Agreed. There are good reasons for what they’re doing (with the tests), and it needn’t be taken personally.
I’m more talking about myself, and my own tendencies.
A concise way to put it: If you’re overly concerned about the test, then you may have already failed the test.
No one forced me to get bent out of shape about it. That was my contribution.
At the same time, I’d now think of it more like a job interview situation. We are interviewing each other. Need to remember that. It’s not just me ‘trying to get hired’. It’s also me deciding if I want to give this place my valuable time and attention.
A few years ago, I was talking to a woman friend who at one point had told me that something I’d done caused her to lose respect for me. In a later conversation, I reminded her that she’d said that, and she replied ‘Well, earn my respect!’
I thought it over and, in that case, I thought, ‘No, thanks. I think I’ll be happy with my own respect for the time being.’
I know that if you’re bad-ass (and lucky) enough, you can have both. But if I ever have to choose one, I hope I’ll go with my own respect every time.