Easy questions. No time to finish the test.
That’s the impression after taking a sample Wonderlic test this week.
Just what is a Wonderlic? (Thought you’d never ask.)
It’s an intelligence/aptitude test created in 1936 by E. F. Wonderlic, then a graduate student at Northwestern University near Chicago, for prospective employers in reviewing candidates for hire.
Since then, the test has gained fame because the National Football League uses it for potential draft picks. And because the NFL draft is in two weeks, some of the Wonderlic test scores of likely top-draft picks are being leaked to the media.
Quarterbacks Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston, for example, scored 33 and 27, respectively, out of 50, according to Yahoo Sports.
My first thought was to bash those test scores – because the questions – some are multiple choice – are not difficult. Here is a sample question example found at the Wonderlic website:
— Chain sells for $1.50 per foot. How many feet of chain can you buy for $18?
However, there are only 12 minutes to complete all 50 questions in the test. And that is not a lot of time, especially because some of the questions are wordy. An example (ignore the poor grammar in the question):
— A dance studio wants to use square mirror tiles to cover two walls in their studio that measure 2 feet by 2 feet. Each wall measures 9 feet tall by 22 feet long. The studio instructor has requested that a 1 foot gap be left between the floor and the start of the mirrors. How many mirror tiles are needed to cover both walls?
Also, even though some of the questions are easy, they take grunt time to complete. An example:
— What is the mathematical average of the number of feet in a yard, seconds in a minutes and months in a year?
Yes, it is still difficult to reject the stereotype of the stupid jock. Particularly when harkening back to high school football, when our coach reprimanded us for having just five players on the entire team with grade point averages of 2.9 or better (pre-grade inflation).
But ditch the bias I must. Shame on me for demeaning incoming NFL rookies after hearing they “only” scored 30 out of 50 on the Wonderlic.
Now, time for me to again take that darn test.
