by Matt Chapman
My name is Matt Chapman, and I am a Manager of Executive Search at W Talent Solutions. I struggled to find a career for a long time until a colleague of mine reached out to me on LinkedIn and asked if I was available for a call. Three years later, I am as happy as I have ever been professionally and enjoy the work I do, most days, of course.
I have taken “personality assessments” throughout my life, as most people have, but never before was I given the opportunity to review my results. W Talent Solutions utilizes the Predictive Index to assess prospective candidates relative to our clients’ behavioral benchmarks that they’re interested in seeing for a specific job opportunity they’re hiring for. For me, in an effort to join the W Talent team, the Predictive Index behavioral assessment result was about as close to what I considered to be accurate as possible.
There are 17 different behavioral profiles, and mine is a “Promoter.” In essence, I am an outgoing, talkative, friendly, and lively communicator, informal and uninhibited in my behavior. The “informal” aspect of the profile is especially meaningful for me, as I take joy in making people laugh and feel comfortable, especially strangers. It can be challenging at times in the workplace, as I feel compelled to act a certain way professionally versus what my hard-wiring wants me to do or say. Although it has taken time, I have learned (mostly through failures) how to tamp down my informality and engage with others in a professional manner.
As a recruiter, my informality and welcoming nature fosters honesty, candor, openness and comfortability with the people that I engage with. I think it’s probably why I fell in love with the job. People are mostly open to hearing about new job opportunities, and I enjoy the conversation that follows. I think that they appreciate the way that I communicate with them in an informal way.
Overall, if you or your organization has an opportunity to use the Predictive Index, I highly recommend it. I have seen it work so well in a variety of ways that it’s hard to imagine not having access to the data that can be optimized for your team. If interested, please reach out to me and I can advise you of the sorts of things that your organization can use it for. You won’t be disappointed.
