"High Difficulty Level," "Many New Types and Challenging Questions"
"Many Restrictions Due to Online Test"... Applicants Posting Tips on Job Communities
Samsung to Conduct GSAT Mini-Test in Interview Stage as Well... "Verification to Prevent Cheating"
[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] “The difficulty level of the questions was historically high,” “There were too many new types of questions in the applied mathematics section.”
On the first day of the Samsung Job Aptitude Test (GSAT), held online for the first time ever on the 30th, complaints about the high difficulty level of the exam surfaced on online communities such as cafes where job seekers gather. Samsung switched GSAT to an online format to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
According to Samsung, the first exam on the first day at 9 a.m. was taken by electronic affiliates such as Samsung SDI, financial affiliates like Samsung Life Insurance, and independent affiliates such as Cheil Worldwide. At 2 p.m. on the same day, Samsung Electronics and bio affiliates took the exam. On the 31st, Samsung Electronics exams will be held both in the morning and afternoon.
During the approximately one-hour preparation time, procedures such as verifying the identity of the applicants, checking the online connection status, and confirming the test-taker’s space were conducted. Applicants then took the exam for one hour, with 30 minutes each for the mathematics and reasoning sections.
GSAT is known to be more difficult than other employment tests, with only about 20% of applicants passing each year. Because of this, GSAT reviews attract attention on job-seeker online sites.
Applicants referred to this GSAT as the “Bul GSAT.” This is similar to calling the highly difficult College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) the “Bul CSAT” (meaning “fire CSAT”).
One applicant complained, “Regardless of right or wrong, there were too many questions I couldn’t solve,” emphasizing the high difficulty. Another said, “There were too many conditional reasoning questions at the beginning, making it hard to solve,” and expressed regret, “Because of that, I missed too many easy questions later.” Comments on posts included remarks such as “Not only the reasoning test but also the math problems had many new types, making it very difficult.”
Since GSAT is a test that draws the attention of job seekers, every year, employment communities post reviews describing their problem-solving processes, often saying “the questions were easy.” However, this time, reviews saying the test was difficult dominate. Regarding this, one applicant posted, “Every year, many applicants say it was easy, but since there are no such posts this time, it seems it really was difficult.” A Samsung official stated, “The difficulty level of the exam is not significantly different from previous years, but the change in the test format seems to have increased the perceived difficulty for test-takers.”
There were also evaluations that the online format imposed many restrictions, making it feel more difficult. Samsung sent emails instructing applicants not to touch the monitor while reading the exam questions to prevent cheating, and supervisors re-announced this before the exam. Applicants who are used to marking questions with a pen said it was difficult to properly read through the questions. Some applicants were also concerned because their hands could not go outside the camera view.
Advice from applicants who took the exam earlier was posted on employment communities. One applicant who experienced an error with the smartphone GSAT monitoring system during the exam said, “The supervisor locked the exam screen, and during that time, I reconnected to the monitoring program on my phone and continued the exam,” explaining, “The time lost due to reconnection will be compensated separately after the exam.” Another advised, “Using a small laptop screen made it hard to see graphs in the math problems, so it’s better to use a large monitor or adjust the screen size in advance,” and many comments agreed with this advice.
There were also criticisms about some issues with the GSAT test kit. Samsung had previously sent kits containing a phone stand, instructions, and problem-solving sheets for each section by courier to applicants, asking them not to open the kit until the exam. One applicant posted on an employment community, “One sheet of paper was missing from the kit,” and shared the embarrassing situation, “When I told the supervisor five minutes before the exam, I was told to find an A4 sheet myself.”
After finishing the exam, applicants photographed both sides of the problem-solving sheets and submitted them. This was to prevent cheating by writing answers without solving the problems. Samsung stated that applicants caught cheating will have their exam results invalidated and will be banned from applying to Samsung recruitment for the next five years. Additionally, if necessary, Samsung will hold applicants who cheated legally and criminally responsible. Furthermore, Samsung plans to conduct a brief GSAT test for applicants during future interview stages. A Samsung official explained, “This is a verification measure to prevent cheating.”
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