Assessment centres...

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As part of the recruitment process it is likely that alongside the interview there will be a number of other assessments or exercises to test your skills, experiences and competencies and once you know the structure of the recruitment, preparation in these areas is also crucial:

 

 

In Tray Exercise

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• Don’t just analyse issues in excessive detail.

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• Indicate you have grasped the essentials.

 

• Assessors will be interested in how you allocate and prioritise the different sets of issues / problems and the reasoning behind the decisions.

   

Role Plays

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This exercise is usually designed to evaluate the following skills:

 

• Process / procedure, tact and diplomacy, putting people at ease, identifying critical issues and gaining agreement on solutions to your problems.

 

• You will normally be required to play yourself.

 

• Stick to the brief set.

 

Group Discussions

 

​This exercise will be to assess:

 

• Communication skills, teamwork, influencing and persuasive techniques, leadership, problem solving, decision making, creativity and the ability to structure thoughts and arguments.

 

• Use your time wisely to plan and think through your approach.

 

• Contribute fully but don’t dominate.

 

• Listen and build on others points and arguments.

 

• Lead and play devils advocate when appropriate.

 

Presentation

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Any presentation topic will be set with a purpose behind it, expect those on the panel to make notes which will flag questions later on and may even check for evidence or contradictions throughout  the day.

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• Answer the brief and don’t try to be clever, remember the data they have already collated on you.

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• Understand why the brief is important to panel, each panel member may have different views.

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• Ensure the content of your delivery contains material you are confident with, stay with your key competencies and don’t try to be clever to impress.

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• Don’t include material you don’t understand or can’t justify.

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• Try to find out prior to the day who the panel are, do your research on them and pitch your content to deliver a rapport with them and in their areas of interest.

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• Don’t overwhelm with too much statistical data.

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• Stories are often memorable and of interest, e.g. examples of when.....

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• Practise beforehand.

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• Stick to time allocated.

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• Visual materials should be clear and concise, using colour where appropriate.

  NB - remember panel members will retain 50% of what they see and hear but only 10% of what they hear if in isolation.

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• Be aware of body language, be relaxed with confident posture, maintain eye contact and show enthusiasm for your presentation topic.

 

 

 

 

Meeting with Teams

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Often nowadays as part of the recruitment process candidates are asked to meet the teams they will be leading and or the colleagues they will be working alongside.

 

• Think about what you want to get from the meeting.

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• What do you want to leave them with.

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• How will you build the rapport and chemistry?

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• Remember this is part of the process, someone will be seeking feedback.

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• What is your style as a leader.

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• What have you managed to find out about the team and your colleagues achievements and the challenges that face them ahead.

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• Share with them a snippet of you.

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• Articulate why you want to join the organisation.

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• What excites you about the role and the part you want to play.

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• Ask them what they are looking for from the successful candidate and how do they hope this candidate may add value to the organisation. 

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Psychometric Assessment

 

Cognitive tests are designed to test current ability and future potential.

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• Always answer your questions in work mode not personal mode, remember the results are driven by the number of questions you answer.

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• When undertaking, keep an eye on the time.

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• Don’t get bogged down on difficult questions and resist the temptation to check back.

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• If you are unsure put down your best guess.

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• If you know you have a weakness in one of the areas, do not worry, you will not be strong in all areas.

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• PRACTISE PRACTICE PRACTISE test papers.

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Personality Profiling

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Many employers will use as a way to assess you against a number of competencies including self awareness, emotional control, self motivation, empathy and handling relationships remember:

 

• There is no right or wrong answers.

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• Keep your work hat on and approach each question as if it were work related as you may behave differently out of that context. 

   

• Most employers want a balance, so be yourself and check job specifications and role descriptors to identify what they are looking for.