April 6: And What Goes Around by Mackey Chandler Page B

that and maybe ninety percent of the population on Home passed
those tests. Almost all of them who came up as company men before we got
a bunch who paid their own way. The tests work somewhat down on Earth, but they
don't work for crap when you apply them to a population who are smarter than
the guys who wrote the tests. I can take one and tell you line by line how they
tie to a previous question and what they are trying to get you to reveal. I'm
not screwy in the head and I'll admit I still answered a few questions with
what they wanted to hear instead of my honest reaction. They want sane to the
point of boring. If I was that sane I wouldn't have applied for this
job."
    "But it isn't
a sit down and fill the form out test or interview. I want to do it as a game ,"
Barak reminded her.
    "Doesn't
matter, people will know. Look, if a prospective employer wants you to go to a
dinner with them that's a test too and you'd know it. You can't bullshit smart
people into thinking you have a sudden social interest in them outside of
hiring them. The folks hiring want to see if you drink too much or if your
mother didn't teach you any table manners. If you can't resist ordering the
stinger because somebody else is paying or if you are so damaged you can't sit
and talk for an hour without revealing you have extreme views or hitting on the
boss' assistant. Really smart people know it's all a test and can mostly
force themselves to act like a normal human being for an hour or two. You don't
just say, "Let's do the interview over dinner!' and not have them know
damn well it's a test. Same thing down below. Earthies will invite a potential
new guy for a game of golf. You can bet you don't beat the new boss and still
get the job. It tests subservience too. You don't want to hire somebody so
competitive they can't stand to lose a single game of golf. They'd have your
job in six months."
    Barak was nodding
his head agreeing. "I'm simply going to have to hide the fact it is a test
at all."
    "Huh! Lots of
luck doing that. How do you intend to hide it?" Deloris asked, skeptical.
    "First step
is I'd like your promise you won't discuss this with anyone else or write it
where it might be revealed. You haven't had occasion to do that yet have
you?"
    "Who would I
tell? Alice is the only other person I talk to about non-work stuff. I'll keep
it secret if you like. It's no burden."
    "I'm thinking
to make it attractive as a game all by itself, with no promise of a job
interview or anything for doing well. Jeff will have to bankroll producing it
but I want people to buy it, not give it away. We might even make money on it.
I'm thinking maybe six people besides us who will know the real purpose of
it." After he thought about it a minute he added, "In fact we won't ever tell people it was the game that made us recruit them. Otherwise it will leak
out and destroy the continuing value of it as a recruiting tool."
    "You'll need
to build in ways to cheat and betray other players to the cheat's benefit, if
that's behavior you wish to identify,  but limited so it doesn't destroy the
game." Deloris said. "It might get a bit ugly at times."
    "That part
worries me a little," Barak admitted. "Am I going to weed out
somebody who views cheating as merely a natural part of the game but would
never do the same things in real life?"
    Deloris looked at
him with a scowl. "You told me when we met that I'm socially more mature
than you. Well, listen up to my wisdom. You have much too generous and
forgiving a view of people. A guy who will cheat you at cards or dice or
anything like that will do it whether it is poker with a 'real' pot sitting on
the table or a game like bridge and nothing but the joy of beating you at stake.
    "If you have
to tie it to something you consider real charge people to play but let
them get paid back some money for points earned playing. Even let them make a
bit if they are ranked high enough. Just be careful setting the payouts. I'd start
low and