The process began with an email from an Ameren recruiter who scheduled me for a pre-employment test I had to take in downtown St. Louis, MO. Because of this, I thought that meant that I was eligible for a face-to-face interview, but first had to pass the test to get it. I later learned I was wrong.
I woke up that morning very nervous. I had already prepared for going downtown by checking out the perfect bus routes and which transfers and stops I had to take, but since I hadn't been downtown in many years, I was tentative. I got on my bus and went down there, but unfortunately went a stop too far and got lost. Thankfully, the bus driver was nice enough to give me a free transfer, so I took another bus and this time I got off at the correct stop. Why am I writing this? Just to show what type of day I was having and why it wasn't worth the trip considering it was also raining that day.
So, I walk into Ameren and go right to the front desk to let them know that I was there for the test. The woman was nice and she gave me an ID I had to have to be allowed into the building. The problem was she didn't tell me I had to wear it around my neck, so I chose to carry it. That turned out to be a big mistake. Another woman met me at the door into another part of the building and right when I walked through the door, a security guard immediately screamed at me "Put the ID around your neck!" I was in shock! I couldn't believe that this man just yelled at me at the top of his lungs right when I stepped through the door, just because I didn't have the ID around my neck. I found that incredibly immature and unprofessional, since he could have been polite and let me know that I needed to wear it around my neck in a calm voice. I can only assume he was having a bad day or was on a power trip, but, regardless, that was no way to treat a potential future employee of the company.
I then went into the testing room and took the test. I did very well and was proud of myself. I left feeling great about my chances and couldn't wait until the next steps towards getting the position.
Later, I received an email letting me know that I was "recommended" and I felt confident that soon after the company would set me up with an interview. However, it never came, despite that I did well on the test. I tried emailing Ameren, but was ghosted. It turns out that the test seems to be just a gateway into if one's resume is considered, rather than a gateway into an actual interview. I did find it odd that I was allowed to take the test so easily, since I'm unfortunately not the best programmer, but I just assumed that they saw something in my resume that attracted them, so they were willing to take a shot on me. From this, I get the impression that anyone can get a chance at the test, but most people may never get an interview, no matter how well they did on the test. That's just wrong.
My advice to the company is to not allow anyone to take the test unless they were already judged to be worthy of an interview. If they're not, then don't make any applicants waste their precious time and money taking a meaningless test. Plus, getting yelled at is never a good thing, so train your security better. Tell them to be more polite and respectful. I had no reason to be yelled at. I'm still upset about it to this day.
