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About the test:

The JCL Online Test uses scenario-based MCQs to evaluate candidates ability to design, develop and manage JCL (Job Control Language) scripts for batch processing in large enterprise environments. The test assesses candidates on skills such as creating and modifying job control statements, coding condition codes, using utilities such as SORT and IDCAMS, managing resources, and analyzing JCL error messages.

Covered skills:

  • Job Control Language
  • DD
  • Job Control Language
  • EXEC
See all covered skills

9 reasons why
9 reasons why

Adaface JCL Online Test is the most accurate way to shortlist Mainframe Developers



Reason #1

Tests for on-the-job skills

The JCL Online Test helps recruiters and hiring managers to identify qualified candidates from a pool of resumes, and helps in taking objective hiring decisions. It reduces the administrative overhead of interviewing too many candidates and saves time by filtering out unqualified candidates.

The Adaface JCL Online test screens candidates for the typical skills recruiters look for JCL Developer roles:

  • Experience in Mainframe, COBOL, JCL, and CICS
  • Knowledge of DB2 performance tools like BMC MAINVIEW

The insights generated from this assessment can be used by recruiters and hiring managers to identify the best candidates for the JCL Developer role. Anti-cheating features enable you to be comfortable with conducting assessments online. The JCL Developer test is ideal for helping recruiters identify which candidates have the skills to do well on the job.

Reason #2

No trick questions

no trick questions

Traditional assessment tools use trick questions and puzzles for the screening, which creates a lot of frustration among candidates about having to go through irrelevant screening assessments.

The main reason we started Adaface is that traditional pre-employment assessment platforms are not a fair way for companies to evaluate candidates. At Adaface, our mission is to help companies find great candidates by assessing on-the-job skills required for a role.

Why we started Adaface ->
Reason #3

Non-googleable questions

We have a very high focus on the quality of questions that test for on-the-job skills. Every question is non-googleable and we have a very high bar for the level of subject matter experts we onboard to create these questions. We have crawlers to check if any of the questions are leaked online. If/ when a question gets leaked, we get an alert. We change the question for you & let you know.

These are just a small sample from our library of 10,000+ questions. The actual questions on this JCL Test will be non-googleable.

🧐 Question

Medium

Disposition Parameters
JCL Syntax
Dataset Management
Solve
Consider the following JCL snippet:
 image
In MYJOB, PROG1 in STEP1 uses the dataset MY.DS.INPUT with a disposition of (OLD,DELETE,KEEP). PROG2 in STEP2 also uses the dataset MY.DS.INPUT with a disposition of (NEW,PASS,DELETE).

Assume that STEP1 executed successfully, but STEP2 failed during its execution. What would be the status of the dataset MY.DS.INPUT after the job MYJOB is run?
A: MY.DS.INPUT will be deleted.
B: MY.DS.INPUT will be kept and can be used by other jobs.
C: MY.DS.INPUT will be newly created.
D: MY.DS.INPUT will be available for the duration of the job, then deleted.
E: MY.DS.INPUT status cannot be determined with the provided information.

Medium

Execution Order and Return Codes
Job Control
Execution Order
Return Codes
Solve
Consider a JCL job that needs to execute five steps: STEP01, STEP02, STEP03, STEP04, and STEP05. The steps represent data initialization, data processing, data validation, error handling, and job finalization respectively.

The execution rules are as follows:

1. The job should always start with STEP01.
2. STEP02 should only execute if STEP01 completes successfully with a return code (RC) of 0.
3. STEP03 should always run after STEP02, irrespective of STEP02's return code.
4. STEP04 should only execute if either STEP02 or STEP03 fails, i.e., return a code not equal to 0.
5. STEP05 should always be the last step, and should only execute if all the previous steps were successful (each returning a code of 0).

Given these rules, how would you design the JCL job using the IF/THEN/ELSE/ENDIF construct?
 image

Medium

Decision Control
Arithmetic Operations
Decision Structures
Data Types
Solve
Consider the following COBOL program:
 image
What will the program display when it is executed?

Medium

Multi Dimensional Arrays
Arrays
Data Processing
Subroutines
Solve
Consider the following pseudocode snippet in COBOL:
 image
After executing this program, what will be the final state of StrArr?

Medium

VSAM File Processing in COBOL
VSAM
File Handling
Solve
Consider the following COBOL code snippet. The program aims to read from a VSAM Key-Sequenced Data Set (KSDS) named 'CUSTOMER-FILE' which contains customer records. The program reads the file in ascending order by 'CUSTOMER-ID', performs some processing (not shown here), and then displays the 'CUSTOMER-NAME' of the last record read.
 image
Assuming there are no syntax errors and the 'CUSTOMER-FILE' is present and accessible, what will the program display as the last customer's name after executing this COBOL program?
A: The program will display the name of the customer with the highest 'CUSTOMER-ID'.
B: The program will display the name of the customer with the lowest 'CUSTOMER-ID'.
C: The program will not display any customer name.
D: The program will display the name of the first customer in the 'CUSTOMER-FILE'.
E: The program will display an uninitialized or random 'LAST-NAME'.
🧐 Question🔧 Skill

Medium

Disposition Parameters
JCL Syntax
Dataset Management
2 mins
IBM JCL
Solve

Medium

Execution Order and Return Codes
Job Control
Execution Order
Return Codes
2 mins
IBM JCL
Solve

Medium

Decision Control
Arithmetic Operations
Decision Structures
Data Types
2 mins
COBOL
Solve

Medium

Multi Dimensional Arrays
Arrays
Data Processing
Subroutines
2 mins
COBOL
Solve

Medium

VSAM File Processing in COBOL
VSAM
File Handling
2 mins
COBOL
Solve
🧐 Question🔧 Skill💪 Difficulty⌛ Time
Disposition Parameters
JCL Syntax
Dataset Management
IBM JCL
Medium2 mins
Solve
Execution Order and Return Codes
Job Control
Execution Order
Return Codes
IBM JCL
Medium2 mins
Solve
Decision Control
Arithmetic Operations
Decision Structures
Data Types
COBOL
Medium2 mins
Solve
Multi Dimensional Arrays
Arrays
Data Processing
Subroutines
COBOL
Medium2 mins
Solve
VSAM File Processing in COBOL
VSAM
File Handling
COBOL
Medium2 mins
Solve
Reason #4

1200+ customers in 75 countries

customers in 75 countries
Brandon

With Adaface, we were able to optimise our initial screening process by upwards of 75%, freeing up precious time for both hiring managers and our talent acquisition team alike!


Brandon Lee, Head of People, Love, Bonito

Reason #5

Designed for elimination, not selection

The most important thing while implementing the pre-employment JCL Test in your hiring process is that it is an elimination tool, not a selection tool. In other words: you want to use the test to eliminate the candidates who do poorly on the test, not to select the candidates who come out at the top. While they are super valuable, pre-employment tests do not paint the entire picture of a candidate’s abilities, knowledge, and motivations. Multiple easy questions are more predictive of a candidate's ability than fewer hard questions. Harder questions are often "trick" based questions, which do not provide any meaningful signal about the candidate's skillset.

Reason #6

1 click candidate invites

Email invites: You can send candidates an email invite to the JCL Test from your dashboard by entering their email address.

Public link: You can create a public link for each test that you can share with candidates.

API or integrations: You can invite candidates directly from your ATS by using our pre-built integrations with popular ATS systems or building a custom integration with your in-house ATS.

invite candidates
Reason #7

Detailed scorecards & benchmarks

Reason #8

High completion rate

Adaface tests are conversational, low-stress, and take just 25-40 mins to complete.

This is why Adaface has the highest test-completion rate (86%), which is more than 2x better than traditional assessments.

test completion rate
Reason #9

Advanced Proctoring


What roles can I use the JCL Test for?

  • Mainframe Developer
  • Mainframe Operator

What topics are covered in the JCL Online Test?

Job Control Language
Job Control Language
DD
EXEC
JCL statement
JCLLIB
STEPLIB
DSN parameter
DISP parameter
JCL Procedure
Cataloged Procedure
COND
SOC4 error
COBOL
Uncataloged dataset
IEBGENER
PROC
JES3 and JES2
SYSOUT
Singapore government logo

The hiring managers felt that through the technical questions that they asked during the panel interviews, they were able to tell which candidates had better scores, and differentiated with those who did not score as well. They are highly satisfied with the quality of candidates shortlisted with the Adaface screening.


85%
reduction in screening time

FAQs

Can I combine multiple skills into one custom assessment?

Yes, absolutely. Custom assessments are set up based on your job description, and will include questions on all must-have skills you specify.

Do you have any anti-cheating or proctoring features in place?

We have the following anti-cheating features in place:

  • Non-googleable questions
  • IP proctoring
  • Web proctoring
  • Webcam proctoring
  • Plagiarism detection
  • Secure browser

Read more about the proctoring features.

How do I interpret test scores?

The primary thing to keep in mind is that an assessment is an elimination tool, not a selection tool. A skills assessment is optimized to help you eliminate candidates who are not technically qualified for the role, it is not optimized to help you find the best candidate for the role. So the ideal way to use an assessment is to decide a threshold score (typically 55%, we help you benchmark) and invite all candidates who score above the threshold for the next rounds of interview.

What experience level can I use this test for?

Each Adaface assessment is customized to your job description/ ideal candidate persona (our subject matter experts will pick the right questions for your assessment from our library of 10000+ questions). This assessment can be customized for any experience level.

Does every candidate get the same questions?

Yes, it makes it much easier for you to compare candidates. Options for MCQ questions and the order of questions are randomized. We have anti-cheating/ proctoring features in place. In our enterprise plan, we also have the option to create multiple versions of the same assessment with questions of similar difficulty levels.

I'm a candidate. Can I try a practice test?

No. Unfortunately, we do not support practice tests at the moment. However, you can use our sample questions for practice.

What is the cost of using this test?

You can check out our pricing plans.

Can I get a free trial?

Yes, you can sign up for free and preview this test.

I just moved to a paid plan. How can I request a custom assessment?

Here is a quick guide on how to request a custom assessment on Adaface.

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