Recently I had the opportunity to interview with a local clothing company as their new (and only, never had one before ever) UX person. Before they decided to interview me in person, they had me do a Predictive Index, which was interesting to say the least.

You have two questions, that’s all, and in turn you get a report on who you are. The first question: How do you think people see you when at work? And then there are a bunch of checkboxes next to adjectives. A whole page worth of adjectives.

The next question is: How do you see yourself at work? And again a page full of adjectives and checkboxes. Supposedly it’s supposed to take 10 to 15 minutes to do, as they tell you “This should on average take 10-15 minutes to do.” I took less than 5.

And then you get a report the next day.

And it’s freaky scary uncanny. No, really. It KNOWS you pretty well with only two pretty simple questions.

I’ve done plenty of Myers Briggs tests at different companies and those are always fun, and it’s cool as far as seeing what else I might be good at doing.

But this was just weird, like they had been watching me for the better part of my life. WITH ONLY TWO QUESTIONS!

A week went by, and I figured they weren’t interested because of my results. I’m not saying it was bad, but it did help explain, and even answer some questions or assumptions I had made in the past about different jobs, employers and bosses, as well as places I had interviewed at which on the skills and experience level seemed like a perfect fit but didn’t get the job.

And then they called for the on-site interview. And I thought it went well. I was personable, serious, funny,  passionate about UX, and could kind of see myself there. They had seen my predictive index as that’s how they decide if they’re going to interview someone or not.

And then I didn’t make it to the next round, with the answer that although I was technically perfect, my personality was too strong.

HELLO, did you NOT read my PREDICTIVE INDEX??

So I’m including it here for you. Now, I’d say it’s 95% accurate, but missed that I do like working with others, and I’m a nice friendly guy, I believe in standing up for people, and if I’m in a leader role, then I put my team ahead of me. I don’t boss. I lead (and base my leadership style on that of Christ, who said “he is first is last, and he who is last is first.”) Lead by serving those who work for you, and putting yourself last. Give them all the credit for the work they do and their successes, and take none for yourself. And always hire people smarter than you, because it’s that that shows you are a good leader to your boss.

For those of you who have known me for a long time, you’ll see how freakily close this report is.

Predictive Index -Greg Schumsky

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