P&G Assessments: Everything you need to know (2024)

P&G Assessments are assessment tools used by P&G in the recruitment process. Being one of the most desirable companies in the industry, P&G attracts a large pool of job applicants yearly. Thus, a thoroughly designed assessment is fundamental to shortlist the candidates.

This article will give you a better insight into P&G Assessments and how to prepare for the tests.

What are P&G assessments?

P&G uses P&G Assessments to narrow down candidates after the application stage of the hiring process. Specific roles require different types of assessments, namely PEAK Performance Assessment, Interactive Assessment, or Sales Virtual Job Interview. The tests measure qualities that are hard to assess from interviews, such as cognitive skills or work styles.

Types of P&G assessments

P&G Assessments are divided into 3 types: PEAK Performance Assessment, Interactive Assessment and Sales Virtual Job Interview. Each test includes questions under different formats, such as a rating scale, multiple-choice, or gamified questions measuring cognitive abilities.

Each type of assessment has a different range of questions and time limits due to its purpose.

• The PEAK Performance TEST is a quiz about situational judgment and personality: 64 questions under unlimited time.
• Interactive challenges assess the intellectual ability of applicants, including:
  • Switch challenge: unlimited questions in 6 minutes
  • Grid challenge: 3 questions in 9 minutes
  • Digit challenge: unlimited questions in 5 minutes

• Sales Virtual Job Interview involves multiple-choice questions about workplace persona, motivation and interests: 6 exercises in 1 hour.

P&G assessments – The second stage of the hiring process

Online Assessment is the second stage in the recruitment process of P&G. Regardless of the position you apply for, the hiring process will comprise 4 steps: online application, online assessment tests, interviews, and job offers. After submitting your application, you will be given assessment tests based on registered roles. These assessments measure the extent you match the position.

Preparing carefully for each step of the recruitment process is crucial since only about 1% of their applicants are hired annually. Here is a brief description of how the recruitment process will be:

Stage 1: Application

Application is the first stage of the hiring process, which requests candidates to provide relevant information about their work experience, education, personality, and references. This step allows job seekers to show their eligibility for the applied position.

There are some tasks you need to do when hitting apply:

• Cover your educational background, for example, your school, major, and education level. 
• Provide a resume with 1-2 attachments.
• Complete a questionnaire about some requirements for the role.

Stage 2: Assessment

Depending on the role, you will have to take one or more P&G assessment tests about work-related information and cognitive abilities that are difficult to measure through applications or interviews alone. Usually, the test will be PEAK Performance Assessment and/or Interactive Assessment. If you apply for a Sales job, a Sales Virtual Job Interview is required in addition.

The test often takes 20-60 minutes to complete. P&G ensures no language barrier occurs by providing 20+ languages. After finishing the assessment stage, you will be announced to the next step within 30 days via email. Once P&G finds out your eligibility through test performance, you will be progressed to the interview stage.

Stage 3: Interview

Those who pass assessment tests will be invited to a one-on-one interview with a hiring manager. Here, candidates have a chance to provide in-depth information about their qualities and skills that are suitable for job criteria, as well as their enthusiasm and desire to work at P&G. This is also a chance to ask questions and gain a thorough understanding of the company.

Stage 4: Offer

This is the final step in the recruitment process of P&G. Once determined suitable for the job after the Assessment test and in-depth interview, you will receive a P&G job offer letter within a week. This is when you officially become part of the team.

P&G PEAK performance assessment 

PEAK performance assessment provides questions about situational judgment and personality, and there is no right or wrong answer for each according to the hiring company. This assessment is compulsory for almost all positions you apply for in P&G.

In terms of format, there are two types of questions: multiple-choice questions (MCQ) and rating questions. Below is some detailed information and examples for each PEAK Performance question type.

Multiple-choice questions

Multiple-choice questionnaire includes workplace scenarios and additional questions about your interests, work style and personality. Responses are mainly different ways to react to a work-setting situation. Here is an example of an MCQ question you may face.

Each answer indicates some qualities and attitudes of job applicants. Among those, one response is the best suitable for what the company is looking for. Try to be honest and objective, but don’t forget to research P&G’s insights to present your in-depth understanding of the company.

Source: P&G

Rating questions

Rating questions include one statement or a series of statements about mainly personal preferences and background. You can select your answer by sliding the selector to the point that shows your opinion about different levels of accuracy or how important you find a statement to be.

Like MCQs, rating questions are all about your background, personality, and preferences. Hence, it is ideal for giving an answer that can either be the most relevant to your self-assessment or meet the requirements for potential employees of P&G.

Source: P&G

P&G interactive assessment

Switch challenge

In the switch challenge, you have to identify the correct sequence of a 4-digit number and finish as many tasks as possible in a time limit of 6 minutes. Each question has 3 options, one of which presents precisely how the given sequence is switched.

The switch challenge assesses candidates’ deductive logical reasoning as they need to understand the mechanism behind the alteration of 4 symbols. Let’s look at this example below to better understand this test.

Source: P&G

Answer: The correct answer is 3241

Explanation:

• Step 1: Encode each shape with numbers in chronological order. “1” for the red square, “2” for the yellow triangle, “3” for the blue cross and “4” for the green round.
• Step 2: Rewrite the output in that numerical arrangement. We give the blue cross the number three, so the first digit will be “3”. The second digit will be the number “2”, representing the yellow triangle. Just like that, we have the correct answer, 3241.

Grid challenge

In the Grid Challenge, you must simultaneously solve symmetry and rotation problems while keeping track of dots’ locations. After briefly viewing the dot, you have to complete another visualization task. It includes 9 tasks divided into 3 rounds under a time limit of 9 minutes.

This test is designed to measure your short-term memory as you need to quickly remember dots’ location. Also, your spatial reasoning skills will be required in this test as you have to reason and examine the shapes.

Source: P&G

The first task requires you to remember a highlighted dot after a few seconds. Then, you will have to do spatial awareness tests, including shape matching or rotation. Here is an example of the second task

Source: P&G

Digit challenge

The Grid Challenge asks you to find the missing number and make a correct equation. You have 5 minutes to complete as many tasks as possible.

The Grid Challenge assesses your aptitude for basic numerical comprehension. In other words, you must use your mental calculation to answer simple arithmetic questions. Let’s look at a common question you will face and see how to do it.

Source: P&G

Answer: The correct answer is 4

Explanation:

You can see above an unsolved equation and the keypad with the available numbers. Since “3” has already been selected, “4” is the only possible additional digit that will make a correct equation.

However, there may be more than one correct answer for the test. The sample problem may also include the following other possible solutions: “1” and “6”, “2” and “5”, “4” and “3,” “5” and “2” as well as “6” and “1.

Sales virtual job interview

In the Sales Virtual Job Interview or Sales – Virtual Job Preview (VJP), the candidate is expected to perform work style, sales experience, problem-solving skills and cognitive ability, which are crucial to their Sales job. VJP is not a face-to-face interview but actually a quiz with insightful questions, with multiple-choice responses. The job preview includes 6 sections for approximately one hour.

• Work with Customers and Colleagues: workplace situations
• Analyze Your Business: answer questions about given Sales reports
• Manage Your Week: Sales employee’s calendar management
• What Drives You: the ideal work environment that inspires you
• Tell Us Your Story: your background and work experience
• Describe Your Approach: your preferred work style and approach to work.

Below is a sample interface of a VJP exercise:

Source: P&G

What P&G expects you to perform in assessment tests

Through PEAK Performance Assessment and Interactive Challenges, P&G want candidates to show some specific personal values and cognitive ability as follows:

Personal values

If you desire to work with the team, you need to show P&G’s PEAK Performance Factors. Here is a list of the qualities that make you highly assessed by the company:

Source: P&G

• Lead with Courage
• Innovative for Growth
• Champion Productivity
• Execute with Excellent
• Bring out our best

In the PEAK Performance model, PVP (Purpose, Values and Principles) acts as the foundation for P&G people. A good understanding of the company’s PVP will help you raise the level of compatibility, which means a higher chance of being hired.

Cognitive ability

P&G Interactive assessment includes the Switch challenge, Digit challenge, and Grid challenge. Each test requires different aptitudes from candidates. There are, accordingly, 3 reasoning skills that a future P&G employee must acquire:

• Deductive Reasoning: the process of drawing a logical conclusion from general premises which are proven to be true. 
• Numerical Reasoning: the ability to perform calculations and interpret data in the form of charts. 
• Spatial Reasoning: the capacity to remember, understand and reason from visual data. 

Tips to ace P&G assessment

Act as if you’re already part of the team

When taking the P&G online assessment, ask yourself, “What would I do as a P&G staff member?” To answer this, you need in-depth insight into the company, what kind of people they hire, and how their employees will act in certain situations.

To gain that information, we suggest you thoroughly research P&G values and the types of people they want for different roles. What are the criteria required if you apply for a Product Manager position? What characteristics of a Sales Intern at P&G? Not only get information on available websites, but you can also look for advice from P&G staff.

P&G Online Assessment, especially PEAK Performance, is aimed at assessing the compatibility between the company and candidates. Like social relationships, you need to be who you are, yet adjust and adapt to get along with a partner.

Practice, practice, practice

The cognitive ability that P&G looks for in a candidate can be acquired by practice. Interactive challenges in P&G Online Assessment have similarities with aptitude tests, especially 3 skills: Deductive Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, and Spatial Reasoning. Therefore, you need to understand these three aptitudes by looking into their structure, purpose, types of questions, and more importantly, how to solve them.

Here at MConsultingPrep, we provide standardized and highly-interactive materials of various aptitude test types, which help you sharpen your cognitive ability through the reasoning tests mentioned above. Numerical Reasoning, Deductive Reasoning, and Inductive Reasoning Mock Tests include hundreds of questions with detailed explanations and instructional study plans from the most common test publishers.

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