How Valuable Are You? Take This Quiz to Find Out!

You know you have skills. You have talents. You have innate abilities.

But how valuable are you to employers? Can your skills translate into paychecks? Take our quiz to find out!

1) You need to publish your company's newsletter both online and as hard copies. Can you do it?

2) You're used to Excel but your new employer still uses Lotus 1-2-3. Can you work with the antiquated program?

3) Your boss tells you to present your project's highlights to the top ten executives in the company...in five minutes. Can you do it?

4) You notice several errors in one of your company's products. You've addressed this with your immediate supervisor, but get shot down. What do you do?

5) You need to finish the project by 5 p.m. It's currently 10 a.m. and you estimate it will take 23 hours to finish, even though your deadline is only seven hours away. Added to that, your elderly mother needs you to take her to the podiatrist at 1 p.m. How do you accomplish everything?

6) There are six wall tiles surrounding the light switch but there are only four tiles in existence that match your bathroom wall because they're not manufactured anymore. What do you do?

7) You're riding a horse. There's an elephant next to you moving at the same speed as your horse. There's a lion coming up behind you and a kangaroo in front of you that appears to be blocking your path. Just to make it interesting, let's say you have no weapons. How do you safely get out of the situation?

8) How long have you liked that kind of music?

9) You receive word that your department has 10% fewer pipes in stock than your client absolutely, positively needs on site in two hours. What do you do?

ANSWERS:

1) Yes. There are several software products you can use. Microsoft Word, for instance, allows you to layout the newsletter and save it as HTML. No duplication of effort or copy/pasting required! (Shows your computer savvy)

2) Yes. As an Excel user, you're used to more bells and whistles than Lotus 1-2-3 provides, but you can get by. The best bet is to bring your employer to the modern era by having him/her spring for Microsoft Office. If price is an issue, an excellent alternative is OpenOffice.org - it's compliant with all sorts of software. You can read and save into Microsoft programs, as well. It's free AND legal. (Shows you're hip to money saving alternatives)

3) Yes. Hit upon three main topics. Open by mentioning the three topics. Then explain the details of the topics. End by mentioning the three topics briefly again. This follows the "tell them what you're going to tell them/tell them/tell them what you told them" formula. (Shows you're a clutch performer)

4) Go to the next supervisor up. Follow the chain of command. (Shows respect for management and company policy)

5) Delegate. Given there are seven hours to complete 23 hours of work, you can't do it by yourself. Spend a half hour building a team of five people. Spend another half hour explaining the task ahead of the team. Divide the project into smaller parts and make assignments. Call your office a few times while taking your mom to the doctor. You'll finish with time to spare. (Shows leadership)

6) Trick question. There are several answers. You could measure the space you need to fill, then creatively cut the tiles you have. You could also buy decorative tiles. You could even buy one larger tile and cut a hole where the switch goes. (Shows you can think outside the box)

7) Get off the merry-go-round. (Shows you can analyze the situation and form a solution based in reality)

8) What kind of music? (Shows you won't answer without all of the facts needed)

9) There are a number of different answers. You only need to explain your answer to get full credit. (Shows you can think outside the box)