Psychometric test for new contract - tell them to f-off?

[DrewG]

Whoop di doo....

I did a presentation to a fairly major supplier on how to analyse, remedy and operate their misfiring service function. Spent a lot of my time preparing it, did the presentation to a senior management team, never heard any more. However, mysteriously, my game plan seemed to have been taken on board and was being enacted some months later.

I've also done the same thing when working for a service provider to two or three of their prospects, this time on multi-million pound ITTs. Each one represented several thousands of pounds in effort and preparation. None were taken up, although there's a well known charity organisation out there with a really poor web-based service that is a rubbish implementation of one of those proposals that they got the lowest bidder to build.

It is possible to convert presentations to long term contracts (I've managed that as well in the past) but the conversion ratio in the real world is not that great. You have to be lucky and/or niche to do it reliably

Pitch to close ratio will never be 1:1. Why would you expect that?

[malvolio]

Pitch to close ratio will never be 1:1. Why would you expect that?

Of course it won't. 10 to 1 would be exceptional. You might have mentioned that when promoting your personal solution to finding work.

I don't have a problem not getting the work. Watching some else implement it is irritating, doubly so when they make a pig's ear of it...

[northernladuk]

Psychometric testing of supplier's personnel on a B2B contract does not seem reasonable to me.

It's hard to imagine a large consultancy accepting that a client could test its consultants.

This would be appropriate for an employment relationship, though.

The odd thing is it would have actually benefitted my client delivering in to a large retail client. It's a massive programme and very stressful. There have been a number of people that have joined and gone in under two months due to not understanding the nature/politics/activities of a massive programme and the pace it's going at. They did have three interviews to try and get that over but still some candidates manage to talk the talk but can't walk the walk. A bit of psychometric training would have helped them I think...

but in general yeah, it shouldn't be reasonable in general.

[DrewG]

Of course it won't. 10 to 1 would be exceptional. You might have mentioned that when promoting your personal solution to finding work.

I don't have a problem not getting the work. Watching some else implement it is irritating, doubly so when they make a pig's ear of it...

Our hit rate at Oliver Wyam (tier 2 management consultancy) was way above 1:10.

[malvolio]

Our hit rate at Oliver Wyam (tier 2 management consultancy) was way above 1:10.

I suspect it is for many of the bigger consultancies... once they have established a client base and a reputation. Hardly relevant to either your argument or your audience though, is it?

[courtg9000]

Our hit rate at Oliver Wyam (tier 2 management consultancy) was way above 1:10.

If you mean Oliver Wyman then I can see why!

[TheDude]

Just pretend you are on the Krypton Factor and do it.

[cojak]

As part of their interview process - Would you do the test?

It's supposed to be outside IR35 - not exactly a standard way to engage with a vendor.

Bloody hell - one of my primary reasons for going contract was to avoid that crap in a permie interview process.

If you have other opportunities (and there are always other opportunities out there), tell them to stuff their interview where the sun don’t shine*.

*or politely decline, but I wouldn’t do it.

[hairymouse]

I once interviewed with company that had a psychometric test that was obsessed with how fast you could do math in your head. Round after round of adding numbers! After I failed, they wanted me to take it again and strongly hinted that I should do some practice tests. No thank you.

I hope having a data engineer that can do sums quickly is worth all that.

[m0n1k3r]

They probably do one for permies, so just do the same for everyone. Goes to show how well "outside" this is

Most clients don't think of contractors as independent suppliers of professional services, but as mere temp employees who should be subject to precisely the same rules and tests and perm employees.