Using the Predictive Index for Job Candidates

Hello, I just got thrown a curve by a company considering me for a QA Manager position. They are requesting that I complete a Predictive Index questionnaire prior to the interview. (See www.piworldwide.com for some general background info.) After a run-around with an organization last year where I jumped through more hoops than I like to think about with psychological/behavioral testing I'm extremely leary regarding another brush with it.

Has anyone run across this particular testing tool/organization, and if so how would you describe your experience/satisfaction.

Thanks for your feedback.

Re: Using the Predictive Index for Job Candidates - Your Thoughts?

Kevin H said:

Hello, I just got thrown a curve by a company considering me for a QA Manager position. They are requesting that I complete a Predictive Index questionnaire prior to the interview. (See www.piworldwide.com for some general background info.) After a run-around with an organization last year where I jumped through more hoops than I like to think about with psychological/behavioral testing I'm extremely leary regarding another brush with it.

Has anyone run across this particular testing tool/organization, and if so how would you describe your experience/satisfaction.

Thanks for your feedback.

Click to expand...

Hello Kevin,

[Dead Link Removed] Here are the PI "work sheets." I would say; "google" around and find out how others think about it and how others have experienced this thing. Best of luck!

Stijloor.

Re: Using the Predictive Index for Job Candidates - Your Thoughts?

Kevin H said:

Hello, I just got thrown a curve by a company considering me for a QA Manager position. They are requesting that I complete a Predictive Index questionnaire prior to the interview. (See www.piworldwide.com for some general background info.) After a run-around with an organization last year where I jumped through more hoops than I like to think about with psychological/behavioral testing I'm extremely leary regarding another brush with it.

Has anyone run across this particular testing tool/organization, and if so how would you describe your experience/satisfaction.

Thanks for your feedback.

Click to expand...

I am very familiar with this testing concept. The questionnaire can be "gamed." The question you should have in mind when deciding whether to participate in this exercise is whether you know enough about the organization and its culture to decide whether to give true (and thus possibly disqualifying) answers to the questionnaire or to attack the questionnaire with the idea of "giving the answers they want to hear."

I can give you lots of arguments on either side of the decision - ultimately, you need a feel for "WHY?" this organization is going to the expense and trouble of administering and scoring such a questionnaire.

Any discussion of the probative value of such a questionnaire requires knowing whether ALL the existing staff of the organization have taken such an exam and, more importantly, whether THEY gave truthful answers or "gamed" the questionnaire based on some foreknowledge of what the top honchos expected them to answer.

Personally, I am against the concept of having the homogeneous work force such questionnaires promise explicitly or implicitly to bring about. I equate homogeneous with stale and moribund. I prefer a diverse workforce with conflicts the parties work out among themselves, hopefully with a joint goal of creating a more energetic, vibrant, and ultimately growing, successful workplace.

There are, however, many, many people who prefer to work in a calm, no conflict atmosphere, plugging along day-by-day until retirement. For folks like that, the questionnaire and the companies that use the questionnaire can be an excellent fit.

Re: Using the Predictive Index for Job Candidates - Your Thoughts?

Stijloor - thanks to the link to the actual test - it's good to see what I may decide to complete.

Wes, thanks for your erudite summary - I've gamed questionnaires in the past, after all an MBA should be good for something

At 55, I'm in a position with my present employer that I can easily coast in my current position and still make good contributions to their overall organization while receiving decent pay and pretty decent benefits. I'd like to find something more challenging and personally rewarding - better pay wouldn't hurt either.

The organization in question is in Eastern PA, south of Harrisburg, PA. The one bit of information gleaned from my phone interviews is that the hourly workforce has a fair number of individuals for whom English is a 2nd language and they have had turn over issues in the past. They are using lots of visual cues in their QA system rather than written instructions, or at least that's what I was told. The organization is also privately held, which may or may not correlate to the requirement for the test. My very unscientifc sampling, which is based only on personal history leads me to believe that privately held companies use these at a higher frequency than publicly held companies.

Again, thanks for the responses - I believe I'll be talking with both the recruitment firm and the company tomorrow regarding the requirement.

Re: Using the Predictive Index for Job Candidates - Your Thoughts?

As an analyst, I can give you a little insight for future users of the PI. It is possible to fake the PI, but it is very difficult to fake it correctly. In other words, you can generate a result that does not look like you, but you probably can't generate the result that the company is seeking. PI is designed to find people who will be productive and happy in a particular job. Companies often look at the PI of applicants and refer them to other positions that may not have been posted. The best advice is to take it honestly and then prepare for a great interview. Feel free to contact us if you need more information.

Good Luck,

Steve Waterhouse
(for more information, please contact me through my profile

Re: Using the Predictive Index for Job Candidates - Your Thoughts?

SteveWaterhouse said:

As an analyst, I can give you a little insight for future users of the PI. It is possible to fake the PI, but it is very difficult to fake it correctly. In other words, you can generate a result that does not look like you, but you probably can't generate the result that the company is seeking. PI is designed to find people who will be productive and happy in a particular job. Companies often look at the PI of applicants and refer them to other positions that may not have been posted. The best advice is to take it honestly and then prepare for a great interview. Feel free to contact us if you need more information.

Good Luck,

Steve Waterhouse
(for more information, please contact me through my profile

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Why do you say "prepare for a great interview?"

Is it your contention organizations which deploy a PI questionnaire (PIQ) as part of the screening process "routinely" have interviewers who perform great interviews?

My experience with client companies deploying a PIQ has been pretty much a case of the interviewer mindset being "If you look like me, talk like me, and think like me, we'll all be happy."

Sadly, I've never seen data to back up whether organizations using a PIQ have a happier workforce or even a lower turnover rate than organizations NOT deploying a PIQ. Do you have some sources which provide credible data about the efficacy of operations and the morale of employees being directly correlated to the selection process using a PIQ?

(Remember, we in Quality do not accept anecdotal evidence [as my comment above] as an answer or as data, merely a starting point for data gathering.)

Re: Using the Predictive Index for Job Candidates - Your Thoughts?

Some updates - I did get the position. In hind sight, I wish I'd been able to use the PI on the organization - it might have told some facts that were rather glossed over in the interview process. For example, the prior person holding the position was dismissed for performance reasons. Translation (found out after accepting the job and being in iit for several months) - he had a nervous breakdown because we didn't supply him adequate resources to do the job we demanded from him. I came within an inch of removing myself the first full day on the job when we set down and had a detailed benefit review. I don't think I've run into an unhappier hourly workforce in quite some time, nor a mangement sytem that took a more draconian approach to managing the hourly work force.

I'm now back in the position I had at my prior organization (actually, since April 14th) - rule number 1 - DO NOT BURN BRIDGES. Both management and hourly employees were glad to see me return, and in many ways, it was as though I'd never left They were unable to find a replacement for me, and most of the work I'd been doing had not been done and was waiting for me when I came back.

On the plus side, benefits were reinstituted at the same level I had previously, and I've been scheduled for some significant amounts of training in running fun equipment such as X-ray spectrometers, scanning electron microscopes, etc.

Re: Using the Predictive Index for Job Candidates - Your Thoughts?

The good news is you have a job!

For folks who may be facing similar job application and acceptance decisions now or in the future, I'd like to point out we have covered this topic in a lot of depth in these threads:
Thinking about a New Job for New Year?
http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=19619
Resume and cover letter - How good are yours?
http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=10169
The Job Hunt - Care and feeding of references
http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=19094
Tips to get past the "gatekeeper" when job hunting
http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=9325

The biggest stumbling block most candidates face is not having sufficient valid information about the organization management and practices. From my point of view, BOTH candidates and employers would be better served if there were a little more sunshine on the inner workings of organizations.

In my experience, the average job candidate does more research about buying a relatively small item like a refrigerator or a camera than he does about getting a job. If you [any of you readers out there] fall into that category, you should vow to change!

Re: Using the Predictive Index for Job Candidates - Your Thoughts?

Wes, there were some other issues affecting the move back - wife more reluctant to move than originally stated, and an estate in disarray that needed to be settled. I could definitely have done a better job of vetting the company, but set aside my natural skepticsm for a change and decided to trust statements instead of looking for details. Any future changes will be looked at in a more Reaganesqe manner - i.e., trust, but verify.

About 1 week after accepting the offer to return to my prior employer, I received a call from 1 of the other leads I had been pursuing in the same area indicating they were ready to move ahead with interviews now and were very interested in talking with me - due to the recent return to emplyment I regretfully declined that opportunity.

Having a job isn't a major issue - the degree in Metallurgy from a major university and years of diversified experience mean I'm in somewhat of a demand right now. I'm more interested in having an interesting job and being able to contribute to the organization's success - something that applies with my current employer.

Re: Using the Predictive Index for Job Candidates - Your Thoughts?

Kevin H said:

Wes, there were some other issues affecting the move back - wife more reluctant to move than originally stated, and an estate in disarray that needed to be settled. I could definitely have done a better job of vetting the company, but set aside my natural skepticsm for a change and decided to trust statements instead of looking for details. Any future changes will be looked at in a more Reaganesqe manner - i.e., trust, but verify.

About 1 week after accepting the offer to return to my prior employer, I received a call from 1 of the other leads I had been pursuing in the same area indicating they were ready to move ahead with interviews now and were very interested in talking with me - due to the recent return to emplyment I regretfully declined that opportunity.

Having a job isn't a major issue - the degree in Metallurgy from a major university and years of diversified experience mean I'm in somewhat of a demand right now. I'm more interested in having an interesting job and being able to contribute to the organization's success - something that applies with my current employer.

Click to expand...

I apologize!

Only after re-reading my post did I realize it read like a personal accusation. I did not intend it to be. I have added a bracketed phrase "[any of you readers out there]" to try to indicate it is a general comment addressed to ANYONE who is now in, or may join, the job hunt.