Anyone do the Bare test-taking assignments?

I'm scheduled to perform an assignment for Bare in which I take an exam and purposely fail it. Has anyone done these before? Are they worth the $30? The instructions state that the test is 4 hours (!!!) but I only need to stay one hour.

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More Discussions About Bare Associates International (All Companies)

I am scheduled for one of these too, not for another few weeks. I would be interested in feedback also as I wonder if it is worth the money for the time it takes. Don't forget to arrive 30 minutes early too, bring the form of ID.

No cell phone allowed in that testing facility either. So notes are a challenge.

Ugh, CanadaMommy...I didn't even think of that! This shop is turning into more of a headache than I originally thought.

Audio recorder will work.

I did two of these recently. I did the GMAT last week and you're given four hours to complete it. Bare requires you to only be there for a half hour pre-test and an hour doing the test. The form is pretty easy to complete, and you don't need to take a lot of notes. You'll remember everything you need, with a possible exception of getting the room shape right.

I think it's definitely a worthwhile shop in terms of pay for the time.

You can't use an audio recorder, or indeed bring anything into the exam room except your ID and your locker key.

I stayed and finished the test (it took me three hours) just to see how I'd do. The verbal turned out pretty good, but the math part was brutal. At least for me.

Good luck!

I have the best fun doing those tests, wish I could do more. I had to write an essay at the end of one exam and I probably had the poor unsuspecting grad student who has to grade these things shaking his or her head in amazement. I orated at length about the great cabbage rebellion on my home planet of Zoltar.

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

Cettie, you are tooo much! I would be the grader actually enjoyed it as it probably was the highlight of his/her day! Think of the story he has to tell a friend over a drink.

So... if the tests are supposed to take three to four hours, but we as shoppers can leave after one, doesn't it look weird to just get up & leave after that short (comparatively speaking) amount of time?

Also, don't you have to present any sort of proof that you're in such & such program, and actually need to take a particular test? What types of tests are they?

I've only seen these in my area a couple of times, but without being able to see the guidelines first, I was a little nervous to take the shops.

Practitioner of the Nerdly Arts.

I completed this assignment and was asked to take the GMAT. I did it while it was bonused and I am not sure that it would be worth it for $30. It took up my entire morning. To be fair, I did decide to take the verbal portion of the test seriously and guess on all the math questions. I spent a total of three hours in the test center and another hour on reporting and preparation.

That said, it was a fun assignment and the questions are intuitive. As a result, I did not find it difficult to remember what I needed to do.

I was pleasantly surprised to have done very well in the verbal, especially after taking so many beatings about my grammer from mystery shopping editors

.

Stormcloud: You do not need to worry about having any special qualifications to take the test. You will be given a special number to call and they will set you up so that you appear as a regular test taker when you arrive at the center. But yes, these are three to four hour tests and it did seem weird to me to get up after just one hour. That is why I decided to stay.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2012 03:19PM by stalar.

So what is the "verbal" portion involve? Do I actually have to speak to someone? I think I'm in trouble here!

huh. this would be intersesting for me. I took a GRE in 1993 and passed. Now I manage a couple of rental homes and have some business skills. I know which answers would not be right!!!
Anyone care to give a hint on how to schedule one of these? perhaps if I admit on my profiles that I have some grad school behind me?

________________________________________
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.

I did a couple of these shops last year and I enjoyed them. The report is not bad for the pay and the time passed quickly for me. I only stayed for the required time. Nobody at the testing center seemed to notice or care how long I stayed.

I've done two of these shops, and both were for a food management certification. I ended up passing the test, and the report wasn't too long. The test was only an hour and the report didn't take long to fill out.

Silver certified with a PV-500
Shopping Michigan and beyond

I thought you're *instructed* to fail? What if you accidentally pass ~ do you still get paid?

Practitioner of the Nerdly Arts.

You still get paid if you pass, but the exam result will not actually count should you actually need the test.

I thought the point is failing, then try to bribe them with money to let you pass?

Trying to bribe them as part of the shop?! I haven't done one of these shops yet (considering it though since I *have* seen a few in my area) but in looking into them I haven't heard anyone here say *that* yet. Is this really part of it?

Geesh, some shops essentially wanting shoppers to try shoplifting something, and now this?

Not saying I wouldn't consider doing either (for a shop!), but they'd better pay well!

Practitioner of the Nerdly Arts.

I'm sure I once read it in the job description a while ago and was put off, so I didn't even look at the job desciptions anymore. I thought it was was these assignments are all about, but maybe it was only part of it for that particular wave.

I did this shop and it was enjoyable. Like Cettie, I wrote a completely ridiculous essay (mine was a barely-intelligible rant about pimps and @#$%&). I finished the test in about an hour, as the instructions said, and I was not the first test-taker to finish.

I was not instructed to try to bribe the exam people, but I did have to whine about not getting a better score to see what they said.

Do NOT try to take an audio recorder! You are only allowed to take your ID and locker key into the test room, and they visually inspect you and require you to turn out your pockets before entering. Oh, and I was instructed to leave something in my pocket and see if they found it and how they handled it.

I had fun with all the covert stuff (and writing my crazy rant) and it was decent pay for the ease of the assignment.

Yes they check pockets, but it would take a pat down for them to find my recorder and Bare doesn't have a fee high enough for me to agree to that

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes they check pockets, but it would take a pat
> down for them to find my recorder and Bare doesn't
> have a fee high enough for me to agree to that

Good point. I was thinking audio recorders that are kept in pockets.

I found taking a test for a purchase and return shop that paid $14 was ridiculous. Another test for a shop that I could not pass because of the tricky questions was not worth it. Not getting shop that I had done many times for them when the Scheduler kept posting for a higher fee each day because it "absolutely" had to be done. I had good ratings and experience and he would not answer my emails or assign the shop to me. I asked and asked everyone, and got no answer so I deactivated my account.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2013 02:14PM by mariuche.

I did one, once. It was time-consuming and I personally wouldn't do it again.

The only hitch with my last one was trying to see what time it was in the test room. I was at a desk with big partitions in between and it was impossible to see the clock from the seats. You are not allowed to wear a watch or any jewelry---they told me to park my earrings in the locker for pete's sake. I told them my wedding ring wasn't going anywhere so they looked at it closely but let me keep it on my hand.

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

I did one during cold weather - they actually discussed whether or not they were going to make me remove my boots! They did make me remove all my jewelry, too. In addition, I had a large hair clip, and they made me remove that and put in an elastic hair tie instead. I was wearing a large cinch belt under which I was trying to hide my cell phone - that went, too, while the phone crashed to the floor. Part of the assignment that time was to try to get the phone into the test center - and they do a physical inspection (no touching, just arms out and turn), so in the bra isn't an option, either.

Based on the instructions and the questions you're supposed to ask after you "fail & bail" in an hour, it's all counter-intuitive. I wrote the report stating so, got paid, and mentally crossed off this assignment for future reference.

I've done a few tests in the past and they weren't that bad. But the last test I did was for computer engineers and I had a very chatty but nosy invigilator who asked me twenty questions about why I was taking the test, which company I worked for, the type of company it was, etc. I was not expecting to be given the third degree. I felt like a deer caught in headlights and I just wanted to run out of there, lol.

So make sure you have a good story prepared ahead of time just in case the invigilator asks you questions.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2013 07:46PM by HeatherC.

I have completed a test where I had to fail. I also had to cheat by writing stuff on my arm, to be discovered which was embarrassing.

I did another test for a second company without any restrictions, and I passed without any studying. So I am now qualified to work on a building site (well maybe not lol)

No, you're not. The instructions clearly state that your profile to qualify you for the test is completely made up, and you are not eligible for any certifications resulting from passing the test.

Sorry, you gotta apply, pay for it yourself, and pass it again to qualify for real.

I did some of these in the UK. Instructed to cheat. I wrote the instructions (fake) on my calf and crossed my leg over my knee in the exam.

The whole point of the exam is to see if its possible to cheat. When I took my restroom break midway there was a textbook in the restroom. I left after an hour having apparently qualified ( through guesswork) as a teacher.

It all went in the report and I was paid.

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Anyone do the Bare test-taking assignments?

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