The Ultimate P&G PEAK Assessment Guide: What to Expect & How to Pass It

P&G PEAK performance assessment - featured image

This is a complete prep guide for the P&G PEAK Performance Assessment, a mandatory screening step for almost any P&G role.

A lot is going on “behind the scenes” on this online assessment. So, this page strives to give you a clear understanding of what to expect and how to increase your chances of passing it.

Let’s get started:

What is the P&G PEAK Performance Assessment?

The P&G PEAK Performance assessment is a Situational Judgement Test combined with a personality questionnaire. It’s used to understand candidates’ backgrounds, experiences, interests, and work-related attitudes. It measures their compatibility with P&G competencies for predicting successful job performance.

The online assessment test is officially untimed, but most candidates finish it within 20 minutes. This means that you don’t need to rush with your answers, and you have plenty of time to answer each question cautiously.

Now, for some positions, you’ll only receive the PEAK performance assessment.

But in most cases, you’ll need to complete one or more additional interactive assessments called (click to see their in-depth guides):

The P&G PEAK Assessment Deadline Issue & What to Do About It

P&G doesn’t give a deadline to finish the test, and many candidates find it confusing.

The problem is, if you don’t complete the assessment within a reasonable time (more on this ‘reasonable time’ below), your desired position might be taken by someone else, and your application will be terminated.

That’s why we recommend taking the test within 10 days after receiving the exam invitation.

Now:

If your application is canceled because you didn’t take the assessment, you can reapply for other positions and receive another test invitation.

However, if you fail the PEAK Performance test, you must wait 12 months to retake it.

In conclusion, although there’s no official deadline to finish the exam, ensure you complete it as soon as possible and leave enough time for practice – at least several days ahead.

Master the P&G PEAK Performance Assessment using these accurate practice simulations.

What Questions to Expect on the P&G PEAK Assessment?

The P&G PEAK Assessment comprises Situational Judgment and Personality tests containing multiple-choice and rating questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

The multiple-choice part includes scenario-based questions and additional questions about your work style, background, preferences, and work experience.

Here’s a sample question from the official PDF:

peak-performance-assessment-sample

And here are two examples of multiple-choice questions from the actual test:

Your boss has given you permission to order new office supplies. You need to build procedure manuals for new hires, so you need binders. You look in the office supply catalog and see 15 different types of binders that all look the same.

What would you do?

1. Order the least expensive binder to save money
2. Call the office supply company and ask them the difference in the binders and choose the one best meets your needs.
3. Send an electronic message to the other people in your department asking them which binders they have used in the past and order that binder.
4. Ask the person who places the orders if she has a record of what others have ordered in the past
5. Order the most expensive binder because it has a brand name you recognize

In the past, how often have you challenged the status quo to ensure that the right action was taken?

1. Very often
2. Often
3. Sometimes
4. Rarely
5. Never

Rating Questions

The rating questions evaluate your motivation and personality using a 5-point Likert scale.

See the following sample from P&G’s PDF:

peak-performance-assessment-example

And here are three example statements that are taken from the real assessment:

  • Sometimes I can leverage my strengths to my advantage but not always.
  • I try to look at things from different perspectives, but sometimes I do not succeed.
  • I Do not always seem to instinctively know the right things to say or do to influence others.

Take accurate PEAK Performance practice tests to improve your ability to solve these questions.

What to Keep in Mind While Answering the Assessment?

Before you start the PEAK Performance Assessment, we recommend that you go over the following things:

P&G PEAK Performance Factors

The P&G PEAK Performance Factors are the characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors that P&G measures to ensure they hire the most suitable candidates.

And the PEAK Performance Assessment is heavily based on them. Here’s a list of these PEAK factors:

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

In addition, at the core of these PEAK factors are P&G’s Purpose, Values, and Principles (PVP). These are the foundations on which P&G’s unique culture is built, and you can see a full list of them here.

After reading the P&G PEAK Factors and the P&G PVP thoroughly, you’ll better understand how to approach the questions on the PEAK assessment and what matters most to the hiring managers.

Job Requirements

Ensure that you understand the job requirements for the position you’re applying for and what is expected from you.

Is it a managerial role in which you must lead or supervise other workers? Or maybe it’s an internship job where you’ll shadow a senior employee?

Keep in mind the nature of the job, the company, and the tasks you’ll be doing. Because they affect the answers you should provide in this assessment.

How to Pass the P&G Peak Performance Assessment?

To pass the P&G PEAK Performance Assessment, it’s essential to get some prior preparation.

That’s because practice sessions can help you familiarize yourself with the actual question types and avoid getting surprised. Also, it enables you to prep the most favorable answers beforehand, without the pressure of the real test.

Now:

YouTube is packed with videos that claim they have the answers for the PEAK Performance Assessment.

But there are two problems with that:

  1. Every P&G role demands different competencies, so you must adjust your answers accordingly (as mentioned above). This means you can’t rely on someone else’s answers because your desired position might differ.
  2. The questions’ wording changes with time. In fact, we have seen at least three editions of the test in the past year. So, the questions that you see on a YouTube video today might vary when you actually take the exam.

And this leads us to a better practice option, which will help you get ready for every question that’s being thrown at you:

P&G PEAK Performance Assessment Practice

Currently, the most accurate and comprehensive practice for the PEAK Performance Assessment is JobTestPrep’s P&G Assessment Practice.

It provides four practice tests that highly resemble the actual assessment’s content and question types, and two thorough study guides accompany them.

In addition, it includes 24 practice tests and several study guides to give you extra practice for personality and behavioral questions.

Take test-like PEAK Performance practice simulations to help you pass the assessment.

Or, check our in-depth review of this practice to see how it resembles the real assessment and what it includes inside.

5 Tips to Increase Your Chances of Passing the Assessment

Here are several tips to help you better understand what goes on “behind the scenes” on this assessment as well as how to beat it.

#1 There ARE Right and Wrong Answers

The official PDF guide of the assessment mentions that “there are no right or wrong answers.”

In reality, nothing could be further from the truth.

That’s because personality and situational judgment tests are used for screening purposes. Recruiters use them to select the best candidates for a particular job, and they disqualify applicants that don’t match the required criteria.

This means there are definitely right and wrong answers on the PEAK Performance Assessment, as related to specific job criteria.

But what responses should you choose to provide a correct answer?

When you answer, you must think about your work behavior rather than
your general behavior (more on that in the section below).

And more importantly, you have to consider the demands of the job you’re applying for and answer accordingly.

So, to successfully pass your personality test, your responses must be compatible with the position you are applying for.

#2 It’s About How You Behave at Work

Recruiters assume that how you act with friends and family and what you generally think of people indicates how you behave at work.

They base their views on the perception that people’s behavior is stable across situations and that by asking about your general conduct and attitudes, they can predict your on-the-job behavior.

But if you think about it, this assumption isn’t always true.

People can be warm and empathic at home and rational and assertive at work, especially if the position demands it. People can be lively and talkative with friends, but they can be reserved and calculated if their job requires it.

People can learn and adapt their behavior to fit different roles and situations.

That’s why when you answer, you have to think about your work behavior rather than
your general behavior.

#3 Avoid Getting Too Many Extreme Scores

Possessing too many traits at an extreme level is considered undesirable, no matter which position you’re seeking. In general, try to avoid getting too many extreme scores.

To avoid getting an extreme score, pay close attention to words like always, never, all
the time, and very often
.

These words should warn you that you must be cautious in answering the question, even if you want to emphasize a particular quality.

To keep you in the safe zone, rate your answers using less extreme ratings, such as 6 instead of 7 or 2 instead of 1.

#4 Convert “What Would You Do?” to “What SHOULD You Do?”

As you’ve seen in the sample question above, there will be questions on the assessments that ask you “what would you do” in a certain situation.

The goal of these questions is to engage you in a scenario so that you will provide a
spontaneous, genuine response.

However, your spontaneous choice is not necessarily the best one.

In real life, you take a moment to think before responding, so you should do so here too. Take time to think and deliberate before making a decision.

#5 Ensure Your Answers Match Your Resume and Cover Letter

The official PDF guide mentions that you should “…provide facts on your background and interests, … make sure your answers accurately describe you and your interests.”

This implies that some of your responses may be compared against your resume and cover letter (if you were asked for such a letter). So, to show that you’re consistent and reliable, you want to ensure your answers match the information you provided there.

Also, you might be confronted about some of your responses during your interview process.

And the next section will focus more on that…

The P&G PEAK Performance Interview (and What It Has to Do with the Assessment)

After you successfully pass the PEAK Performance Assessment and the other interactive tests (if required), you’ll face a series of interviews.

These interviews are made up of competency and behavioral questions.

You’ll be asked questions about your past experiences and how you would respond to hypothetical situations you might encounter on the job.

Your interviewers will be looking for evidence of key behaviors P&G believes are critical for success in the company, aka PEAK Performance Factors and PVP values.

In fact, P&G even mentions these factors in its official interview information guide.

Now:

Some of the situational questions in the interviews will resemble questions you’ve seen on the PEAK Assessment, such as:

  • What would you do if you had a conflict with a team member?
  • If given a difficult project, how would you ensure its success?

(Remember the “What would you do VS What should you do” tip above?)

So, you can conclude that providing answers that are completely the opposite of the characteristics you projected in the PEAK Assessment may raise a few eyebrows.

That’s why your interview responses should align (at least to some extent) with your answers in the PEAK Performance Assessment.

Which Positions at Procter and Gamble Require the PEAK Assessment Test?

Many positions at Procter and Gamble require you to take the PEAK Assessment Test. For some roles, you’ll also need to pass one or more interactive assessments: Switch Challenge, Grid Challenge, and Digit Challenge.

Nevertheless, Here’s a partial list of the positions that require you to take the PEAK Performance Assessment:

  • Business analyst
  • Brand manager
  • Brand camp
  • Supply chain
  • Driver
  • Data scientist
  • Data analyst
  • Marketing
  • Other managerial roles

Conclusion

This was an in-depth preparation guide for the P&G PEAK Performance Assessment.

We reviewed the essential things to know before taking the test, including the PEAK Performance Factors and PVP Values.

Also, you had a chance to try several sample questions and read important tips to help increase your success rate.

And lastly, we recommended the most thorough and realistic practice option available right now.

If you’re taking additional P&G assessments (other than the PEAK assessment), visit their dedicated pages on this site: