Introduction
What to expect
You’ve taken the first step. You’ve come to the decision that you want to start using a pre-employment assessment tool to help you find better hires. However, when you search online, you find a dozen different companies that offers various hiring tools. How should you pick?
To save you some time, our team at Prevue has prepared a series of side-by-side comparisons to help you find the best hiring assessment tool for your company. We are very proud of our product, but our goal is to give you an unbiased and honest full picture of the products. We hope this will help!
Introduction
Compare the following:
- What does our assessments measure? How are they conducted?
- What standard of measure is used behind the assessments? How are benchmarks created?
- What is included in the reports? How are they presented?
- What kind of customer support do you provide? Is there training available?
What does our assessments measure? How are they conducted?
Prevue: As with most sciences, the method and models behind pre-employment assessments are standardized to ensure reliability, validity, and fairness. Prevue’s Assessment Suite doesn’t miss a beat – it uses relevant science to measure a candidate’s cognitive aptitude, personality, and motivations. To get the full picture of job preference and fit, you’ll want to test for all three.
In a sea of assessment providers who basically offer the very same type of hiring solutions, at Prevue, we distinguish ourselves by being simple and straightforward. Through years of research, we managed to create a multi-use assessment without missing any of the scientific elements that go into predicting job-fit. This means every candidate completes the same 35-minute assessment and will be evaluated fairly, and equally, across any position.
While we encourage our customers to utilize the full assessment for hiring the best, we also recommend combinations of assessment sections for different purposes. For example, you can test a candidate on their learning and reasoning by giving them only the Aptitude part of the assessment. Or, when hiring for positions that primarily deal with numbers on the fly, we have a Numerical Reasoning assessment that covers just numbers, motivations, and personality. This option saves you time and gives candidates an experience that speaks precisely to their skills.
Predictive Index: As with most psychometric tools, Predictive Index focuses on two main categories: cognitive ability and personality – the latter which they refer to as a behavioral assessment. To complete both takes about 20 minutes.
PI’s method of measuring workplace behavior is unique and differs from mainstream personality tests like Prevue’s, where candidates answer a series of scenario-based multiple choice questions. Instead, PI’s test takers are told to select words from two lists of descriptive adjectives – the first describing how others may expect them to act, and the second what they think describe themselves best. PI calls this a free-choice assessment; you’re given the freedom to select as many or as little items as you wish based on your own perception and preference.
Comparison: We can say with confidence that Prevue and Predictive Index are both preachers of simple hiring. Our goals align in giving candidates the most seamless and friendly assessment experience. While at Prevue, we offer extra evaluation on one’s job interests (working with people, data, and things), what really sets us and PI apart is how we measure personality and behavior.
It is often debated which method works better – a classic multiple choice or a free-choice assessment. Truth is both tests have their significant pros and cons! PI’s behavioral assessment is simple to construct and easy to understand, but are also susceptible to faking and cheating due to social desirability. In other words, candidates may try to game the system by selecting items that they think the employer is looking for. On the other hand, a multiple choice assessment at Prevue offers a more structured measurement of a candidate’s personality based on real-life scenarios, yet takes longer comparably to complete in this format.
Results: A tie. Prevue and Predictive Index both win depending on the situation. For example, Prevue’s thorough personality tool would excel at assessing higher management, while a straightforward behavioral test by PI would be ideal for those newer to the work force.
What standard of measure is used behind the assessments? How are benchmarks created?
Prevue: We’ve invested a lot of time developing our assessments in a way that is simple and scientifically rooted. This includes working with renowned occupational psychologists – some of whom you may recognize such as Dr. David Bartram and Dr. Pat Lindley. Over the years, our team of in-house psychometricians continue to research and review our hiring tools to ensure that they reflect our current work climate.
At Prevue, we stand out by offering customizable job profiles – we call them “benchmarks” – that directly echo your company’s hiring needs. Whether you’re looking for a salesperson who is confident in speech and abundantly ambitious, or an accountant who needs to be well-organized and detailed, we have the science to help map out the ideal qualities needed for the role.
We build our benchmarks in several ways: A Job Description Survey, Top-Performer Study, or a combination that will give you all the data needed to put together the best employee profile; we also have a general Benchmark Library for those who want to save time and get started as soon as possible. Because Prevue is all about making hiring science easy and accessible for everyone, we make sure the process in building a benchmark is thorough yet simple. So expect to complete a short 10-minute survey or invite your star players to complete an assessment, and our team will do the rest of the heavy lifting.
Predictive Index: Psychometrics is all about being valid and reliable. To ensure this, Predictive Index uses its 60 years of science and over 350 validation studies conducted to come up with an assessment tool that is accurate and user-friendly.
Similar to Prevue, PI also understands the importance of having customized hiring profiles for each role in addition to a standard library of job families. Named “job targets” instead, benchmarks can be created via their PI Job Assessment (a series of questions) where key stakeholders outline important behavioral and cognitive requirements for a job. These stakeholders can be anyone who knows the ins and outs of the position or your company’s culture, such as HR reps, managers, and top performers currently in the job.
Comparison: A customized benchmark is an attractive feature (and functionally important) to have for any hiring tool. Prevue and Predictive Index stand out equally based on this fact. But while both systems involve key stakeholders and/or top performers in our benchmarking processes, there are differences in the way we collect our data.
At Prevue, a Job Description Survey and Top Performer Study are conducted separately in two different formats – a questionnaire taken by important members of your organization and a standard job-fit assessment completed by high-performing employees, respectively. We have the science to then combine results from both studies to generate a comprehensive benchmark in one place. Whereas at PI, all involved contributors – whether you’re a manager or an employee – go through the same method and survey questions in their Job Assessment.
Results: Prevue wins by a small margin. Predictive Index collects inputs subjectively as perceived by each stakeholder. Meanwhile, our Top Performer Study uses unbiased results from an existing employee’s assessment score to identify traits that your top performers have in common. Prevue shows you not only who to hire next – but also the qualities that already work.
What is included in the reports? How are they presented?
Prevue: Aiming for the fine balance between being straightforward and having a comprehensive result, our Prevue Job-Fit report has one standardized format. Along with the customizable benchmarks and the shared core assessment, using the same report format, you’ll be able to compare your candidates to different job positions that may be a better fit or use in succession planning for future job growth.
Our report is divided into several parts. You’ll find a Prevue Results Graph comparing the candidate’s assessment results to the job-fit profile you have customized for the role. The suitability score in the report comes from a formula that analyzes the areas where the candidate has landed (or not landed) on the benchmark – meaning the higher the score, the better match they are with the job. We complement these findings by providing you an interview guide that targets areas off the benchmark. These suggested questions are designed to probe at how this may affect the candidate’s performance in the role, whether they are aware of their challenges, and provide an opportunity to describe how they may work to overcome it.
Predictive Index: Because Predictive Index offers individual cognitive and behavioral assessments, their reports also come separated – each containing its own scores and analysis. Like Prevue, PI advocates the belief that companies shouldn’t look only at whether a candidate’s score is high or low – what matters is if it matches the benchmark. In their reports, this is measured and presented as a “match score” of 1 to 10 – with 10 being the strongest match.
PI’s behavioral reports come separately in three parts: (1) a summary report outlining the candidate’s working style and strategies to effectively manage them, (2) a person report showing where the individual falls on the benchmark, and (3) an interview guide report targeting areas that are misaligned with the job target.
Comparison: Solely looking at the components of Prevue’s and Predictive Index’s reports, we both share similarities in providing a benchmark comparison graph, a description of work behavior, and an interview guide. What PI offers in their behavioral reports that we don’t at Prevue is management tips and strategies. Based on a candidate’s working style, insights on how to improve their effectiveness and satisfaction are provided to help leaders strengthen their onboarding and team communication. Similar data can be found under Prevue’s coaching/personal development reports or team-fit reports instead.
At Prevue, we weigh every scale equally and we deduct marks from the final score only when the individual falls off the benchmark. PI, on the other hand, gives you the option to weigh each assessment based on its importance to the job. This means in a match score weighed 30% cognitive and 70% behavioral – if a person scored poorly under cognitive skills, but had strong matches for workplace behaviors, the candidate would likely still score well enough to be considered an overall good fit for the role.
Results: Predictive Index wins. It’s true by comparing the simplicity of Prevue’s all-in-one report versus PI’s approach of having multiple outputs, we have an edge in bringing you a consistent format of information in one place. However, PI gives the flexibility with the match score weight, which could be useful in certain situations.
What kind of customer support do you provide? Is there training available?
Prevue: Once you’re onboarded at Prevue, you’ll be paired with a representative from our Success team who will act as your designated point of contact throughout your journey with us. We want to make sure that you (and your team) make the most of what we have to offer. That is why through our different training and refresher sessions, we will cover everything you need to know at zero additional cost to get you going as soon as possible. Your Customer Success Manager will guide you through specific training on system setups, benchmark finalizations, and understanding our reports. Of course, as part of our ongoing support, your Success rep will continue to assist you with any concerns that you may come across. We are never more than a phone call or an email away, and we make this absolutely free for all our customers!
Predictive Index: Predictive Index inspires its clients to become more than just a customer – its goal is to train you to become a hiring specialist yourself. The team offers a blend of advanced paid workshops, certifications, and free learning modules that explores the different areas of hiring and management. While resources on how to navigate the system are free and accessible on its website, to qualify as a “PI user”, you have to complete one or more PI workshops at an extra cost.
Comparison: Prevue takes the ‘service’ in Software-as-a-Service (SAAS) very seriously. We have the objective in providing a seamless post-purchase experience to our customers, and we achieve this by offering free training and effective support so our customer’s goals can also be met. At Predictive Index, while intensive training comes with an additional price tag, it targets leaders and hiring pros who will serve as PI experts at their own organizations. PI’s impressive library of contents and courses is, without a doubt, one of its most attractive attributes that makes them the specialists in this field.
Results: Prevue wins in its simplicity and easy-to-pick-up nature of the tool. We believe that accessible tools are the ones that are intuitive and easy-to-learn with basic training. On the flip-side, if your goal is to be the expert of one specific tool and are willing to commit additional time and resources, PI does offer an enticing program. At Prevue, we place an emphasis on personalized customer service, with each account having a dedicated account manager you can reach for additional help at no extra cost.
