Bonica
June 27, 2023
Hiring the best employees is one of the main concerns of companies and recruiters because, as you know, good employees make your company progress. To hire the best people, hiring managers go through various steps to ensure they hire top talent.
One of the things that hiring managers pay attention to in the hiring process is that it is difficult for them to recognize the cognitive ability and job performance of candidates.
Because the candidate’s resume can’t always show all the candidate’s real skills and cognitive abilities because some may write their resumes exaggeratedly, or even some don’t mention all their abilities in the resume.
The happy news for recruiters is that they can use methods to check candidates’ resumes with more quality and accuracy so that they can correctly identify the candidates’ abilities and skills.
One of these methods is the professional learning indicator test, also known as the predictive index test, which helps you check the candidate’s soft skills and other abilities.
In this article, we will discuss the professional learning indicator test (PLI test), explain its constituent parts, check how you can prepare for such a test, and examine its benefits. So, keep reading if you are interested!
Table of Contents
Definition of Professional Learning Indicator
The Professional Learning Indicator (PLI or PILI test) assessment is a 12-minute assessment test that recruiters take from candidates before the hiring process to measure their soft skills, spatial awareness, cognitive ability, their future job performance, inductive reasoning, and different abilities to help managers hire the best candidates.
This test consists of 50 questions that evaluate cognitive ability and critical thinking abilities; and helps managers hire candidates suitable for doing complex jobs.
Recruiters and hiring managers use this test to measure candidates’ cognitive ability and may take this test from candidates before or during the interview.
The noteworthy point is that the final score of this test depends on the type of job position; that is, its difficulty and ease are determined according to the kind of job. But generally, the average or acceptable professional learning indicator score to pass this test is between 18 and 30.
As mentioned, this test evaluates candidates’ skills in critical thinking, time management, cognitive ability, processing skills, etc., so it is known among recruiters as an excellent tool for identifying and hiring the most talented people.
Different Parts of The Professional Learning Indicator Test

As you know, each test consists of separate parts that measure the different skills. The Pi test is not an exception and has three main sections: verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, and numerical reasoning, and we will examine them in this section.
Verbal Reasoning
This section of the professional learning indicator test measures the verbal skills of the candidates, and its results help you understand how the candidates distinguish the relationship between words, what information they get from it, formal logic skills, and their job performance. The questions in this section include questions such as synonyms, antonyms, and word analogies.
In addition, this part of the professional learning indicator (PLI) test readily applicable helps you measure people’s communication skills because there are questions about their speaking, writing, listening, and reading skills, and it can be conducted as a cognitive assessment.
Non-verbal Reasoning
This part of the PLI or predictive index learning indicator test evaluates the non-verbal skills of the candidates; therefore, to pass this part of the test, candidates must have good critical thinking skills, recognize the relationship between different things, and can solve problems, and understand other issues. So, this part of the test can be defined as cognitive ability tests.
The questions in this section are practical and can give you a good view of how candidates will solve various problems in the workplace in the future, how they can do complex jobs, and their job performance, so it helps you make the best decision to hire people.
Numerical Reasoning
As the name suggests, this part of the test evaluates the numerical skills of the candidates and assesses their abilities to interpret numerical data and their abilities to solve math problems.
This part of the test includes questions in algebra, logical reasoning, problem-solving, word problems, etc. Remember that it may consist of tables and tabs as well.
To answer the questions in this section correctly and get a good score, they should use their numerical knowledge and problem-solving skills.
How To Prepare Yourself For The Professional Learning Indicator Test
So far, you are familiar with the PLI test; if you are going to give such a test soon or you want to know more and prepare yourself for it, this section is for you. Let’s see how you can perfectly prepare yourself for such a test.
Review The Practice Tests
One of the easiest things you can do is to practice tests that have been taken in the past to get to know the type of test and questions and have a better view of this test.
Therefore, a PI cognitive assessment or predictive index learning indicator practice test is a huge help in preparing for this test.
Remember that your time to answer each question is limited, so imagine yourself in the test situation when you review the practice tests to be more prepared.
Free Your Mind

As mentioned, the professional learning indicator test evaluates various skills, and more importantly, your time is limited. Therefore, it is essential not to get stressed and to keep your concentration as high as possible.
Moreover, you may think it will not be difficult like an IQ test or not easy like a personality test, but remember, the predictive index test may be challenging.
If you want to prepare well for this exam, try to keep your focus, free your mind and think that you are ready for this exam and will succeed, and don’t forget the practice tests.
Be Honest
As mentioned, this test evaluates your verbal, non-verbal, and numerical skills. In addition, the interviewer may ask you questions of this category, so be prepared for such situations and always try to answer every question honestly.
As you know, a significant part of the reason for doing this test is for recruiters to ensure that your skills are the same as in your resume, so to pass the professional learning indicator test, answer all the questions honestly.
Benefits of Using A PLI Test
A Professional Learning Indicator test has many benefits for recruiters and employees both. It can help employers choose and hire the most qualified candidates and save time and energy for the company resources. This test will also give an opportunity for the employees to showcase their soft and hard skills to the company without any biases involved. Some of the other benefits of a PLI test are as below.
Measures Employee’s Knowledge And Intellect
Companies and hiring managers seek intelligent and talented people who can adapt to a new work environment, work under pressure, cope with job complexities, etc.
As you know, it is impossible to recognize everything only from resumes, and this is where one of the main advantages of this test comes to the aid of companies. Also, don’t forget that the predictive index (pi) test also measures the cognitive skills of the candidates in addition to the things we mentioned.
Improve Employee Management
Another advantage of the PLI test is that it provides you with more comprehensive information about the candidates you want to hire, which helps you get to know them better.
So you know what to expect from your potential employees and make better hiring decisions. All these things will ultimately make you have better employee management.
Helps You Make The Right Hiring Decisions

The results of this test will help you identify the best people you are sure can meet your expectations in the workplace so that you can hire the right people.
In addition, as you know, a determination is essential to hire the best candidates with the best job performance, and as a hiring manager, you should not make a mistake in this process because you may lose the person you want.
But with the help of this test, you can check all the candidates’ skills and hire the most talented candidates.
Evaluates Candidate’s Cognitive Skills
As mentioned, the professional learning indicator test measures the candidates’ three primary skills and provides detailed information about their critical cognitive skills.
The results of evaluating the cognitive skills of candidates will help you to have a better understanding of their performance in the future and understand how they can solve different problems with logical solutions.
It Helps You Fill Each Position With The Right Candidates
One of the things that make hiring people the best way is that managers can employ the most suitable person for each position. And for this to be done correctly, it is necessary to check the technical and non-technical skills of the candidates.
As you know, this test examines people’s abilities in different fields, so it helps hiring managers hire the right person for each job position.
Conclusion
Employees are one of the most essential parts of any organization, and managers and recruiters are always trying to hire the best people for companies to grow and develop the company because the average candidates are not going to make big changes in companies.
It is crucial how managers evaluate candidates and their skills and what tools they use to hire the best people. As mentioned, the professional learning indicator test evaluates an individual’s cognitive ability and is one of the tools that helps recruiters have a better experience in identifying and hiring the best people.
In this article, we shared an ultimate guide about the Professional Learning Indicator test, reviewed its main parts, explained how to prepare for such an exam, and, most importantly, examined its benefits.
We hope that with the help of the information in this article, you can better understand this test, use it as a hiring manager, and make the best hiring decision.
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