I sit at a keyboard all day typing and earn 100% of my living via the computer. Funny that I couldn't pass the typing test. I'm pretty sure the problem is that I don't have practice copying the text ... my time is spent typing words (and code) that's flowing from my brain.
Does anyone still take dictation? Are there really jobs like this? I had an AA at my last job and in the nine years I was there I don't remember ever having her type up notes, etc.
Some folks do still take dictation. Medical and legal secretaries in particular -- secretaries for classes of professional who are very busy, make a lot of money, send quite a lot of letters, and don't tend to spend a lot of their time sitting in front of a computer.
Secretaries to doctors and lawyers make a lot more than minimum wage, though.
I think this part is actually quite realistic. Temp jobs have typing speed requirements and when you go in to sign up as a temp they find out how fast you are. They also measure how fast you can use word, excel, etc.
They also measure how fast you can use word, excel, etc.
Like the parent, I also spend my days in front of the computer developing software and doing general business-running activities. But I'm almost certain I would fail this test. I think I used Word once in high school and that is about where my experience ends.
I have never found a use-case for an Office suite. There are always better tools for any job that it might be able to tackle. For it to be a prerequisite for finding a job outside of the software industry is kind of frightening and sad.
Someone looking to hire a secretary to temp for a week to cover a vacation cares that the temp will be productive. This means that that secretary can teach the temp what they need to do for the week, and the temp will be able to do it quickly and efficiently using the templates and tools that the office uses. If they keep track of accounts in excel, you need to be able to quickly enter data into excel to use their system. They're not going to switch to something better just so they can employ you for a week.
This doesn't mean you're unemployable outside of software, just that this heuristic suggets you are a poor candidate for a temporary secretarial position.
Does anyone still take dictation? Are there really jobs like this? I had an AA at my last job and in the nine years I was there I don't remember ever having her type up notes, etc.