How to use diagnostic evaluations and testing to advance your career.

When is it good to use Diagnostic Evaluations? What are they anyway?

There are many Diagnostic Evaluations on the market. More and more employers are using them. Diagnostic Evaluations can range from simple skill inventory tests to identify technical skills for semi-skilled positions, to evaluations to identify management styles, to honesty evaluations, etc.

They are an excellent tool to identify how well a prospective employee will fit in an organization.

Why would you want to pay for a Diagnostic Evaluation yourself? Especially when you don't know which evaluation a prospective employer will use.

Submitting a Diagnostic Evaluation of your management style before you interview with a prospective employer certainly separates you from your peers. Employers will be impressed that you have thought of that. The evaluation can help them and you identify any potential areas of conflict. If your management style, and the employers are not going to work on a long term basis you want to know that before you go to work for them, not after. Avoiding career mistakes is just as much your responsibility as it is the employers.

A Diagnostic Evaluation of your management style can be very helpful if you are assessing your own skills to prepare for your next promotion.

Management style/communication style evaluations are also very helpful if you have had several interviews but are not getting job offers. The evaluation might help identify how to better present your skills during an interview.

If your performance evaluation indicates some areas that need improvement a Diagnostic Evaluation may help correct the situation. Hopefully your employer would pay for the evaluation, but if not you might want to do it yourself.

There are a number of evaluations available. Most are inexpensive and very enlightening. We offer one evaluation that we have used for 13 years: the PDP Diagnostic Evaluation.