For millions of people, the route to a new job was simple: press your suit, polish your shoes, turn up on time and hope the interviewer likes you. In 2003, many employers believe they take a more scientific approach to recruitment, with candidates facing online psychometric tests, phone interviews, in-tray exercises, role-play, assessment centres, games and group activities - and that could just be the start of the process.

But as Laurie Taylor discovers, there is a long and not always glorious history of attempts by employers to overcome the failings of the job interview. The Civil Service exams, for example, have existed for almost 150 years. Laurie dusts off some exam papers from the 1850s to find out how the men who wanted to run the Empire were tested, and he takes the dictation test which was compulsory.

He also investigates early efforts by psychologists to assist employers. In the 1930s, for example, American psychologists produced a checklist for interviewers to help them grade candidates - including their appearance (coarse? pretty?) their dress (cheap? flashy?) and their personality (whining? prying?). Laurie also sits intelligence tests from the 1930s, which no one could complete accurately in the time allowed, and also takes the exam set for would-be Philadelphia Cab Drivers in 1935.

Meanwhile in Britain, Rowntrees was the first company to employ a psychologist to assist recruitment, and the onset of war in 1939 led to the creation of the War Office Selection Boards - a series of tests for would-be officers, the forerunners of today's assessment centres. Research at the time suggested that a simple pen and paper test was better at spotting officer potential than a couple of days in a country house. Are there lessons for today's employers?