More employers ask job seekers for SAT scores

Donna Chan is 23 and has been out of college since May 2002, when she graduated from Wagner College on Staten Island. So should anyone care how she did way back in high school on her SATs?

Kemba J. Dunham
Wall Street Journal The Arizona Republic

Apparently some people do. Since Chan started looking for an entry-level job in financial services more than a year ago, she repeatedly has stumbled over a common requirement for many of these positions: a combined SAT score of at least 1300 out of a maximum 1600. Chan’s combined score on the math and verbal tests fell "somewhere in the 1200s," even though she earned a 3.9 grade-point average in college while getting a degree in computer science with a minor in math.

"I think it’s asking a bit much," gripes Chan, who is working as a part-time paralegal on Staten Island. "That’s something high school kids have to worry about. After four years of working hard, I think you’ve paid your dues, and unless you’re applying to Princeton Review or some math-related, analytical job, I don’t see the relevance."

SATs, taken by high school juniors and seniors and once used as the sole criterion for college admission, are following many through college and into the workplace as a defining performance measure.

Companies in a certain cadre that hire large numbers of fresh college graduates have long asked about SAT scores. Now, many other large employers took up the habit in recent years because of the dismal job market. With thousands of resumes flooding in for even a single open position these days, employers see the scores as one more way to differentiate among applicants.

Most employers who ask about SAT also say they want someone whose scores are well above the national average. According to the New York-based College Board, the association that administers SAT, the 1.4 million takers in the class of 2003 earned average scores of 519 on the math portion of the test and 507 on the verbal section, for a total of 1026. The math average is the highest in more than 35 years, meaning that those who are applying for jobs right now on average scored lower.

A number of ads placed by recruiters and staffing firms set clear SAT goals. Consider this recent ad on HotJobs.com for an entry-level, investment-banking position: "Minimum expectations include an overall score of 1350 on the SATs. … You will be required to provide official scores and transcripts, so please do not respond if you do not meet the aforementioned requirements."

Alan Sage is a vice president at Configuresoft Inc., a Woodland Park, Colo., systems-management software company. He says he routinely asks applicants to submit their SAT scores when they apply for sales jobs. He says he picked up the practice from a former employer of his who wanted applicants to have no less than a combined SAT score of 1400.

Sage sets his bar somewhat lower, at 1200, but says he nonetheless sees the test as a good indicator of future success.

"In my experience, people with high SAT scores tend to do better," he said. "We wouldn’t exclude someone from an interview if he or she didn’t score high."

While Sage says he has always asked to see SAT scores, he admits that he was far more flexible when Configuresoft was first launched in the boom days of 1999.

Criticism of the trend has arisen. Seppy Basili, vice president of Kaplan Inc., a test-preparation company, says that during the past six months he has been hearing anecdotally that more companies are asking applicants to submit SAT scores. He feels that in general, SAT scores in these cases are being used for the wrong reasons.

"It’s such a maligned instrument," Basili said. "It’s not designed to measure job performance, and the kind of person who performs well on SATs is not necessarily the kind of person who will perform well sitting at their desks."

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/1103satscores03.html