I find it preposterous that some IT training companies firmly believe in offering some form of IQ or related test to see whether people are suitable for a career in IT. This test is then used to validate the candidates entry onto their IT training programmes.
I mean IT isn't exactly rocket science and as such it should be made into something it's clearly not, by using these so called IQ tests.
These suitability tests are just geared up to make people feel that they are smart enough to succeed in IT. It's nothing short of flattery designed to lull people into a self perceived state of importance, where they become more relaxed and warm to the offers subsequently made by the training companies.
Confidence tricksters is what these training companies should really be called.
They sort of make people feel righteous, whereby people are made to believe they are on some divine path to success.
These confidence tricksters know what buttons to press to turn their victim into a cash cow, who they can then manipulate and then milk of their hard earned money.
In my quest for the truth on the IT training companies, I actually sat one of these tests just to see what they were really all about. I went to a training provider on the pretence I was just another beginner, clueless about IT looking for advice and an opportunity.
The ego massaging didn't take too long to get started, whereby I was told on several occasions how I was just the sort of person who could benefit from their IT training. My thoughts on such statements was,
"you don't even know me and you're making an incredible assumption of who I am. It's just based on lies and you know it!"
Anyway, I played along with their ego massaging and looked wowed by hanging on to their every word, showing incredible keenness to their false promises.
Their 'piece de la resistance' was saying they did require me to undertake an IQ test, to verify my capability to do their IT training.
"Don't worry", they said,
"It shouldn't pose any problems for someone of my calibre and it's just something they do for the managers", they said... I bet they say that to all the IT newbies!
They could have gone on and said it was a new requirement from the government and it was mandatory for them to get all prospective IT trainees to undergo such a test. Many newbies to IT would believe anything they said anyway, so why not go the whole hog?
Anyway, I sat their IQ test and it wasn't a real IQ test that you would take to prove you were really smart. It was just their version of a watered down test, which had only one purpose, to fool people into thinking they were smart.
I went about deliberately getting all the questions wrong, there was no point in getting as many right as possible. I just had to prove to myself what a complete scam these IQ tests are, I'm not really interested in enrolling on their IT training courses.
Every answer on my test was deliberately wrong. It was a multi-choice format, which surprised me, as IQ tests don't really do this, do they? So I ticked all the boxes which were definitely wrong, even those with the stupidest answers.
After I'd completed the test, I was led back into the reception area and offered refreshments. I gave the impression I was extremely nervous, which was quickly picked up their staff, who reassured me several times that there wasn't anything to worry about.
After about ten minutes the guy who had taken me into the room where the test had been conducted came over. He had a big smile on his face and told me excitedly I'd passed.
"Wow", I thought,
"and I deliberately got all the answers wrong... There's something fishy going on here!"
It doesn't take a genius to work out what's gone on here. The guy hadn't even checked my answers, he probably just binned my test paper. There was no reason for him to check the answers because they serve no purpose other than flattering the test taker.
The training company he worked for, had no intention of turning anyone away. Everyone they got to enrol on their training was going to make them serious revenue.
Now came the tricky part, how to get out of this hole I'd created for myself, as the guy became incredibly pushy in getting me to sign up to one of the training courses offered by his employers.
The flattery had turned to hard sell, as the usual sales spiel about how if I signed up now, I would get a better deal but don't let the manager find out, otherwise their job would be on the line.
As I wriggled and tried to turn away from the hard sell, I had no choice but to come clean. So I let them know what I knew, including how I'd deliberately faked the test.
It was at this point where things became ugly and I was threatened in an incredibly aggressive manner.
"We'll take you to court for trying to fraud us", the once nice but now the extremely irritated sales guy exclaimed.
Actually using the words 'fraud' was comical as they're making a living doing this big time. So I decided, may be it was time to leave and I got up and left as quickly as I could.
I was shocked at what had happened at this training company, then this shock turned to anger. Whilst I was more than capable of seeing past the charade used by these charlatans, others may not be so lucky and could quite easily end up being a victim of an elaborate hoax.