Hiring a customer support agent calls for more than finding someone who sounds friendly in an interview. The person may need to learn several systems, follow a client’s procedures, explain complex information clearly, and stay focused through a difficult conversation. How can an employer evaluate those demands without reducing a candidate to a single score?
The Predictive Index (PI) can add useful insight into how a person tends to work and how quickly they may grasp new information. The most useful question is what to do with that insight. For contact center hiring, it can help a team define the role, ask more focused questions, and plan support for the person it hires. It works best alongside evidence of the candidate’s skills and experience.
What does the Predictive Index measure?
“Predictive Index test” often refers to two different assessments. They answer different questions:
| Assessment | What it covers | How a hiring team might use it |
|---|---|---|
| PI Behavioral Assessment | Workplace drives related to dominance, extraversion, patience, and formality. | Discuss how a candidate prefers to communicate, make decisions, handle pace, and work with structure. |
| PI Cognitive Assessment | Verbal, numerical, and abstract reasoning, with an emphasis on learning and adapting. | Consider the learning demands of a role and ask how a candidate approaches unfamiliar information. |
The Behavioral Assessment is an untimed exercise that typically takes about six minutes. The Cognitive Assessment is a timed, 12-minute exercise with 50 questions. Neither is a demonstration of how someone will handle a live customer interaction. Learn about the PI Behavioral Assessment and the PI Cognitive Assessment from the provider.
Define the contact center role before reviewing results
A technical support agent, an answering service representative, and a customer care specialist may all speak with customers, but their daily work differs. A hiring team should first describe what success in a particular role requires. Which procedures must the person follow? How often do products or scripts change? What kinds of problems can the agent resolve independently, and when must they escalate?
That role definition gives assessment results context. For example, a technical support role might demand frequent learning across products, while an answering service role might place more weight on accurate message taking and consistent use of a client’s instructions. Neither example points to a universal “best” PI profile. It identifies questions the employer can investigate.
Turn an assessment insight into an interview question
A result is most useful when it starts a conversation. A candidate’s reported preference for structure, for instance, could lead to a question about working when a procedure changes mid-shift. The answer gives the interviewer something concrete to examine: what the candidate did, how they checked the new instruction, and how they kept the customer informed.
Here are three questions tied to common contact center demands:
- Handling a difficult conversation: “Tell me about a time someone was frustrated and you did not have an immediate answer. What did you say, and what happened next?”
- Adapting to change: “Describe a time a process changed while you were using it. How did you learn the new steps and avoid errors?”
- Learning an unfamiliar system: “What did you do the last time you had to learn a tool quickly enough to use it with a customer?”
Ask candidates for the same role a consistent set of core questions. Use follow-up questions to understand their examples, rather than treating an assessment label as a conclusion about what they can do.
Check the skills the job actually uses
Assessments can describe tendencies and reasoning ability. A short, job-relevant exercise can show how someone applies their skills. For a customer care position, that might be a written response to a delayed-order question. For technical support, it might be a guided troubleshooting scenario. For an answering service, it might be taking an accurate message while following a sample instruction sheet.
Evaluate the exercise against the role’s requirements, such as accuracy, clarity, listening, appropriate escalation, and use of available information. A candidate who needs time to think through a scenario may still deliver an excellent answer. The exercise helps the team discuss observed work instead of relying on assumptions about a profile.
Put the evidence together
Imagine a candidate for a support role whose assessment prompts questions about adapting to frequent changes. Their interview describes a clear method for learning updates, and their work exercise shows accurate use of a revised procedure. The hiring team now has several pieces of evidence to discuss. The assessment raised a useful question; the interview and exercise helped answer it.
The same approach helps when results appear to align closely with a role. A promising profile does not establish that someone can navigate a client’s systems, write a clear case note, or resolve a customer issue. Experience and job-specific evidence still matter. The Predictive Index itself advises employers to consider its Behavioral Assessment as one of several inputs to a hiring decision.
Keep using the insight after hiring
PI insights can also prompt better onboarding conversations. A manager might ask a new agent how they prefer to receive feedback, which parts of training need more practice, and when they want to check in during a new assignment. The agent’s answers, actual performance, and evolving needs should guide the support they receive.
At A.W. Companies, we use Predictive Index insights as part of our approach to recruitment and building customer support teams. Our goal is to understand the person and the work, then bring those insights into hiring and development. For a broader introduction, read Predictive Index Explained.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Predictive Index a skills test?
The PI Behavioral Assessment describes workplace behavioral drives. The PI Cognitive Assessment measures reasoning and learning capacity. A job-specific exercise can provide additional evidence of skills used in the role.
Can someone fail the PI Behavioral Assessment?
There are no right or wrong answers to the Behavioral Assessment. An employer may compare a candidate’s results with the requirements it has defined for a role, but that comparison should lead to further evaluation, not assumptions about the person’s overall ability.
Is one PI profile best for every customer service role?
No single profile describes everything a customer service agent needs. Roles differ by client, channel, complexity, pace, and level of support. Define the work first, then assess each candidate using several relevant sources of evidence.
What should an employer do when an assessment and an interview seem to disagree?
Ask for specific examples and consider a job-relevant exercise. The difference may reveal a question about the role, the candidate’s experience, or the context in which they do their best work.
Build a team around the work and the people doing it
Better contact center hiring starts with a clear picture of the job. Predictive Index insights can make interview questions more useful and onboarding conversations more personal. Pair them with observed skills and thoughtful human judgment to make decisions grounded in the work ahead.
Need a customer support team built for your business? Explore A.W. Companies’ contact center solutions or contact our team to discuss your goals.