6 Common Mistakes When Using The Predictive Index
There was a time when all a prospective employer needed was curriculum vitae and resumes, and a few references, to make a hiring decision.
Well, that time is long gone.
Today, employers are looking for some kind of certainty before hiring new employees. They want to gauge how a potential employee will measure up or behave in a real-job situation before they hire them. In a word, they want to predict with a measure certainty whether a candidate will be a right fit for their company.
This is where the predictive index comes in. It is a tool increasingly used by employers to understand the personalities and behaviours of potential employees before hiring them. Where resumes and curriculum vitae failed in helping an employer understand a potential candidate’s ability to adapt to a workplace, a predictive index exercise goes many steps further to analyze a candidate’s proficiency and efficiency under a number of simulated everyday scenarios at the workplace.
Although it is undoubtedly the best hiring method, it can go wrong if you make the following mistakes.
1. Failure to Understand the Desired Traits
When taking a predictive test, make sure you understand the desired traits for the position you are applying. Avoid making the mistake of diving straight into the test without understanding what the employer is looking for. A predictive index is as accurate and reliable as your answers. It is set up with the employer’s requirements in mind, against which your answers are processed. If one does not understand what an employer is looking for, their answers will reflect this ignorance.
2. Not Taking Practice Tests
To practice, there are free online predictive index tests you can take. However, many people take the actual predictive index tests without first practicing using the freely available predictive index tests. This often results in a failed test, not because they are not qualified, but because they did not understand the questions and presented scenarios.
3. Extreme Answers
Although it pays to make a good impression, giving extreme answers is counterproductive. For instance, if it appears you are going to extreme lengths to show you are extremely sociable, this may actually work against instead of for you. Balance your answers to avoid hurting your case. As much as possible, your answers should reflect your true self, otherwise, you might end up trying too hard to be someone you are not by responding to simple questions with extreme answers.
4. Overlooking Spot Control Questions
As you take the predictive index test, you will come across tricky questions that force you to take a stand. For instance, you may come across a statement like this: “I have never lied to avoid losing a job”. The choices for this statement could be I “agree”, strong agree”, “disagree”, “strongly disagree”, “am neutral”. How you respond to a question like this could validate or invalidate other answers you have already given.
5. Failure to Read the Questions Carefully
Don’t be in a rush to answer questions before you carefully read and understand them. Don’t give different answers for the same question just because it’s worded differently. A predictive index test will feature such questions to establish if your answers are consistent.
6. Attempting to Cheat
A predictive index test makes it almost impossible for you to cheat. Don’t try to. You can’t fake a personality and pass; and even if you pass and get the job, you will sabotage yourself since the job will be inconsistent with who you are. Soon everyone will start asking how you got the job in the first place.
When using the predictive index, understand what traits, skills and expertise an employer is looking for. Second, answer the questions and respond to different scenarios as honestly and accurately as possible.
