TL;DR version: Why don’t they standardize period-spacing requirements in typing tests?
I went to a couple of temp agencies recently and they each had me take a typing test to get an idea of my typing speed. My numbers came back decent, not spectacular. ManPower has me at 56 wpm, Kelly at only 40 wpm.
What’s the difference?
The test I took at ManPower only required single spacing after each period. Kelly wanted double-spacing but didn’t say that at the start of the test. My speed was faster but each time I spaced “wrong” they dinged me, dragging down my score.
Now here’s the thing. When I took typing back in high school, I was taught to double space after a sentence. Then I went to work in the real world and my boss wanted single spaces. It took a while but I learned to do it. Now if I have to double space, I have to stop and think about it. Naturally, that slows down my speed. So do I continue to single space and take the hit or do I stop and think “space, space” after every sentence?
What say you Dopers?
I think Kelly needs to get with the 21st century. Most web browsers will strip out double spaces, (unless you get weird with CSS styles or manually code non-breaking spaces) so entering double spaces is silly.
There really is a difference: some employees are old-school and want the double space between sentences (though this is becoming less and less the case), and some are going with the single space. I, too, was taught single space, and it slows me down if I don’t double space. I found out because I asked the people at my Temp agency, and that’s what I was told. YMMV.
I’m fast becoming a certified Old Person, and I’ve always been pretty damn old-school, and even I’ve given in on this one. I gave up the double space between sentences about the time I realized that I’d never use a typewriter in any serious way ever again.
I’ve recently had to take typing exams both by the State and by temp agencies. I asked everybody what they wanted. The temp agencies used the Prove it! by Kenexa software. The state used their own version. Both wanted single spaces after periods.
It’s always a good thing to ask before hand.
It took me years to stop double spacing for typing tests, and I will probably do it here. No, I paid attention and didn’t do it. Probably stopped my speed, though.
My major problem with typing tests is the auto correct thing. I expect the software to understand that the first letter after a period should be uppercase. trys to see if it works here.
Nope, that didn’t work. I used to get a LOT of grief about it when I first started posting. I just expected tech to work how I was used to it working.