(no subject)

[katyism.livejournal.com]

Have you ever had to pass a typing test, or take a typing class, for any of your tech jobs?

Comments

[psyco-path.livejournal.com]

No.

I speel jest fin.

[jon787.livejournal.com]

no

[bassgirl.livejournal.com]

Ha. The phone support job I'm currently stuck at right now also had a test like that. I think you had to type 20 words/min to pass. And then I had to sit in a cubicle to have an interview where I could overhear in the next cubicle "I'm sorry, but your typing skills are not *quite* fast enough yet. We're looking for 20 words per min, and right now you are at 11. We advise you check out some typing sites online, work on your speed, and come back in a few weeks."

Then again, most days I could swear the only prerequisite for working there is being able to stay upright in the chair. I dont' think you even need to be conscious.

[ihateemo.livejournal.com]

I did when I worked for a big company in the UK. But I can touch type 55 words/min.

[ihateemo.livejournal.com]

...errr, not that 55wpm is impressive. But it's more than adequate for what places like Dell expect of you.

[fearrett.livejournal.com]

buahahaha Dellians unite

[ihateemo.livejournal.com]

I managed to avoid Dell, thank the gods. :)

[nem0.livejournal.com]

No, but I got conscripted into phone and ticket-transcribing duty once they found out I can type 110wpm.

[xforge.livejournal.com]

Not specifically a tech job but when I tried out for a typesetter job at the local paper they tested me. I did pretty good.

[fearrett.livejournal.com]

120 wpm with no touch typing

[jkesus.livejournal.com]

Nope

[compwizrd.livejournal.com]

I'd like us to start requiring that of our end users!

I've actually walked laps around a 10,000 sq. foot building, waiting for someone in Italy to finish typing a sentence...

[loosechanj.livejournal.com]

No, but I've had to pass a Turing test.

[dazzedelf.livejournal.com]

Yes, for a job I ended up declining.

[inahandbasket]

Nope.

Incidentally, I used to work with a guy who typed 75mpw using only his two index fingers and staring at the keyboard.
It was pretty amazing to watch him go.

[nem0.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a guy I worked with at Blockbuster. He had a genetic deformity that caused his hands to develop into two long "fingers" each, but managed to type like a pro.

[redqueenmeg.livejournal.com]

Cool, I had a friend in college whose boyfriend could type about 90 wpm using only his thumbs, pointer fingers, and middle fingers (last two fingers on right hand would be holding a cigarette).

[major-error.livejournal.com]

I've pretty much thrown out the guidelines for touch-typing--I type in almost the same manner, but I have no idea what my speed is...

Haven't had any sort of typing test since the high school class...

[alanademonkitty.livejournal.com]

I type 80 that way, though I only look at the keyboard half the time.

[zercool.livejournal.com]

Not for a tech job, no. My current job with 911 required being able to type 20wpm at 95% accuracy. I passed. Easily. At 50wpm/99.995%. Or something stupid like that. On a sucky keyboard, at an uncomfortable desk, with my hands shaking so bad I couldn't hold a cup of coffee.

[greeklady.livejournal.com]

Nope but some days after seeing how these people type I wish they did. The only typing test I had to take was for an admin position. 65wpm. I chalk it up to spelling out full words while chatting all day long.

[abstrak-tokatl.livejournal.com]

when i applied for Neo-pets e-mail support they did. the test thing.

[alysania.livejournal.com]

Not for a tech job.. Had to take them for temp agency jobs back in the starving college student days.. But I think a few tech jobs just casually asked typing speed during interviews. ~70 wmp at last test a few years ago

[prozacnation.livejournal.com]

Nope.

Not at all.

but when I went a employment agencies, they all wanted to test my typing even though I worked in a chat format for 8 hours per day and worked for a title insurance company typing all day.

[redqueenmeg.livejournal.com]

Yes, when I was doing email support for Dell, before they outsourced us to India. I guess having someone who could type 100+ words per minute wasn't as important to them as saving $7 an hour.

[ihateemo.livejournal.com]

You got that right. ;D

[redqueenmeg.livejournal.com]

Let's increase shareholder value!

[hisamishness.livejournal.com]

nope

[pixeltwist.livejournal.com]

Where I worked, you had to take a typing test. However, it didn't really matter, because the majority of the project couldn't touch type.

I hated being outsourced.

[dog-star-man.livejournal.com]

Nope, and you'd think that sitting in front of a keyboard all day for 10 years would actually make me a better typist, but I still suck at it.

[docjeff.livejournal.com]

Not me. That information is on my CV so I figured they've always just assumed I was telling the truth. (shrug) I've had interviewers ask me if I can really type well on a Dvorak layout but none have asked me to prove it. I did freak out one of my bosses once by holding a tech convo with him while I was typing out a letter he'd asked me to send. :)

[residentgeek.livejournal.com]

Only for the temp agencies who were trying to put me into admin assistant jobs instead of real tech jobs. It got to be where if they asked for a typing test, I knew they weren't paying attention to my resume (y'know, the part about FIXING COMPUTERS, not DATA PROCESSING).

[kizayaen.livejournal.com]

I had to take a "can you talk and type at the same time?" test for my current job, at a phone-in tech support desk. Passed with flying colours, to the tune of 125wpm.

[dkphoenix.livejournal.com]

Yes, but it wasn't too rigorous. I am teh suck at typing.

[kedemel.livejournal.com]

Yeap! I guess they want to make sure you can type faster than 25wpm...(Someone was once hired at one of my old call centers that did *15 - 20* on a good day)

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

I wish. We've hired people who couldn't type to save their lives, much less talk and type at the same time. And these were supposed to be techies. Sheesh.

To be fair, my own typing skills are a result of ten years on fairly talkative channels, where if you weren't at least moderately fast, you'd find yourself responding to comments that had already scrolled off the screen.

That said, I got to see one of the ops in person once, and she just buried me on a keyboard. She must have been up around 200wpm - scary speeds.