Overview of Graduate Standardisation Examination

ADESIYAN OMOLOLU

The popular Chinese saying goes thus: Better to live in interesting times than to live long. Indeed these are interesting times for graduate job seekers and employers alike. Today, the number of candidates completing higher education has expanded significantly bringing greater diversity in the levels of ability, subjects studied and degree standards of those seeking work for the first time. The tertiary institutions which have produced these aspiring youths are of varying standards and varying levels of integrity. As a result, the graduates are also of varying standards making comparison across candidates from different institutions difficult to achieve as degrees obtained and grades achieved are no longer a sufficient indicator of the true quality of a graduate. Here lies the graduate screening and selection challenge for most employers.

Hundreds of companies around the country today use aptitude tests in their screening process with a view to ascertaining true quality of the intakes. The process for most companies is time consuming and cumbersome constituting a major distraction from the company’s core activities. At the macro level, there is duplication of activities as graduates get tested several times depending on the number of companies they apply to in a bid to signal their true quality.

The aptitude test regime has somewhat become a nightmare for most Nigerian Graduates. Majority of them struggle to get information about when and how corporate organisations plan to carry out their aptitude tests and recruitment. They spend time and money gambling on aptitude test dates, in many instances, they travel across towns risking their lives trying to sit as many aptitude tests as possible with a view to increasing the chances of getting a job. Tests for which there is never transparency as the applicants are never given any feedback on their scores, making it easy for the "Nigerian Factor" and the need for "connection" to kick in. For some unlucky applicants, Test Dates end up as mobile police affairs when the coordinators realize that they have not provided sufficiently for the test. For those who get to write the tests, some have to battle with illegible prints from past GMAT questions that have been photocopied to the nth degree. Interesting times indeed.

To remedy this situation, a private sector initiative referred to in certain quarters as the Dragnet Revolution has introduced the Graduate Standardisation Examination (GSE) scheme to help deliver standardization of applicants and save our graduate applicants from the difficulties they face while chasing aptitude tests up and down the country. The idea is to have one standard test which will be acceptable by a host of employers. In this regard, the GSE is being positioned as a centralized standardised private and independent graduate assessment scheme which can be looked at like the JAMB/GMAT for graduate employment. The GSE will then serve as the reference aptitude test for employers who would no longer need to carryout their individual aptitude tests.

This is definitely a breath of fresh air for the applicants. The GSE offers equal opportunity to all applicants as they will no longer require privileged information on a company’s testing dates as well as special favour to be short listed for the test. GSE Exam centres are in the public domain and will be open to all graduates all year round allowing the applicants schedule their test dates themselves and at their convenience on-line at the GSE website. With results in the GSE Exam, applicants should be able to apply to the top companies in Nigeria, making it a one stop shop for their aptitude tests. They will also not need to travel to the major commercial cities Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt in order to sit an aptitude test as the GSE is available in 22 locations nationwide covering all of the 19 states of old.

The GSE, like other public exams (JAMB, SAT, GMAT) has to be paid for by the candidate. In this case N5000 for the GSE. Payment for general public exams is nothing new, but payment for an exam used directly in the employment process is strange. No wonder they call it the Dragnet revolution. When questioned on this issue, the promoters were quick to stress that the amount should be seen in terms of the value it brings and not so much in terms of the cost. The exam will give an applicant visibility to a good number of companies they say over a 2 years period. In their opinion, many applicants already spend more than that traveling for the individual tests.

Take as an example an applicant who comes from Kaduna to sit an aptitude test in Lagos for a particular bank at a pre-ordained date and time. He will spend no less than N12,000 in inter-modal transportation alone as well as risk his life on the road to sit a test which he may never get feedback for. If his vehicle developes a fault on the road and he comes in late as a result, its tough luck for him. Look at the GSE scenario in comparison. With GSE which adopts the GMAT paradigm, he pays N5,000 and sits a standardised computer based exam locally in Kaduna, at a convenient date which he chooses. If he can’t make the date, he simply goes on-line and reschedules. The results of the tests are made available within 5 minutes and he can use the same result to apply to many other companies. N5,000 well spent.

It is envisaged that the GSE regime will bring in transparency in the graduate recruitment activity as the scores are available immediately. In fact, 5 minutes after the test and this can allow employers introduce transparent cut-off marks. Both applicants and employers can assess performance objectively. The GSE is truly built on equal opportunity, meritocracy and fair play. It provides a level playing field.

On the surface of it, the GSE comes across as a positive contribution to the society but more questions need to be asked. Whose standards are the tests based on? What competence do the promoters have? How will they combat malpractice and the malaise of test mercenaries? Worthwhile questions indeed for which we have sought answers from the GSE promoters.

The GSE is based on the UK designed First Graduate Assessment (FGA) by Previsor (UK), which is an internationally accredited Standard Test like GMAT, but unlike the American GMAT which is tailored for academia, the British FGA is tailored for the workplace. The assessment is divided into three (3) sections: Numerical Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning. The Aptitude Test has a total of sixty eight (68) questions which must be answered in Sixty (60) minutes, with each section being allocated a specific time. The GSE assessment is delivered in line with the International Test Commission’s guidelines for computer-based and internet delivered testing.

The promoters are relying on the strengths of their technical backers, the world leaders in pre-employment assessment – PreVisor. Previsor’s graduate testing solutions are trusted by more than 10,000 organizations worldwide, including over 100 of the Fortune 500. The solution being deployed here in Nigeria as the GSE was the winner of the fiercely contested award for "Best Technical Innovation in Online Recruitment" in the UK for 2008.

According to the promoters, the GSE computer based assessments would always be conducted in a consistent, fair and ethical manner at all times in a conducive, applicant friendly environment. The centres are equipped with the necessary infrastructure to enable on-line tests to be administered. At these centres, the applicant’s identity is recorded using both digital photo as well as finger print. This measure is implemented to check the malaise of test mercenaries. All exams are administered under the strictest of conditions in line with best practice for the proctoring of exam.

The history of the GMAT which is today accepted by over 1000 institutions worldwide reveals an era where only 6 institutions based their admissions on the GMAT. New concepts no matter how relevant will always need time to take hold. The GSE is a new concept in Nigeria and will take a while to be properly understood and appreciated. Looked upon as a recruitment consultants, the promoters reject such a classification stating that they do not offer job search or applicant search services to either applicants or employers respectively. They are simply a testing body providing a technology driven platform for the implementation of a standardised aptitude testing scheme. Their partner organisations believe in best practice based on equal opportunity, meritocracy and fairness. Maybe the GSE concept has come too early for the Nigerian scene. We hear that Dragnet is already in talks with investors from South Africa to deploy the scheme in that far away land.