General Counsel, In-House Counsel, Job Searches, LSAT

We Already Knew Your LSAT Score Follows You Around, But So Will Your SATs

Is it really okay to ask for an adult's SAT score under any situation?

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I don’t even remember my SAT score. I know it wasn’t a round number. I know it was in the top 5 of my high school class. But the actual number, I couldn’t tell you. And I wouldn’t know where to look it up. I mean, we’re talking about something that happened to me almost two decades ago. I think the last time somebody asked me about my SAT score to my face I made a mental note to have sex with his girlfriend.

And in the intervening two decades, hasn’t the scoring scale changed multiple times? I have no idea how my score that I can’t remember would look compared to others who took the test more recently.

Luckily, none of this matters because nobody is going to ask to see my SAT score before they let me spew nonsense on the internet.

It’s a good thing that I’m not trying to be a general counsel at a hedge fund. I know it’s kind of “industry standard” to ask for that information if you want a job, but can’t we all agree that it’s an incredibly lazy way to hire employees?

A tipster was horrified to see the materials you need to submit in order to get a job as an Assistant General Counsel at the investment firm Q Investments. From the job posting:

The successful candidate will have 3 to 7 years with a top law firm or in-house legal department, a demonstrated record of accomplishment and achievement, and an outstanding academic record.

All applicants must include the following information, if available, with their resume:
• Contact Information: name, email address and phone number
• SAT/ACT and LSAT scores
• Undergraduate GPA (both in major and cumulative)
• Law School GPA / Class Ranking

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Do these guys need to see how many check plus pluses applicants received in grade school as well?

A while back, we did a post about K&L Gates wanting to see people’s LSAT scores. Really, law firms would just be borrowing the idea from investment banks who’ve made a habit of asking for this stuff.

It strikes me as obnoxious that any employer would want to see the SAT scores you compiled a lifetime ago when they have three to seven years of your actual work experience staring them right in the face. If anything, should these firms just test their applicants now instead of reaching into the way back machine for SAT scores? If your mastery of SAT math is really necessary to be a lawyer for these guys, shouldn’t it be your current mastery of the concepts, not the understanding you had when you were 16 years old and trying to score well enough to follow your boyfriend to UT?

Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure we’re going to see more of this because of the general over credentialization of our culture. At this point, you need a college degree to tend bar, you need a law degree to gestate a baby, and you need to be a doctor in order to sell soft drinks.

Seriously, asking for test scores is just another way for employers to sift through a mass of applicants in a soft job market. It’s lazy, but having been on the receiving end of a résumé deluge I can tell you that people are just looking for some way of making cuts.

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Do you think asking for test scores is fair? Or do you think employers should make an effort to find metrics that are more relevant to the job at hand? Take our poll and let us know in the comments.

Are SAT scores a legitimate way to narrow down a pool of applicants?

  • No. Come on. People should stop talking about their SAT scores the first day of college. (87%, 1,211 Votes)
  • Sure. Great SAT scores should count for something. (13%, 177 Votes)

Total Voters: 1,385

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Earlier: K&L Gates Still Cares About Your LSAT Score

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