數字鴻溝隔開檔次 SAT一考定終身?

Stephen Robert Morse was a candidate for a communications job when the recruiter told him to be ready to discuss his SAT score in a coming interview.

斯蒂芬・羅伯特・莫爾斯(Stephen Robert Morse)曾應聘過一個公關職位，在求職過程中，招聘方讓他做好準備，在即將進行的面試中討論他的SAT測試成績。

Mr. Morse, 28 years old, said he was 'shocked' that a potential boss would be interested in the results of a test he took more than a decade earlier. He passed on the opportunity.

28歲的莫爾斯說，潛在僱主居然對他十多年前一項考試的成績感興趣，讓他頗爲“震驚”。他放棄了這次機會。

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.

常言道，人生恰似高中時代，許多僱主仍然關心求職者的SAT分數便印證了這個說法。貝恩公司(Bain & Co.)和麥肯錫(McKinsey & Co.)等諮詢公司以及高盛集團(Goldman Sachs Group Inc.)等銀行會要求應聘的大學應屆生提供SAT分數，還有一些公司甚至在招聘高級銷售和管理人才時要求四五十歲的應聘者提供SAT分數。

The SAT, originally known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test and taken during junior or senior year of high school, is a common element of college applications. The exam is scored on a scale of 2400, with up to 800 points each for critical reading, math and writing sections. The average SAT score last year was a combined 1498. (Before March 2005, the test had just two sections and was scored on a 1600-point scale.)

SAT測試原稱學術能力測試(Scholastic Aptitude Test)，在11或12年級進行，學生申請大學時一般都會提交SAT測試成績。這項考試總分爲2400分，由批判性閱讀、數學和寫作三部分組成，每部分分值均爲800分。去年的SAT得分平均爲1498分。（2005年3月份之前，這項考試只包括兩部分，總分爲1600分。）

A low score doesn't necessarily kill a person's chances, hiring managers say; instead, they say they believe SATs and other college entrance exams like the ACT help when comparing candidates with differing backgrounds or figuring out whether someone has the raw brainpower required for the job.

招聘經理們表示，SAT分數低不一定會葬送求職者的機會；他們認爲，SAT和ACT等其他大學入學考試成績有助於他們對背景各異的求職者進行比較，或者判斷求職者是否擁有勝任工作所需的思維能力。

But 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.

但有些公司確實會設定門檻，尤其是針對數學部分。諮詢業招聘公司Whitehouse Pimms董事總經理馬克・裏奇(Mark Rich)稱，客戶常常要求他篩選出SAT分數達到第95百分位以上的求職者。投資公司D.E. Shaw Group則要求應聘者具體提供數學和語言部分的成績。

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.

波士頓諮詢公司(Boston Consulting Group Inc.)長期將SAT分數作爲招聘過程中的一項考察因素。該公司美洲區招聘負責人珍妮弗・孔帕羅尼(Jennifer Comparoni)稱，該公司不針對申請者設定最低分。但她補充稱，數學成績低的求職者必須證明自己在其他方面有優勢，比如擁有某項專長或者領導能力。

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.

波士頓諮詢的管理人士不會輕言SAT成績能預測工作績效，但孔帕羅尼稱，該公司將SAT測試作爲批判性思維、問題解決能力和定量分析能力等“成功基本要素”的衡量標準。

Cvent Inc., a McLean, Va., event management software company, asks all job applicants to provide SAT or ACT scores, results from graduate-school entrance tests and grade-point averages along with their work history. Scores count most heavily for candidates in their first years out of college, though the company has received scores from applicants well into middle age, said Eric Eden, Cvent's vice president of marketing.

弗吉尼亞州麥克萊恩(McLean)的事件管理軟件公司Cvent Inc.要求所有求職者在提供工作履歷的同時提交SAT或ACT分數、研究生院入學測試成績和平均學分績點。Cvent的營銷副總裁埃裏克・埃登(Eric Eden)稱，分數對大學剛畢業的求職者來說最爲重要，不過向該公司提交分數的應聘者中也有中年人。

'When you're hiring people and they don't have a lot of work experience, you have to start with some set of data points,' he said, adding that he likes to hear about recent graduates' extracurricular activities, too.

他說：“當你招聘的人沒有很多工作經驗時，你只能從某些數字入手。”他補充稱，他也喜歡讓剛畢業的求職者講講他們的課外活動。

Cvent, which employs more than 1,400 people, hasn't tested whether its best employees are also its top SAT scorers. 'Knowing it's a standardized test is really enough for us,' Mr. Eden said.

有超過1,400名僱員的Cvent尚未考察過該公司表現最佳的員工是否也是SAT得分最高的人。埃登說：“我們只要知道這是一種標準化測試就足夠了。”

SATs and other academic artifacts remain relevant in part because they are easy--if imperfect--metrics for hiring managers to understand. This despite the fact that increased use of personality tests, data analytics and behavioral interviews have given employers more information about a candidate than ever before. Academic research has proved that cognitive ability can predict job performance, but there is scant evidence linking high SAT scores with employee success.

SAT和其他學術測驗成績仍然具有重要意義，在一定程度上是因爲，這些指標對招聘經理來說簡單易懂（雖然並不完美）。儘管性格測試、數據分析和行爲面試等手段使用得越來越多，讓僱主獲得了比以往更多的應聘者信息，但SAT成績仍在招聘中佔有一席之地。學術研究已經證明，認知能力能夠預測工作表現，但鮮有證據顯示SAT高分與員工成就有關聯。

The College Board, which administers the SAT, maintains that the exam is designed mainly to predict first-year college success. The group hasn't studied employers' use of scores, a College Board spokeswoman said.

SAT考試主辦機構美國大學理事會(College Board)稱，這項考試的設計主要是爲了預測大學一年級的學業成績。美國大學理事會發言人表示，該機構尚未研究過僱主對SAT成績的使用情況。

'It is a little confounding how a test somebody took when they were 17 predicts success in a competitive workplace when they're 22,' said Kevin Monahan, a career-services dean at Carnegie Mellon University.

卡內基梅隆大學(Carnegie Mellon University)負責就業指導的凱文・莫納漢(Kevin Monahan)表示：“怎麼能用一個人17歲時的測試成績預測他22歲時能否在競爭激烈的職場上取得成功呢？”

Few companies request official score reports from the College Board in the same way they demand formal college transcripts, though they often require candidates to attest that they are providing truthful information. Employers also spot-check candidates' credentials after making offers. (The College Board keeps SAT scores indefinitely, though requests for scores older than one year take up to five weeks to fulfill and cost $30.50 to retrieve.)

雖然很多公司要求提供正式的大學成績單，但很少有公司讓求職者提供由美國大學理事會開具的正式成績報告，不過公司常常要求求職者承諾他們提供的是真實信息。僱主還會在發出工作邀約之後抽查求職者的證明材料（美國大學理事會永久保存SAT成績，不過查詢一年以前的成績需要多達五週的時間，並須支付30.50美元檢索費）。

Putting too much stock in standardized tests can put minority candidates at a disadvantage. In 2013, SAT test-takers in the 'Black or African-American' category scored an average 431 on the exam's critical reading section, 429 on math and 418 on writing. White test-takers, meanwhile, scored nearly 100 points higher on average in every section. There is a racial divide for ACT score reports as well.

過分重視標準化測試會讓少數族裔求職者面臨劣勢。2013年，參加SAT考試的“黑人或非裔美國人”(Black or African-American)考生批判性閱讀、數學和寫作部分平均分分別爲431分、429分和418分。而白人考生每部分的平均成績均高出近100分。ACT成績也存在種族差別。

Still, many college students and recent graduates now list their scores voluntarily on résumés and LinkedIn.

不過，目前許多在校大學生和應屆畢業生會主動在簡歷和LinkedIn上列出自己的分數。

Patricia Rose, director of career services at University of Pennsylvania, advises students to put forth any information on their profiles that might impress an employer, even test scores. She also recommends recent graduates who want to change industries to list their results as proof that they are up to new intellectual challenges.

賓夕法尼亞大學(University of Pennsylvania)就業指導負責人帕特里夏・羅斯(Patricia Rose)建議學生在自我介紹中列出任何有可能打動僱主的信息甚至是考試成績。她還建議想轉行的應屆畢業生列出他們的成績，證明他們有能力接受新的才智挑戰。

But what impresses one hiring manager may annoy another, said In-Sue Oh, a professor of human resources and management at Temple University's Fox School of Business. Listing SAT scores on a résumé could make an applicant come across as narcissistic, overqualified or hung up on high-school successes, he added.

但天普大學(Temple University)福克斯商學院(Fox School of Business)人力資源和管理學教授In-Sue Oh表示，打動一位招聘官的東西有可能會惹惱另一位招聘官。他補充說，在簡歷上列出SAT成績會讓求職者給人留下自我欣賞、大材小用或者陶醉在高中時代輝煌之中的印象。

Asking for SAT scores may turn off candidates, too. Mr. Morse, now head of marketing and communications at freelance marketplace SkillBridge, said a firm's request for test scores 'made me a little bit skeptical of wanting to work with them,' despite scoring 'in the 1450 range' on the 1600-point test. 'I don't see why it's relevant,' he said.

僱主要求提供SAT成績也有可能會讓應聘者放棄求職。現任自由職業者就業平臺SkillBridge營銷和公關主管的莫爾斯說，儘管他在總分1600的測試中得了“1450多分”，但一家公司提出提交測試成績的要求“讓我有點懷疑自己還想不想去那裏工作”。他說：“我不懂爲什麼SAT成績那麼重要。”

Google Inc. famously fixated on job candidates' grade-point averages, test scores and alma mater, but the company changed tactics about two years ago, when data showed that traditionally pedigreed candidates didn't always make better hires.

谷歌(Google Inc.)因高度重視求職者的平均學分績點、考試分數和母校而著稱，但該公司在大約兩年前改變了策略，因數據顯示傳統意義上“血統純正”的求職者工作不一定更出色。

Internal studies found 'very little correlation between SAT scores and job performance,' said Kyle Ewing, head of global staffing programs at Google. The company now relies on interview questions that probe how a potential hire has solved complex problems in the past.

谷歌全球招聘項目主管凱爾・尤因(Kyle Ewing)說，內部研究發現“SAT得分與工作表現之間的關聯極小”。該公司目前依靠面試問題來考察應聘者過去是如何解決複雜問題的。

Not everyone is glad when companies shift ever so slightly away from SATs.

並不是所有人都樂意看到公司對SAT的重視程度略有下降。

One former McKinsey analyst who conducted recruiting for the firm was content to share his own scores. 'For me, it was great,' he said. 'I test much better than I am intelligent.'

一位麥肯錫前分析師（曾爲該公司招聘過員工）樂於同別人分享他的分數。他說：“對我來說，這樣做是很好的。我遠沒有那麼聰明，但我考試時能超水平發揮。”