Complete the following sentences. Write the first thing that enters your mind. I repeat – the first thing! Do not overthink the answers. Give yourself only a minute to answer them. Ready, get set, go!
My sex life…
I feel that my father seldom…
My idea of a perfect woman…
When I see a man and woman together…
My mother is…
My family treats me…
I think most girls…
If I had sex relation…
I like my mother but…
The worst thing I ever did…
My secret ambition in life…
Now, let us imagine that you were given this test by the HR officer of a company you are dying to get in. In addition, give yourself an unlimited time to answer them. Would you still write the same answers you wrote above? Or would you filter them? Change some so that you would not sound so shallow, stupid, negative, or even weird?
This is the Sacks’ Sentence Completion Test or simply, the SSCT. It is used to gain an understanding of a person’s attitude towards four general categories: family, sex, interpersonal relationship, and self-concept.
About two weeks ago, I answered the same test given by an HR officer in one of the companies to which I was applying (I was not really dying to be hired by the company though!) I knew I had already had this kind of test before, but it had already been such a long time that I could not remember what my answers were anymore.
In the test paper itself, the instruction was to answer it within a specific time limit (I could no longer remember what it was). However, the HR officer told me to disregard it, and just pass the paper to her when I was through.
I looked at the questions and immediately formed answers in my head. Some of my answers sounded funny, others too depressing, some even disturbing. Conscious of the fact that this was a test that would determine a possible career opportunity and not just a psychology pop quiz I was just trying out for fun, I decided not to give my “real” answers. Instead, I decided to be more careful and conscious on some of the items.
Strictly speaking, what I wrote were not my real answers (given the condition that I should write the very first thing that popped in my head.) But can you blame me?
I think giving this test to applicants is pretty silly and useless. If you were the applicant, would you really say these?
For example: (i might sound defensive, but these were not my answers in the exam; they’re just examples! 🙂
“I look forward to the threesome I have arranged with my girlfriend and our hot next door neighbor next week!”
“To me the future looks absofuckinglutely bleak.”
“When I was a child I used to pull off legs of insects for fun.”
“My family treats me like shit.”
“My secret ambition in life is to be a pornstar.”
“Those I work with are extremely boring and stupid.”
Ok, so these answers may sound really weird or extreme, but what if these were your actual responses. The first things your brain produced – truthful or otherwise. And oh yes, you were applying, let’s say, as a teacher in a prestigious Catholic school! If you were the HR officer, would you really hire this applicant?
One of the basic rules in job hunting is to impress one’s potential employers, but with these kinds of answers, I think the only impression one would leave to the employers is a bad one.
Perhaps HR people have their tricks in interpreting this test– that they could tell if the the answers were indeed impromptu or were given much thought – but still, I think giving this test during the application process is ineffective. In other cases, like for deeply analyzing a patient or even yourself for personal purposes, I think it is a good method.
Since we are on the topic of completion anyway, let me give the complete SSCT. Just for the experiment, answer this two times. Answer it as it is supposed to be answered – instantly and without overthinking it. Give yourself a time limit. Let’s say 15 minutes (or even less, if you think you can do so in a more limited time). And then for the second time, answer it as if you were in a job application process or any kind of situation wherein you have to impress someone or you are in the presence of someone whom you do not want to think of you as a weirdo. Let us see if your answers would differ.
Ready, get set, go!
__________
SACKS’ SENTENCE COMPLETION TEST (English and Filipino)
1. I feel that my father seldom
Pakiramdam ko, ang aking ama ay bihirang
2. When the odds are against me
Kapag ang lahat ay laban sa akin
3. I always wanted to
Ibig ko ay laging
4. If I am in charge
Kung ako ang bahala
5. To me the future looks
Ang kinabukasan ay
6. The men over me
Ang mga taong nakatataas sa akin
7. I know it is silly, but I am afraid of
Alam kong katawa-tawa ngunit natatakot akong
8. I feel that a real friend
Ang isang tunay na kaibigan ay
9. When I was a child
Noong ako’y bata pa
10. My idea of a perfect woman
Ang isang katangi-tanging babae sa aking palagay
11. When I see a man and woman together
Kapag nakakakita ako ng isang lalake at babae na magakasama
12. Compared with most families, mine is
Kung ihahambing sa maraming mag-anak, ang sa amin ay
13. At work, I get along best with
Sa gawain, nakakasundo kong mabuti ang
14. My mother is
Ang aking ina ay
15. I would do anything to forget the time I
Gagawin ko ang lahat upang kalimutan ang sandaling ako’y
16. If my father would only
Kung ang ama ko lamang
17. I believe that I have the ability to
Naniniwala akong may kakayahan ako upang
18. I would be perfectly happy if
Magiging higit na maligaya ako kung
19. If people work for me
Kung maglilingkod ang mga tao sa akin
20. I look forward to
Inaasahan kong
21. In school, my teacher
Sa paaralan, ang aking mga guro
22. Most of my friends don’t know that I am afraid of
Karamihan sa aking mga kaibigan ay hindi alam na ako’y natatakot sa
23. I don’t like people who
Hindi ko gusto ang mga taong
24. Before the war, I
Bago magkadigma, ako ay
25. I think most girls
Sa aking palagay, karamihan sa mga kababaihan
26. My feeling about married life is
Ang pakiramdam ko tungkol sa buhay may asawa ay
27. My family treats me
Ang aking kaanak ay itinuturing akong
28. Those I work with are
Ang mga kasama ko sa trabaho
29. My mother and I
Ang aking ina at ako
30. My greatest mistake was
Ang pinakamalaking kamalian ko ay
31. I wish that my father
Sana ang ama ko ay
32. My greatest weakness is
Ang pinakamalaking kahinaan ko ay
33. My secret ambition in life
Ang lihim kong mithiin sa buhay
34. The people who work for me
Ang mga taong naglilingkod sa akin
35. Someday
Balang araw
36. When I see the boss coming
Kapag nakikita kong dumarating ang aking amo
37. I wish I could lose the fear of
Sana ay mawala o mapawi sa akin ang takot sa
38. The people I like best
Ang mga taong aking kinagigiliwan
39. If I am young again
Kung ako ay maging bata muli
40. I believe most women
Sa palagay ko, karamihan sa mga babae
41. If I had sex relation
Kung ako ay magkaroon ng karanasanag sekswal
42. Most families I know
Halos lahat na pamilya na kilala ko
43. I like working with
Naiibigan kong magtrabaho sa
44. I think that most mothers
Sa saking palagay, karamihan sa mga ina
45. When I was young, I felt guilty about
Noong kabataan ko lagi akong inuusig ng aking budhi tungkol sa
46. I feel that my father is
Nadarama kong ang aking ama ay
47. When luck turns against me
Kapag ako ay minamalas
48. In giving orders to others, I
Sa pagbibigay ng utos sa iba, ako’y
49. What I want most out of life
Ang aking pinakamimithi sa buhay
50. When I am older
Kapag ako’y tumanda
51. People whom I consider my superior
Ang mga taong inaakala kong nakatataas sa akin
52. My fear sometimes force me to
Ang aking mga pangamba minsan ay pumipilit sa akin para
53. When I’m not around my friends
Kapag wala ako sa kanilang paligid, ang mga kaibigan ko
54. My most vivid childhood memory
Ang tandang-tanda kong karanasan noong kabataan ko
55. My sex life
Ang aking buhay sa sekswal
56. What I like least about women
Ang lahat ng ayaw ko sa kababaihan
57. When I was a child, my family
Noong ako’y bata pa, ang aking pamilya
58. People who work for me usually
Ang mga taong kasama ko sa paggawa kalimitan
59. I like my mother but
Gusto ko ang aking ina subalit
60. The worst thing I ever did
Ang pinakamasamang bagay na aking nagawa
anglesinasphere 