Failed IBM graduate application
I worked at IBM for my placement year and passed the tough IPAT tests quite well, breezed through the assessment center and then was offered my placement....
I initially decided not to reapply for the grad scheme but noticing they had extended the application date through till April I decided to give it a shot.
Wrote out the length application that took several hours and then was offered the online IPAT test. It is rather annoying that you have to do the whole process again but I wasn't too concerned as I did it for the placement application. The IPAT test seemed slightly harder this time but I was confident I had got at least 65 - 70% correct. To my dismay I was only offered two out of the three online tests and then was told "Exam complete".... shortly followed was a email detailing I had not met the requirements. Needless to say I am pretty devastated, I mean I have never not been offered a job at interview but this time I couldn't even get to the interview!
I doubt I will ever find out my score or what the pass mark is, but if there is anyone else who had this happen to them or knows the pass mark I would love to hear! All I can think of is they have raised the pass mark above what interns need to achieve...
Time for a pint of vodka to make myself feel better about my terrible failure.
I initially decided not to reapply for the grad scheme but noticing they had extended the application date through till April I decided to give it a shot.
Wrote out the length application that took several hours and then was offered the online IPAT test. It is rather annoying that you have to do the whole process again but I wasn't too concerned as I did it for the placement application. The IPAT test seemed slightly harder this time but I was confident I had got at least 65 - 70% correct. To my dismay I was only offered two out of the three online tests and then was told "Exam complete".... shortly followed was a email detailing I had not met the requirements. Needless to say I am pretty devastated, I mean I have never not been offered a job at interview but this time I couldn't even get to the interview!
I doubt I will ever find out my score or what the pass mark is, but if there is anyone else who had this happen to them or knows the pass mark I would love to hear! All I can think of is they have raised the pass mark above what interns need to achieve...
Time for a pint of vodka to make myself feel better about my terrible failure.
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Original post by tomo2323
I worked at IBM for my placement year and passed the tough IPAT tests quite well, breezed through the assessment center and then was offered my placement....
I initially decided not to reapply for the grad scheme but noticing they had extended the application date through till April I decided to give it a shot.
Wrote out the length application that took several hours and then was offered the online IPAT test. It is rather annoying that you have to do the whole process again but I wasn't too concerned as I did it for the placement application. The IPAT test seemed slightly harder this time but I was confident I had got at least 65 - 70% correct. To my dismay I was only offered two out of the three online tests and then was told "Exam complete".... shortly followed was a email detailing I had not met the requirements. Needless to say I am pretty devastated, I mean I have never not been offered a job at interview but this time I couldn't even get to the interview!
I doubt I will ever find out my score or what the pass mark is, but if there is anyone else who had this happen to them or knows the pass mark I would love to hear! All I can think of is they have raised the pass mark above what interns need to achieve...
Time for a pint of vodka to make myself feel better about my terrible failure.
I initially decided not to reapply for the grad scheme but noticing they had extended the application date through till April I decided to give it a shot.
Wrote out the length application that took several hours and then was offered the online IPAT test. It is rather annoying that you have to do the whole process again but I wasn't too concerned as I did it for the placement application. The IPAT test seemed slightly harder this time but I was confident I had got at least 65 - 70% correct. To my dismay I was only offered two out of the three online tests and then was told "Exam complete".... shortly followed was a email detailing I had not met the requirements. Needless to say I am pretty devastated, I mean I have never not been offered a job at interview but this time I couldn't even get to the interview!
I doubt I will ever find out my score or what the pass mark is, but if there is anyone else who had this happen to them or knows the pass mark I would love to hear! All I can think of is they have raised the pass mark above what interns need to achieve...
Time for a pint of vodka to make myself feel better about my terrible failure.
Quit whining like a little girl, it's a single rejection probably because lots of clever people applied. I am sure you will be rolling in good offers soon.
If it makes you feel any better, think about the reasons why you initially didn't want to apply.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by M1011
My understanding was that IBM placement students who achieved well got fast tracked through to the assessment centre stage (or all the way to final interview for the top X% in the rankings). Perhaps you didn't make a great impression during your time there?
Apparently this was the case in previous years, however a friend of mine working at Hursley did pretty good I believe but still went through assessment center. I heard that they cut grad assessment centers down from 2 days to 1 day this year. In previous years they allowed the first assessment center to be fast tracked if you did well on placement but now its all done on one day I think you have to do it regardless.
Still so pissed off with this IPAT test, I have emailed the grad team and wait a response.
Original post by tomo2323
Apparently this was the case in previous years, however a friend of mine working at Hursley did pretty good I believe but still went through assessment center. I heard that they cut grad assessment centers down from 2 days to 1 day this year. In previous years they allowed the first assessment center to be fast tracked if you did well on placement but now its all done on one day I think you have to do it regardless.
Still so pissed off with this IPAT test, I have emailed the grad team and wait a response.
Still so pissed off with this IPAT test, I have emailed the grad team and wait a response.
Ah right. Yea the IPAT is a weird one, very different from the normal SHL style tests. I can see how it would be quite easy to trip up on it if they've set the pass mark pretty high.
Why not use your contacts within the organisation to ask for a job? Speak to your old manager and let them know what happened and that you are looking for a job. They may be able to help you out.
Original post by biffyclyro27
Why not use your contacts within the organisation to ask for a job? Speak to your old manager and let them know what happened and that you are looking for a job. They may be able to help you out.
I may give this a go. I just know how stringent they are on employing graduates. Unfortunately it all goes through a central graduate recruitment department. I even asked for my test results saying that I worked there previously but they wont even give them out or comment on a pass mark. Really makes me wonder whether I want to work for a large enterprise organisation like this.
Original post by tomo2323
I may give this a go. I just know how stringent they are on employing graduates. Unfortunately it all goes through a central graduate recruitment department. I even asked for my test results saying that I worked there previously but they wont even give them out or comment on a pass mark. Really makes me wonder whether I want to work for a large enterprise organisation like this.
Yeah I know what you mean, I worked for a similar organisation for my placement year too, and it was the same process. But I was told by a few managers that I should contact them if I wanted a grad role and they would help me along the process. So it might be similar for you.
Personally I chose not to go back for exactly the reasons you state. I didn't want to work for a large corporation any more. I'm now working for a start up IT company in an exciting industry. I get far more input and experience than I ever would in a grad scheme. Although the starting salary is not as good, in a few years I will be making just as much if not more money than those who got a grad scheme role. I find that there is far more room for progression.
I got the job through my old boss from that placement. Which just shows that it pays to network.
Original post by tomo2323
I worked at IBM for my placement year and passed the tough IPAT tests quite well, breezed through the assessment center and then was offered my placement....
I initially decided not to reapply for the grad scheme but noticing they had extended the application date through till April I decided to give it a shot.
Wrote out the length application that took several hours and then was offered the online IPAT test. It is rather annoying that you have to do the whole process again but I wasn't too concerned as I did it for the placement application. The IPAT test seemed slightly harder this time but I was confident I had got at least 65 - 70% correct. To my dismay I was only offered two out of the three online tests and then was told "Exam complete".... shortly followed was a email detailing I had not met the requirements. Needless to say I am pretty devastated, I mean I have never not been offered a job at interview but this time I couldn't even get to the interview!
I doubt I will ever find out my score or what the pass mark is, but if there is anyone else who had this happen to them or knows the pass mark I would love to hear! All I can think of is they have raised the pass mark above what interns need to achieve...
Time for a pint of vodka to make myself feel better about my terrible failure.
I initially decided not to reapply for the grad scheme but noticing they had extended the application date through till April I decided to give it a shot.
Wrote out the length application that took several hours and then was offered the online IPAT test. It is rather annoying that you have to do the whole process again but I wasn't too concerned as I did it for the placement application. The IPAT test seemed slightly harder this time but I was confident I had got at least 65 - 70% correct. To my dismay I was only offered two out of the three online tests and then was told "Exam complete".... shortly followed was a email detailing I had not met the requirements. Needless to say I am pretty devastated, I mean I have never not been offered a job at interview but this time I couldn't even get to the interview!
I doubt I will ever find out my score or what the pass mark is, but if there is anyone else who had this happen to them or knows the pass mark I would love to hear! All I can think of is they have raised the pass mark above what interns need to achieve...
Time for a pint of vodka to make myself feel better about my terrible failure.
I kid you not about this, but firms use the online tests as a screening procedure. If you score below minimum, you're out; it's a (very poor) way of reducing the number of applications they have to read by automatically litmus testing the applicant.
Which brings me to my next point: they don't read the applications. Or atleast, many firms don't, until you pass the test. How do I know this? I've personally created a seperate account and re-applied for both Barclays and Deutsche Bank, and the second time I got through all the way to the AC. And this is with ticking that "I've only made one application" box, and using the exact same application!
So if I were you, I would just re-apply.
Original post by sadhukar
I kid you not about this, but firms use the online tests as a screening procedure. If you score below minimum, you're out; it's a (very poor) way of reducing the number of applications they have to read by automatically litmus testing the applicant.
Which brings me to my next point: they don't read the applications. Or atleast, many firms don't, until you pass the test. How do I know this? I've personally created a seperate account and re-applied for both Barclays and Deutsche Bank, and the second time I got through all the way to the AC. And this is with ticking that "I've only made one application" box, and using the exact same application!
So if I were you, I would just re-apply.
Which brings me to my next point: they don't read the applications. Or atleast, many firms don't, until you pass the test. How do I know this? I've personally created a seperate account and re-applied for both Barclays and Deutsche Bank, and the second time I got through all the way to the AC. And this is with ticking that "I've only made one application" box, and using the exact same application!
So if I were you, I would just re-apply.
That is a very interesting theory! It does say you cant apply for another 12 months though, it would be bad if you got a job and they kicked you out because you lied.
Apparently the IPAT is one of the hardest online tests compared to SHL and alike. I had an email back from IBM who said "The graduate intake pass mark is a lot higher than the Industrial Placement Scheme mark, you were 12 marks short of the entry requirement"
Such a shame and 1500 word application wasted. I guess I'm just not quick/good enough at the numerical aspect of the intake
....gutted I failed by so many marks.Original post by sadhukar
I kid you not about this, but firms use the online tests as a screening procedure. If you score below minimum, you're out; it's a (very poor) way of reducing the number of applications they have to read by automatically litmus testing the applicant.
This isn't shocking news, it's common sense. Why is this a very poor way to narrowing down applicants? Seems reasonable to me.
Original post by M1011
This isn't shocking news, it's common sense. Why is this a very poor way to narrowing down applicants? Seems reasonable to me.
Because the SHL tests are a very poor indicator of how a candidate can do their job.
Original post by sadhukar
Because the SHL tests are a very poor indicator of how a candidate can do their job.
Are they? I wouldn't say that a strong score indicates that someone will be good at a job, as clearly there are other important attributes. However I imagine that a low score is indicative that someone may not be fit for the role (not in every case, but there must be a correlation or nobody would do them). It's just testing basic maths, logical reasoning and verbal reasoning after all, valid skills required to varying degrees in most jobs.
Original post by sadhukar
Because the SHL tests are a very poor indicator of how a candidate can do their job.
I spoke to someone who works in recruitment and is fairly high up. He said that these sorts of tests do correlate to people's job performance, but only weakly. I guess the main problem is, as you say, that companies just don't have the time to look at every single application, but still want to treat them all fairly, hence they're stuck with less than perfect methods to eliminate applicants.
(edited 11 years ago)
The same happened to me,
Thank God I have another job offer but thought I'd give it a shot for the Craic.
Don't get too down about it all, whatever is meant to be will be.
unfortunately the number of companies using these 'satanic tests' are growing causing misery and disappointment in their wake.
God willing you will find yourself the right position. You may have hated being another IBM robot anyway.
Thank God I have another job offer but thought I'd give it a shot for the Craic.
Don't get too down about it all, whatever is meant to be will be.
unfortunately the number of companies using these 'satanic tests' are growing causing misery and disappointment in their wake.
God willing you will find yourself the right position. You may have hated being another IBM robot anyway.
I'm sorry to hear you did not succeed with the graduate process, the fact you have already undertook a placement with one of the biggest IT companies in the world put your CV up there with the best of them.
I'm sure you'll do just fine!
I'm sure you'll do just fine!
Hey guys, just on this topic I also applied for a grad scheme with them and got told I'd met the minimum score and they would review my cv in more detail. It was less than a week ago so I'm not too concerned about having not heard back yet, but I was just wondering if anyone knew if they emailed unsuccessful candidates to let them know or just kinda left them to work it out themselves like a lot of comanies do?
Original post by carrieleighann
Hey guys, just on this topic I also applied for a grad scheme with them and got told I'd met the minimum score and they would review my cv in more detail. It was less than a week ago so I'm not too concerned about having not heard back yet, but I was just wondering if anyone knew if they emailed unsuccessful candidates to let them know or just kinda left them to work it out themselves like a lot of comanies do?
I'd like to know this too, though for an industrial placement. I just got the same email about reviewing my CV in more detail and I'm wondering what the next steps are.
Original post by tomo2323
I worked at IBM for my placement year and passed the tough IPAT tests quite well, breezed through the assessment center and then was offered my placement....
I initially decided not to reapply for the grad scheme but noticing they had extended the application date through till April I decided to give it a shot.
Wrote out the length application that took several hours and then was offered the online IPAT test. It is rather annoying that you have to do the whole process again but I wasn't too concerned as I did it for the placement application. The IPAT test seemed slightly harder this time but I was confident I had got at least 65 - 70% correct. To my dismay I was only offered two out of the three online tests and then was told "Exam complete".... shortly followed was a email detailing I had not met the requirements. Needless to say I am pretty devastated, I mean I have never not been offered a job at interview but this time I couldn't even get to the interview!
I doubt I will ever find out my score or what the pass mark is, but if there is anyone else who had this happen to them or knows the pass mark I would love to hear! All I can think of is they have raised the pass mark above what interns need to achieve...
Time for a pint of vodka to make myself feel better about my terrible failure.
I initially decided not to reapply for the grad scheme but noticing they had extended the application date through till April I decided to give it a shot.
Wrote out the length application that took several hours and then was offered the online IPAT test. It is rather annoying that you have to do the whole process again but I wasn't too concerned as I did it for the placement application. The IPAT test seemed slightly harder this time but I was confident I had got at least 65 - 70% correct. To my dismay I was only offered two out of the three online tests and then was told "Exam complete".... shortly followed was a email detailing I had not met the requirements. Needless to say I am pretty devastated, I mean I have never not been offered a job at interview but this time I couldn't even get to the interview!
I doubt I will ever find out my score or what the pass mark is, but if there is anyone else who had this happen to them or knows the pass mark I would love to hear! All I can think of is they have raised the pass mark above what interns need to achieve...
Time for a pint of vodka to make myself feel better about my terrible failure.
haha yeah stop being a little bitch, loose your overconfidence
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