wrong.


Lawmart

 

[PTS]

It's a good thing I don't use you guys on my advisory staff. You would all be fired. It just so happens that I know what I am doing and happen to be very good at it. SO thanks for the two cents but keep the change. I am simply looking for sample tests and not business advise. :bang:

 

[clearance]

It's a good thing I don't use you guys on my advisory staff. You would all be fired. It just so happens that I know what I am doing and happen to be very good at it. SO thanks for the two cents but keep the change. I am simply looking for sample tests and not business advise. :bang:

Wow, once a cop always a cop. Good thing we ain't Rodney King huh?

 

[PTS]

OK, because you may not be familiar with this form of hiring, here is how it works. There are a number of tests that are performed. Written, hands on, physical and mental. I plan to use a knowledge test, physical hands on (lifting and dragging) test, knots test, climbing, equipment operation, or what ever is needed. I get a large number of applicants everytime I hire so that is why I am doing this. My head guys are capable of conducting the tests and scoring. I can spend and hour reviewing the results, talk to my guys on their opinion because they have to work with them and then I can conduct interviews. I am now running two companies and have enough headaches. I don't need to waste anymore time. This system works and is used by many. So that is what I am doing.

 

[jp hallman]

Whoa! Here's how the real world works...is that the drift?
I held Crypto clearance for years with the DOD and the DOE. I know testing and BS! Now, you're in the tree biz. It's not rocket science. It's a FUN job! Don't screw it up. If you're good, you'll recognize other good workers. Simple, true, fact.

 

[jp hallman]

OK, because you may not be familiar with this form of hiring, here is how it works. There are a number of tests that are performed. Written, hands on, physical and mental. I plan to use a knowledge test, physical hands on (lifting and dragging) test, knots test, climbing, equipment operation, or what ever is needed. I get a large number of applicants everytime I hire so that is why I am doing this. My head guys are capable of conducting the tests and scoring. I can spend and hour reviewing the results, talk to my guys on their opinion because they have to work with them and then I can conduct interviews. I am now running two companies and have enough headaches. I don't need to waste anymore time. This system works and is used by many. So that is what I am doing.

I read this again...If you hired good bosses to run that part of the show, leave it to them, don't second guess them.That's their job, not yours. Leave em' be. Enjoy your time.

 

[rebelman]

I find that many so called experienced tree trimmers have no idea what a collar is. You might mention it.

 

[M.D. Vaden]

Was J. C. Penny the man who used to take people out to lunch before hiring them?

One man - I think it's him - would take potential employees out for lunch to see if they salted their food before they tasted it.

That would show whether they acted by habit alone, or got the facts before taking action.

 

[sawn_penn]

I find that many so called experienced tree trimmers have no idea what a collar is. You might mention it.

A collar is when they take down those bad dudes on "COPS".

 

[Nickrosis]

Ahhh you guys... PTS, you're getting what you didn't want for an answer, and it's bothering you. It's a public forum, and people were staying on topic. Clearly, the advice is sound - to hire for attitude and train for aptitude as Dakota summed up.

Maybe you do get get a lot of applicants, we've gotten about 400 applications in the last couple of months - is that a lot to you? We haven't used a standard test for any of them. A couple years ago, we were meeting with people the temp agency was sending over, and it was up to two of us to select the person with whom we wanted to work. In that case, we had a single well-defined position and were interviewing on a near-daily basis. We used a series of a half-dozen questions to guide our interview and make the comparisons easy.

I've talked about this before, but in hiring an executive six-figure position when I worked somewhere else, we crafted a more extensive list of questions under the supervision of the state. Again, there were no right answers. The point was to direct the discussion during the interviews and share the role of asking questions amongst the people in the room.

Contrasted with your experience in municipal governments, I say cherish your freedom! Developing a sense of getting to know a person in a brief interview is an important skill. Hiring should be done by the person at your company best able to do that, and I would avoid handicapping them with a test. I've said this before, but buy the book Blink by Malcom Gladwell. He has an excellent discussion in the beginning of the book about how we in Western societies have successfully disabled our own intuition by overvaluing standardized metrics.

This is not what you wanted to hear, and you will resent my saying this. But listen to it nonetheless. You will believe it more over time. If you want, make a test and give it to all your applicants. Try giving it to some and not others and see if it helps. Let us know how it works! You don't know for sure until you try it out, and I would be interested in hearing about it. Your best source would be your own background experience, so I would try inquiring with the person responsible for hiring arborists in your own community to get a copy of their test.

 

[jmack]

sure

Have any of you ever created or seen a "knowledge test" for either new hiring candidates or for current employees.

I would like this for two reasons. 1. To help qualify new applicants when they claim to know everything but really know nothing. Or if they claim to be experienced climbers. When you have several per application process a written test would take up less of my time. 2. To encourage my staff to expand there knowledge to better serve our customers. This would also help with the raises.

use a tree for the climbers ask them to bring their gear if they have or have not will tell you something, provide the gear for them, and ask them to climb you will find out who is embellishing on experience, ground guys brush, saw and wood chipper point to it ask the to clean up, bucket people, have a truck there if possible, give em the keys tell em to fly it. plus you got isa test union line clearance tests naa/tcia tests isa tests, acrt tests,put it together, build it they will come

 

[clearance]

Nick, Jmack, quit it, he is gonna get his nightstick out of the closet and beat you like rioters, he is being, excuse the saying "pig-headed". Nick of course you are right, good advice, thanks.