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I applied for a govt position. Got through the first interview with flying colors and the second interview with higher ups went well...until the 45 min writing test. I was provided a news article and 2 proposed legislations. The article was about issue X and legislation 2 clearly talked about X. Unfortunately, and dumb of me in hindsight, I, for whatever reason, concluded that legislation 1 was better.

My question is for writing exams, are employers looking for you to pick the right answer or trying to get a better sense of your analyzing and writing skills? Am I SOL for picking the wrong choice? I’m 98% sure that I should’ve went with 2. UGH.

Also, should I mention in my follow up email that I never completed an assignment like this, one that is more policy related rather than a specific issue that had to be analyzed, or just not mention it at all? I want to send the message that I’ve never analyzed something like this but I can clearly learn how to.

Don’t try to justify your response after the fact - it will just look defensive and encourage them to think badly of it. I would imagine that your resume will make clear what you have/haven’t done already.

And I don’t know the position of course, but would bet that there isn’t a “right” answer and they just want to see how you respond/analyze/write. I have a hard time thinking that if you spend 45 mins writing about legislation 1, it was really so clearly “wrong.”

Agreed 100%. Different jobs use these kinds of tests differently, and they might have been looking to test your reasoning skills and whether you can make a case - a big part of many legal jobs is having to sell a "good enough" idea based on less than ideal facts.

If the writing test is, in fact, supposed to tell them whether you can already do this work at a particular level, it's too late to do anything about the results. If they're open to considering you anyway based on your ability to learn, your resume and interview should already have showcased those skills.

Finally, if you truly whiffed it as badly as you think you might have, and your higher-ups won't make allowances for you to grow into the role, rejection might be the best outcome for everyone (at least for now) if this kind of thinking/writing is a big part of the job. Otherwise, you're going in with expectations hanging over you that you might not be able to meet.