67 questions about leadership

I just applied for a management job on the Procter & Gamble website.

After filling out a 6-page online application, including uploading my resume, references, and cover letter, I was prompted to submit to the "Success Drivers Management Assessment," a set of 67 multiple choice questions about leadership.

A sampling of some of the questions and choices:

Do you tend to focus more of your attention on the issues of the present or on the potential issues of the future?

A. Much more focus on the present
B. More focus on the present
C. Just as likely to focus on the present as on the future
D. More focus on the future
E. Much more focus on the future

I chose B.

How have you been able to take ideas in your work and turn them into reality?

A. By using my unique strengths
B. By removing barriers
C. By being patient
D. By being assertive
E. By ensuring everyone is engaged in the vision

I chose E.

Which of these do you consider to be the most important in trying to solve problems?

A. Analyzing information
B. Formulating alternative actions
C. Being well-informed
D. Challenging assumptions
E. Taking a broad view
F. Creating innovative solutions
G. Focusing on the key issues
H. Probing for more information
I. Something else

I chose G.

Which of the following would you find least attractive in a job?

A. Keeping a tight, planned schedule each day
B. Working an extra hour or two many weekday evenings
C. Working weekends whenever the need arises
D. Working by yourself most of the time
E. Starting very early most mornings
F. Working over 50 hours most every week
G. Starting at the bottom, working your way up

I chose E.

Apparently there are no correct answers, but HR should be able to determine my management ability presuming my responses were consistent.

The fact that the test took about an hour to complete, I hope I hear back in a timely manner.

Truman Greene

Truman Greene sings and plays guitar in this video in his own advertisement for H&R Block.

It's so bad it's actually funny!

5 spam emails

With apologies to Hormel Foods and their spiced ham product, has anyone actually read the content of, and clicked the links for, email spam?

Well, I just did. Taking one of my email accounts that was set up primarily for online forms and knowing there'd be a ton of spam, I decided to uncover my slices of spam.

Here are the top 5 spam emails I received over the past 24 hours:

• Become a super-hung giant: The best way to please your lassie like a real Casanova, is to get your love gun bigger!
  
  1. The email points to a website that advertises a penis enlargement pill.
  
  2. The pill may or may not work, but isn't it a tad odd that the site displays the "As Seen on TV" red logo when a google search for the name of the pill yields a mere 8 results?
  
  3. The problem here is while I googled the name of the pill, how many others would?
  
  
• All your meds needs: Stress-free and hassle-free online medication here now
  
  1. The email points to a so-called Canadian pharmacy website that is described on the site as the leading #1 online pharmacy.
  
  2. Googling the website URL comes up with zero results. More to the point, the web domain doesn't even include "pharmacy" or "health" or such keywords in it, but is a random assortment of letters that may mean something in some other language but has no English language connotation.
  
  
• Quality Pills at Lowest Prices: People who used to purchase medications in Canada know CanadianPharmacy for the cheap prices and high quality medications. No other drugstore has such a large selection of products.
  
  1. Canadian pharmacies may be known for cheaper costs, but not when the email address that sent the message is the domain of a Vancouver high tech company.
  
  2. The linked website no longer works, and this email was just sent to me yesterday.
  
  
• suonimit: Get Ready for spring-summer season! Even ostin povers needs our meds
  
  1. Huh? What does suonimit or ostin povers mean? At least try to spell it right to give an appearance of decency!
  
  2. The link points to yet another Canadian pharmacy site, but once again, the URL has no bearing on a pharmacy.
  
  
• Need a gift for your loved one, look no further: Sapphire crystal glass with top grade swiss movements available here
  
  1. "Here" pointed me to a company that stocks 5,000 "replicas" of Rolex, Cartier, Gucci, etc.
  
  2. There are so many links and product descriptions, I almost thought I was on some famous jewelry site. Maybe I was, for all I knew. But shouldn't a customer-oriented web shop have a phone number for customer service? Just a simple contact form, and it was a duplicate to those on the above pharmacy sites.
  
  3. The strangest link was their "terms and conditions," which cited a single sentence of Code 431.322.12 of the Internet Privacy Act signed by Bill Clinton in 1995 that the company's ISP cannot be threatened. Why would I think of that?

Black Google

In honor of Earth Hour, Google went black.

Check it out: