“Job Hunting? Dig Up Those Old SAT Scores – Employers Still Want Candidates’ Test Results—Sometimes Decades Later”

According to a February 26th, 2014 Wall Street Journal Article, SAT scores may still matter after college admission. Writes Melissa Corn:

“Proving the adage that all of life is like high school, plenty of employers still care about a job candidate’s SAT score. Consulting firms such as Bain & Co. and McKinsey & Co. and banks like Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ask new college recruits for their scores, while other companies request them even for senior sales and management hires, eliciting scores from job candidates in their 40s and 50s…

…Some companies do set targets, particularly on the math section. Mark Rich, managing director of consulting-industry recruiting firm Whitehouse Pimms, says clients often tell him to screen for candidates whose SAT scores placed them in or above the 95th percentile. Investment firm D.E. Shaw Group asks candidates to break out their math and verbal results.

Boston Consulting Group Inc. has long used SAT scores as a factor in its hiring process. The firm doesn’t set a minimum score for applicants, said Jennifer Comparoni, head of Americas recruiting. But candidates with weak math results would need to demonstrate other strengths, such as subject-matter expertise or leadership ability, she added.

BCG managers won’t say that SAT results predict job performance, but Ms. Comparoni said the company uses the test as a standard measure of ‘the basic building blocks of success,’ such as critical thinking, problem-solving skills and quantitative abilities.”

 

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *