A Study Guide for the Procter & Gamble Assessment Test: with Tips

The Proctor & Gamble Company is a multinational consumer goods corporation that was founded in the US in 1837, and since then, it has grown to become one of the biggest suppliers of personal health, care, and hygiene products around the world.

Applying for a job at Proctor & Gamble (P&G) means having to go through their thorough recruitment process, which has been designed to filter through large applicant pools to find the right person for the advertised job.

The more you know about the process and what to expect, the easier you’ll find it. You will be able to demonstrate why you are the right person for the role you have applied for at P&G.

In this article, we will look at the Proctor & Gamble online assessments that are used to evaluate candidates as part of the recruitment process, including some example questions. We will also give you some helpful hints and tips to help you perform at your best in these assessments.

When to Take the P&G Assessment Test?

If you apply for any role at Proctor & Gamble, you will need to take at least one P&G online assessment as part of the recruitment process.

P&G online assessment tests are a simple way for recruiters to filter many candidates by providing them with data regarding the skills, abilities, and competencies that the applicants have in relation to the needs of the company and the specific role.

The recruitment process at P&G follows the below format for all applicants:

• Initial Application – You’ll need to create a candidate profile when you apply and answer all the questions on the application form. This includes contact information, details about your education, and some questions regarding the specific skills you will need for the role. You will also need to upload a tailored resume.

• Assessments – Everyone takes at least one assessment after their application has been reviewed, and these are unique P&G assessment tests that look at role fit as well as cognitive ability (more on these later). You need to reach or exceed the benchmark score in the assessments to be invited to the next step.

• Interviews – Depending on the position you have applied for, interviews may differ. Some might be one-to-one, while others might have a panel of interviewers. The interview might be remote, taking place via telephone or virtually using video software. Alternatively, you might be invited to come to the office for a face-to-face meeting. Either way, you can expect both behavioral and situational interview questions.

• Offer – If you have impressed during the interview, this is when you can expect to get a job offer. While the hiring team wants you to get started as soon as possible, the decision-making process can be lengthy, so it might be several weeks before you hear back from them.

Throughout the entire recruitment process, the hiring team is looking for candidates who can demonstrate that they meet the requirements of the role and that they are a good fit for the Proctor & Gamble company culture.

They want to see that the candidates who have applied can match the company values, which are:

• Integrity
• Leadership
• Ownership
• Passion for Winning
• Trust

What Is in the Procter & Gamble Assessment Test?

The Proctor & Gamble tests are delivered online, and they are formatted so that they can be taken on a computer or on your smartphone, so all you need is a quiet place to complete them and a good internet connection.

Testing lasts between 20 and 60 minutes, depending on the assessments you are given. It is always a good idea to take the tests as soon as possible as you’ll have a deadline to complete them by.

The two main assessments that are used include the PEAK Performance Test and an Interactive Assessment, which consists of three game-based tests that evaluate your cognitive abilities, particularly numerical, spatial and deductive reasoning.

The PEAK Performance Test

This is a unique test created by P&G to evaluate candidates in several different areas – personality, experience, and the way they prefer to work, as well as whether they match the values of the company.

In this assessment, you will have two different types of Pquestions to answer.

The first type of question is essentially about situational judgment. You will be given a scenario that is fictional yet realistic about something work-related. You will then have to decide which of the following multiple-choice options you think would be the most appropriate way to deal with the problem you have been presented with.

Additionally, the other type of question is similar to a personality test. You will be given a sentence and you have to rate how well you think that sentence relates to you as a person in a work context.

There are no obviously right or wrong answers in this test; instead, you will be compared against the answers that an ‘ideal candidate’ would provide – the more you match, the better your result.

The PEAK test is based on the P&G PEAK Performance Factors, which are:

• Lead with courage
• Innovate for growth
• Champion productivity
• Execute with excellence
• Bring out your best

When you are answering the questions in the PEAK test, you need to keep these factors in mind as they are what you want to demonstrate in your responses.

The PEAK Performance test is not timed, and it usually takes candidates about 20 minutes to complete.

Switch Challenge

The first of the P&G interactive assessments is the Switch Challenge. This is based on the Aon deductive reasoning test known as scales sx, and it evaluates your ability to identify patterns and deduce rules to come to a logical conclusion.

In this test, you will have 6 minutes to answer as many questions as you can.

The questions are images in which a series of four symbols is shown. These symbols are repeated at the bottom of the image in a different order.

Between the images is what is known as the ‘operator'. There are three numerical combinations in between the image, and you need to choose the one that shows how the symbols have moved from the top to the bottom.

The Switch Challenge is interactive, so you have to select the box containing the right answer rather than choosing from a list like you might in a non-interactive multiple-choice test.

As with the other interactive assessments, the Switch Challenge is also adaptive, which means that the difficulty of the questions changes to suit your ability. If you get a question right, the next question will be harder, but if you get it wrong, the next question will be easier.

Grid Challenge

This assessment is about using both spatial reasoning and short-term memory. You will have to utilize both of these skills to be able to answer these questions correctly.

You’ll be presented with a grid consisting of dots and squares. One of the dots is ‘lit up’ or a different color, and you’ll only be able to see it for a limited amount of time before it disappears.

Then, you’ll be asked to complete a spatial orientation challenge.

This will ask you if the shape presented in the dots on the right is symmetrical to the one on the left, is a rotation of the one on the left, or if it doesn’t match because it is a mirrored image.

You might also have to decide whether the top two images combined (or laid over one another) match the image at the bottom in combination.

After this, you will see the original grid again, this time with a different dot ‘lit up’ and the original one no longer lit up. Again, you’ll have another spatial orientation question.

This combination of memory grids and spatial awareness questions will repeat anywhere between 2 to 5 memorization sections.

Moreover, this is considered to be one of the most difficult tests in this assessment because it combines two different skills in one test. When you are under pressure, it can be difficult to access the short-term memory skills you need, especially when you are also completing other tasks at the same time.

Digit Challenge

The Digit Challenge is all about your numerical ability. You’ll need to be able to solve equations at speed and with accuracy.

Each question is presented on an interactive calculator that is on the screen. You’ll have an equation that has blank spaces instead of numbers, and you will need to find the combination of digits that will make the equation work.

These questions start out simple and then get progressively harder as you progress through the test, so there are specific rules that you need to follow to answer them.

You can only use a digit once in the equation, and there is no zero to choose from.

There might be more than one correct answer for each question, and it doesn’t matter which one you choose as long as you get it right.

This assessment is based on the Aon scales eql test, and you’ll have five minutes to answer as many questions as you can.

P&G Practice Test Examples

PEAK Performance

With the PEAK Performance test, there are no right or wrong answers. In fact, many of them might seem as good as each other. Your selection should reflect what you would do in that situation, but bear in mind the PEAK Performance factors as mentioned above.

Switch Challenge

Grid Challenge

Digit Challenge

What Do P&G Assessment Test Scores Show?

Scoring for the Proctor & Gamble tests is not as easy as getting the maximum number of answers right.

The different tests are scored slightly differently from each other, too.

On the PEAK Performance test, the closer your answers are to the ‘ideal candidate’ benchmark, the better your score will be.

While the answers themselves are not obviously right or wrong, there are certain answers that the recruitment team is looking for, and the candidates that answer in this way are the ones that will make it through.

The Interactive Assessments are marked in several ways. You will obviously receive points for a correct answer, but the more challenging questions are worth more points. So, you want to answer questions quickly and correctly consecutively.

The P&G online assessment pass rate needed is not published. This is because it depends on the role you have applied for and the quality of the other candidates, but you should try and build chains of correct answers where you can get the best chance.

If you fail any of the P&G assessments, your application will not be taken further. You will be allowed to retake them after 12 months. This is why it is imperative to get it right the first time.

Tips for Taking the P&G Assessment

• Read questions carefully – You might feel under time pressure, but you don’t want to make a mistake because you haven’t read the question properly.
• Don’t make assumptions – The information that you need to answer the question is in front of you – don’t rely on assumptions to answer them
• Stay on top of time – Time running out is likely to happen, and you want to have attempted as many questions as possible before it does.
• Use example questions as help – Example questions will show you how you need to answer, and they might also give you a hint of the right strategy to use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

Working at P&G means being involved with one of the best-known personal health and care companies in the world, responsible for brands we know and love like Pampers, Pantene and Gilette – and they are very choosy when it comes to new hires.

The P&G Assessments are designed to filter applicants and find the candidates who can demonstrate that they have what it takes to be successful, which means that 50-80% won’t make the cut.

If you want to give yourself the best chance, you need to be prepared and practice whenever you can.