When someone says they have photoshop skills...
 

...does anyone try to test them?
I've been trying to hire an in-house jack-of-all-trades and it seems like EVERYbody has Photoshop listed as a skill. I decided to have potential employees do a little test and now I see that pretty much everyone is full of shit.

Here's what I have them do:
- I have an image of a box of condoms. The photo was taken on a desk at the office (the box is at an angle and the pov is slightly looking down on the box.
- I ask them to cut out the box and put it on a white background.
- If they finish the task quickly, I ask them to create a mirror effect (reflection) under the box, for bonus points.

...and that's it.

Is my test too hard? Am I being too picky? Have you got any test ideas? Any similar experiences?

After a quick BG replacement, they should be able to 'add a 1px black stroke inside the border'.

Your test sounds ridiculously easy. Too many people have photoshop and no clue how to use it.

Like me yeah! lol no but really everyone says they know how to use it when I ask people and I need to teach them, even though I don't know shit about how to use it. Now thats sad! :(

I just use spot brush for pimples and I do automatic color correction sometimes and hmm thats all I know how to use it really and it works fine for me. :)

photoshop skills.. you mean, resize photo and upload to facebook?

That's pretty easy. Try having them remove objects from photos (tattoos), do proper color correction, etc...

Just give them some kind of task that you'd normally have them do for you.

If they can color correct photos properly, then they're already better than 95% of the jackasses that use PS.

yeah...making awesome crisp thumbs is a must

Everybody can use photoshop. Everybody can use a paint brush. It's not about the ability to use it. It's about how good you can make the painting. You just have to take a look at the portfolio to see samples of their work and you have to do some tests. You are doing the tests already - this is good.

that test is pretty easy

The thing is... It's not always easy to judge by a portfolio. That's why I have started doing tests. A lot of people say: " Ya, I created this website". Then when I ask for details about specific elements that they designed: "Well... I started with a template..."

One of the things thats stopping you from finding the right person is that you are looking for inhouse. If you outsource then you can easily find someone but dont expect them to work cheap and or just for you.

If you need a good designer I know of one and she does great work with PS.. she can and will show you samples but she wont waste time taking your test.