How the Occupational Interaction Assessment works
Each screen shows one statement about work and five responses. OPM’s sample is a statement about following up on a forgotten form, answered on a scale from Almost always to Never. The responses change from statement to statement, so read them each time.
It is not timed. A percentage bar at the top shows your progress, and you cannot go back to change an answer once it is recorded.
OPM says it measures up to 11 competencies: Accountability, Attention to Detail, Customer Service, Flexibility, Integrity/Honesty, Interpersonal Skills, Learning, Self-Management, Stress Tolerance, Teamwork and Influencing/Negotiating. Everyone completes the whole questionnaire; the score for each job is then worked out from the competencies that job needs, and recalculated for each different series and grade you apply to.
It is in every standard battery in OPM’s Competency Lookup Tool, so nearly every USA Hire candidate sits it.
How to answer the questionnaire
There is no single right answer to a statement, but the questionnaire does count, so answer with care:
- Answer as you are at work now, not as you would like to be. OPM’s own advice is to be honest and not overthink.
- Read each statement to the end. A “not” or an “if” can turn its meaning round.
- Check the response labels before you click. Agreement, frequency and comparison with others are different questions.
- Use the middle options where they are the true answer. Extreme answers to everything make a profile less consistent, not stronger.
- Do not try to guess what one job wants. The same answers are re-scored for every job you apply to over the next 12 months.
Tips for the real Occupational Interaction Assessment
- Take it when you are rested. It is untimed, and a tired candidate drifts into answering on autopilot.
- Read the competencies listed under “How you will be evaluated” in the job announcement. They show which parts of the questionnaire count for that job.
- Keep your answers in line with your application and the way you would describe yourself at interview.
- It is in English only, so allow extra time if English is not your first language.
Practise Occupational Interaction on CogniPrep
Our version has 77 statements, seven for each of OPM’s 11 competencies, drawn from a bank of 132. Each uses an agreement, frequency or comparison scale with the strongest response first, as on OPM’s sample. It is untimed. At the end you see a profile across the 11 competencies and how consistently you answered, not a mark, because OPM does not publish how any statement is keyed. The real questionnaire is longer.