As someone doing hiring we have begun doing a very basic screening exam - quick writing sample, some basic (EXTREMELY basic) applied work - 1st year college qua

As someone doing hiring we have begun doing a very basic screening exam - quick writing sample, some basic (EXTREMELY basic) applied work - 1st year college quality is fine. We have folks with degrees who can barely string together the most basic concepts (literally out of the intro to X course) in their field. I'm seriously curious how this is even possible. Yes - some are from degree mill places - but even those have to be teaching something for the $$? Is it the pressure of being tested that is throwing folks off? Do people forget what they learned and are not really tested as they progress? We let them sit on their own, use computer etc. If you do hiring do a 5-10 minute screening test at some point - it can be eye opening.