Most hiring processes try to define the right person before they have clearly defined the job. That is backwards. If you have not identified what success requires, what exactly are you matching the candidate to? A Performance Model puts the job where it belongs—at the center of the hiring decision.
Think of it as the code of the job
PXT Select measures thinking style, behavioral traits, and occupational interests. The Performance Model identifies the recommended ranges and priorities for those same areas in a particular position. In the selection report, the candidate’s results are shown against the model. The hiring manager can see where the patterns align and where the next question needs to be asked.
A résumé tells you what a candidate has done. The Performance Model helps define how the work needs to be done. That is why I call it the code of the job: it turns a general idea of a “good employee” into a position-specific standard.
Thinking-style ranges
The verbal and numerical capabilities and processing patterns the role is expected to require.
Behavioral ranges
The work-related tendencies that support how the job needs to be performed.
Interest priorities
The kinds of work that may contribute to motivation and satisfaction in the position.
The same title does not always mean the same job
A model for a detailed analyst should not automatically look like a model for a relationship-driven sales leader. Even two positions with the same title may differ because of customers, systems, pace, authority, team structure, or business strategy.
This is why the model matters. It requires the organization to define the role before judging the person. The purpose is not to reward the highest score on every scale. The purpose is to establish the range the work calls for and then examine alignment with that range.
How the model is built
PXT Select provides a library of models covering many positions. A model can also be customized using job information, organizational context, subject-matter expertise, and assessment data from employees who are successful in the role. The appropriate method depends on the available evidence and the decision being made.
The Assessment Company’s Occupational DNA® process gives this work a repeatable five-step structure. It begins with evidence from the job and ends with a model that can evolve with the work:
- Select top performers.Identify employees who are successful in the same role using meaningful performance evidence.
- Assess the pattern.Use PXT Select to understand shared ranges across thinking style, behavioral traits, and interests.
- Create the model.Combine employee patterns with the real requirements and context of the position.
- Evaluate candidates.Compare internal or external candidates with the role-specific model.
- Refresh the code.Reassess the model as the job and organization evolve.
The comparison tells the manager where to look deeper
The comparison can highlight likely strengths, possible challenge areas, and places where the candidate falls outside a recommended range. PXT Select reports also provide personalized interview questions and “listen for” guidance, giving the manager a structured way to test assumptions and gather more evidence.
A strong Performance Model is a living model
Jobs change. Technology, workflow, customer expectations, leadership, and team responsibilities can all alter what success requires. The EEOC advises employers to keep selection procedures current as job requirements change. A Performance Model should therefore be treated as a living reference point rather than a document created once and forgotten.
That final step is central to Occupational DNA®. When the work evolves, review the evidence and refresh the code. Otherwise, you risk comparing today’s candidates with yesterday’s job.
Define the job before you try to define the right person. Then compare every candidate with the same position-specific standard. It is a simpler discipline than hiring on instinct—and a much stronger way to make the match.