So, I had a 'psychological assessment' that I had to take in order to be considered for a job I'm currently going through the motions of applying for today, and didn't really think anything of it. Boy was I wrong to not think anything of it.

I'm not joking when I say the assessments they made me take had to have totaled at least 1,000 true/false or scale of 1 to 5 questions. Most of them were suicide/self harm related (ex. Have you been suicidal in the last 6 months? Have you ever had a plan? Have you ever attempted?, Have you ever been diagnosed with depression?, etc.) which seemed standard to me.

But then, I got questions like “Are your parents separated? How old were you when they separated? Do you live with them in their home, or with a significant other? Do you believe you were sexually/emotionally/verbally abused as a child?”. I also got asked questions like “Do you think it's okay to bend the rules/law? Would you bend the rules/law? There is something wrong with a person who doesn't follow orders, or is disgruntled whilst following them (true/false). Do you think its good to stringently adhere to rules/laws?”.

First off, screw you for asking me about my parents' marital status, and who I live with. Unless its a convicted felon, fuck off, none of your business. Also, why the hell are you asking about abuse to me as a child? If I want to share that, then I'll do so. Fuck you for thinking I'm just obligated to divulge this information to you. My trauma, my decision.

And the rule/law questions were honestly some of my favourites. If I answer yes to thinking it's okay to bend rules/law a bit, am I disqualified ? People aren't monolith machines, and human social and societal systems are way more fluid and complex than any kind of paper can make it out to be.

It honestly just seems to me that these 'evaluations' are just ways to filter out anyone who isn't a mindless servant to the powers that be, and actually thinks for themselves and questions why they are being asked to perform certain duties.

I guess that's what governmental agencies want though, right? Mindless servants who just follow orders, no questions asked. Guess I'm not the candidate you're looking for then.

I felt incredibly violated by the questions asked in this questionnaire, and I see no good reason to ask such deep, personal questions. They overstepped their boundaries during pre-employment screening, and I am not happy about it.

Going forward, if any other job asks me to do all these things with these kinds of invasive questions, I'll need to have a good hard think about it, because I think some of the questions asked of me were completely ridiculous.

Welcome to the adult world, prim.