After applying for a Senior HR position, about three weeks later, I received an email from Bloomingdale's Manager Executive Recruitment Stores Southeast & Midwest indicating I was to be advanced to the next step in the interview process which included an online assessment (watson-glaser ii critical thinking appraisal (form d) - a critical thinking questionnaire which took about 45 minutes). The assessment measures a candidate's ability to recognize assumptions, evaluate arguments and draw conclusions. Once I completed the assessment, I notified the Recruitment Manager via email and asked for next steps in the process. After no response in 3 days, I followed up again asking for next steps at which time, I was informed that the decision was made to pursue other candidates. Generally, assessments are used as "part " of the recruitment/selection process which would include interviews, references, etc. in order to ascertain a full picture of the candidate before screening out unqualified candidates. Clearly, with Bloomingdale's, the assessment IS the only criteria to screen out candidates. Additionally, there were parts of the assessment which posed situations relating to immigration as well as the government providing free healthcare. In my view, these types of scenarios are controversial and completely inappropriate since they can infer a candidate's political beliefs and can be potentially discriminatory. Upon learning about Bloomingdale's decision to move forward with other candidates, I asked the Recruitment Manager how the online assessment is used in their hiring process. No response - not surprised.

Applied online, had to submit a test online after initial review for screening purposes. They responded fairly fast after the initial submission of my resume. I was notified shortly after taking the online test that I did not meet their standards or qualifications for the next round of steps of the interviewing process. I did not have a phone interview or in person interview.