# Asshole test
Some years back I applied to join IBM's grad scheme, there was a
peculiar stage to the process I've not seen elsewhere. It was during the
onsite day, where a batch of 20 or so applicants were put through
various tests in an IBM office. They called it the "group test"; around 8
of us were led to a room and asked to solve a puzzle together. Each of
us was given an information pack, there was a white board, and a timer
ticking down from 60 minutes. At first there was silence as we looked at
our packs, then the first voice: "Let's pool our information", someone
stands up by the whiteboard, grasping a marker. Silence, it's not clear
how this information should be parsed. One person starts reading theirs
out word for word. This is not going to scale. Someone interrupts.
Before long the whiteboard leader has been deposed and another is
wielding the marker. Then another fights for control. The 60 minutes
has run out, the puzzle is unsolved. Confused and drained we head off to
the next test.

At the end of the day the group is split into two rooms, my room is
given the good news and I go on to join the grad scheme. Six months
later I am shadowing a colleague who is running the "group test". I
asked him if he'd ever seen a group complete the test? "Oh, it's not
about that, this is an asshole test. You see who turns into an asshole
under pressure and they don't make it to the next round".
https://johnpublic.mataroa.blog/blog/the-asshole-test/e