What Is a PI Cognitive Assessment?
The PI Cognitive Assessment, formerly also known as the professional learning indicator, PLI, or PI LI assessment, is designed to test job-seekers’ and graduates’ reasoning skills and other soft skills that are difficult to quantify on a resume. It aids employers in the hiring and screening process. This online psychometric test should take roughly twelve minutes and is composed of fifty questions. It tests three different areas of reasoning: numerical, verbal, and non-verbal. These will be discussed at length below in the section on preparing for the PI Cognitive Assessment.
Understanding the PI Cognitive Assessment
PI Cognitive Assessment Scoring
When preparing and practising for the PI Cognitive Assessment, understanding the way the test is scored is an important piece of preparation and practice. The test scores are measured on a scale of 100-450. The average score is 250. The scale score is then measured against results taken from other employees in similar roles, and assigned a percentile. To explain further, if a test taker were to answer all 50 questions correctly, compared to the average score, this person would have scored in the 99th percentile. In other words, they did better than 99% of other individuals who took the test.
PI Cognitive Assessment Test Uses
The predictive learning indicator exam helps employers to determine cognitive capability and reasoning skills. The PLI answers questions employers have about an applicant’s aptitude in various areas where a traditional resume might fail to do so. Employers generally ask job seekers to take the test twice during the pre-employment process to ensure cheating is kept to a minimum. This test is frequently used to assess graduates starting out in the workforce due to their lack of professional experience. The online test is also designed to assess any individual applying used to assess graduates starting out in the workforce for a position, regardless of experience. The goal of the test is to measure both cognitive ability, and the tets takers ability to adapt and work under pressure.
How to Prepare and Practice For a PLI Test
Sections Tested on the PLI Test
The PI Cognitive Assessment is designed to measure several different sets of skills employers find essential in potential hires. The test is divided into separate cognitive abilities and the questions reflect the skills these require. Each section of the test and the format of the questions are discussed below.
->Numerical Reasoning
The numerical reasoning portion of the PLI exam has two different types of questions: number series and math word problems. The number series questions are focused on connections between numbers in a sequence. Those sitting for the exam will need to choose the number that comes next in the sequence. Test takers will need to choose the number that comes next in the sequence. The math word problems are similar to the word problems applicants may have solved in elementary school. The expectation is that the applicant can organize and use the information given in the problem to come to the correct answer.
->Verbal Reasoning
For the verbal reasoning section of the PI Cognitive Exam, three areas are tested: vocabulary, analogies, and formal logic. In the vocabulary section, applicants may run across several kinds of questions. Questions may involve finding antonyms or synonyms for the words given. On the analogy portion of the test, the questions will be word problems that present you with one comparison and ask you to complete the second comparison in the way that makes it match the relationship of the first comparison given. The final section is formal logic, which presents job-seekers with several assumptions and a conclusion. The applicant should then decide whether the conclusion is correct, incorrect, or indeterminable based on the assumptions made.
->Non-verbal Reasoning
The non-verbal reasoning portion of this exam has only two sections: spatial awareness and inductive reasoning. The questions for the spatial awareness section present applicants with two figures, which share something in common. The applicant’s job is to determine what that common factor is in order to answer the question. The inductive reasoning section has questions involving both logical and methodical reasoning to determine the patterns in the figures presented. Applicants may also be asked questions of a non-verbal analogous nature. These questions present the exam-taker with several images that subtly change. The test-takers job is to figure out the pattern of change and complete the sequence.
What Abilities and Skills Does the PI Cognitive Assessment Measure
PI Cognitive Assessment is designed to help employers find the person who shows the most potential for success. The skills it measures for are indicators of the applicants ability to think critically and retain information. Individuals who score the highest on these tests require less intensive training, and have the cognitive ability to function well in whichever role they have applied for.
->Numerical Reasoning
This section is intended to help the employer understand the applicant’s ability to work with numbers, find patterns in the numbers given, perform basic math, and think through real-world situations using math. It also helps employers to understand the job-seekers ability to use logic and reasoning with numbers to come to the correct conclusion.
->Verbal Reasoning
Since verbal communication is a large part of any position, employers want to see proof that applicants are able to communicate well. The verbal reasoning portion of the online PLI psychometric exam helps employers to see where job-seekers and graduates rank in this area during the pre-employment hiring process. It shows the employer that the person who took the test has a grasp on basic vocabulary and an aptitude for logic in a verbal form. This proves the applicant has the ability to not only use vocabulary correctly but also has the ability to make connections via words.
->Non-Verbal Reasoning
The questions on this portion of the test all act as a screening for the job-seeker’s ability to use inductive reasoning and logic to come up with the pattern represented in the question. This part of the exam is relatively straightforward in what it is measuring for, although the questions themselves may not be as easy to answer.
Tips for Preparing for the PI Cognitive Assessment
When preparing for the PI Cognitive Assessment, understand that practice and familiarity with the questions will be your best friends when exam day comes. Since you will only have 12 minutes to answer all 50 questions time is of the essence. Preparation and practice are the only way you will be able to complete all the questions. As you practice, make note of the items you got wrong and review the correct answers. Take the practice tests several times and note the improvements you make. By doing this, you will be able to pinpoint areas of weakness that need to be strengthened before you take the real exam on the assessment day.
Companies That Use the PI Cognitive Assessment
These are some of the many companies that use the PI Cognitive Assessment test:
Conclusion
Preparation for PI Cognitive Assessment requires work and practice. With psychometric assessments becoming a standard part of the hiring process, studying for them should become as common as preparing for an interview. The more you practice, the better prepared you will be to take the assessments. With experience under your belt, you will be more than ready to take the exams and achieve the highest score possible.
