Job seeking as a mature graduate - live discussion 1-3pm today http://t.co/7XKPfE06 via @guardian

Posted on: 16/05/2012 11:05.
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What types of activities am I expected to participate in?

• Presentation by the employer
• Ice-breaker exercises
• Practical problem-solving exercises
• Discussion exercise
• Role play
• Committee exercise
• In-tray / E-tray exercise
• Case Study
• Report Writing / Essay
• Presentation
• Psychometric Tests
• Interviews

As mentioned above, you might encounter any combination of the following activities.  These may be assessed individually or as a group.  In some activities, particularly group activities, you may encounter a “messenger”, delivering more information whilst you are in the midst of discussion (either to make the discussion more realistic or to assess how you work under pressure).

Presentation by the employer

Often, the Assessment Centre will start with a presentation by the employer describing the organisation, their graduate scheme and career progression opportunities.  Generally, you are not assessed during this activity but pay close attention to what is said as it may be useful to you at a later stage (perhaps during one of the activities).  Look interested and ask questions too!

Ice-breaker exercises

As the name implies, these are initially exercises to “break the ice” and to get everyone working together (being prepared to contribute and getting involved in the activity is important).  These might involve:

• Building a tower of Lego bricks or doing something very practical in a physical, rather than theoretical, way (e.g. devising a poster for a product launch).  Although the practical problem may be straightforward, there are usually some restrictive rules such as you can't directly touch something but have to use communication skills with others to get them to follow your instructions.
• A short presentation lasting one to two minutes where you stand up one at a time to introduce yourself to the group.  Alternatively, you may be asked to find out as much as possible about the candidate next to you and then introduce them to the group.

Possible competencies being assessed – Verbal communication, leadership, assertiveness, teamwork, co-operation, creativity, initiative and time management.

Practical problem-solving exercises

These exercises are usually done in groups.  The group is given a problem to solve with a specific objective – it usually isn't straightforward and every approach may have disadvantages as well as advantages.  The assessors want to see how you can think under pressure, how creative you can be and how effective you are in getting your ideas across.  The outcome is to aim for an agreed plan of action defined by the end of the exercise, so negotiation and compromise are important.  You may have to present your findings in an individual or group presentation at the end of the session.

This can be undertaken both indoors and out.  A typical indoor exercise is for the group to be given various materials and be given a task of constructing a bridge.  The outdoor version may typically involve bridging a gap over an actual river.

Make sure you understand the task you are being asked to do and approach the problem in a logical way.  Decide and agree on the goals to be achieved.  Consider allocating tasks to different members so that the time is used effectively.  Establish priorities i.e. agree on the order in which you should complete parts of the task.  Use the skills and expertise of individual members – you should have got to know one another through the initial introduction!

Possible competencies being assessed – Working under pressure, creativity, initiative, analytical/clarity of thinking, verbal communication, numerical, time management, business/commercial awareness and strategy/action planning

Discussion exercise

This exercise is usually done in a group whereby you are given a current topic and told to discuss it.  No particular outcome is specified but again the assessors are looking at what and how you contribute and how others listen to you and take your ideas on board. It is important to show your capacity to listen to others and to build upon good ideas – particularly if they are put forward by less confident candidates, who therefore need some support. Can you also show your skills in moving a discussion forward if this is needed? Depending on the type of job you are being considered for, it may be necessary to demonstrate that you have the potential to lead others.  Make sure you achieve a balance between assertiveness and receptiveness to other candidates’ views.

As in the problem solving exercise above, you may have to present your findings in an individual or group presentation at the end of the session.

Possible competencies being assessed – Verbal communication, leadership, assertiveness, confidence, co-operation/interpersonal relationship, listening, negotiation, analytical/problem solving and business/commercial awareness.

Role play

If a group exercise, candidates are assigned specific roles, which they have to adopt, and then come together with the others to argue a case.  Assessors are looking for the capacity to identify with a viewpoint or position even if you don't personally agree.  For this type of activity, compromise is vital but effectiveness of putting your case to the group is also essential.

The role-play is often based on the organisation and the type of work you have applied for.  Sometimes this kind of exercise is a one-to-one activity with an actor or one of the assessors playing the other part. E.g. if you are applying for a trainee management vacancy, there could be a meeting between yourself as a junior manager and another manager from a different department in which you are negotiating changes to working practices.  The other manager will probably have very different priorities to yours and your challenge could be to gain agreement to as many of the issues on your agenda as possible while maintaining a good relationship with your colleague.  Your skills in persuading and influencing will clearly be of great importance here!

Possible competencies being assessed – Confidence, initiative, verbal communication, “thinking on your feet”, negotiation/persuasion, judgement and business/commercial awareness.

Committee exercise

Similar to a role play, usually with group members having designated roles but the task may look for a consensus plan that the committee puts forward.  In this case the topic might be very vague so the discussion has to be kept focused if the committee is to achieve something.

Possible competencies being assessed – Team working, cooperation/
interpersonal relationship, communication, negotiation, time management, planning and organising and working under pressure.

In-tray / E-tray exercise

A very different individual exercise – this is designed to simulate the administrative features of a job.  E.g. you are given a pile of papers representing someone's post tray after a few days absence (e.g. emails, faxes, memos, letters, telephone messages, reports and computer printouts).  Your task is to sort the papers into related piles, to assess the relative importance of each item and to evaluate how quickly to act.  Some actions could be delegated, some actioned by a phone call or email, some by a letter or a paper proposal – and some just demand immediate priority.  Above all, don't just work from the top down.  The exercise can often be complicated by a messenger, calling at your “office” every few minutes or so, delivering more material.

E-tray exercises are an electronic version of the above, and, of course, you have to respond to the contents of your e-tray on your computer.

Possible competencies being assessed – Planning and organising/prioritising, judgement, time management, written communication and working under pressure.

Case Study

This could be a group or individual exercise (see further comments on Report Writing below).  Usually you are given official reports, tables of figures, newspaper cuttings, memos, etc. and a problem to solve.  Alternatively, the group may be given a business case study, which has to be analysed and understood before making suggestions for subsequent action.  The case study is usually based on a real life situation so the ideas that you propose may well have been implemented.

You may be asked to make a presentation about the key issues and suggested strategy, demonstrating that you or the group can respond well to assessors posing questions.

There is often not one clear cut “correct” answer in this exercise.  Recruiters are assessing your ability to analyse problems, prioritise tasks and put forward effective arguments with clarity and tact.

Possible competencies being assessed – Analytical/clarity of thinking, planning and organising, time management, working under pressure and business/commercial awareness.

Report Writing / Essay

Some case study problems require you to individually analyse the problems and then present your summary and findings in a written report or essay form.  The essence here is to think clearly.  You will be assessed on how you use your skills to present focused information that others will understand, the reasoning for your decisions and to test you on your written skills (spelling, grammar, etc.)

Alternatively, e.g. based on the information presented, you may be asked to write a letter (clearly and tactfully!) to a customer explaining why you will not extend their contract to supply a specific product or service.

Possible competencies being assessed:  Information handling, written communication, analytical/clarity of thinking, reasoning and business/commercial awareness, initiative, judgement and customer service.

Presentation

This may be about a case study as above or about a specific topic given to you either on the day (with a short time to prepare) or prior to the day (in which case you will be given a brief in advance).  If an individual presentation is one of the activities required of you on the day, but no specific presentation subject/topic given, it’s always worth having a topic of your choice worked up into a presentation framework before attending an Assessment Centre. 

Remember that technical information is difficult to put across in a presentation and you also need to choose a topic that would be of wide interest to others.  If you know that the subject for your presentation won’t be given until you are at the Assessment Centre, you can at least think about how to structure a presentation and consider what type of visual aids you are most comfortable with.

Thorough preparation is needed and you will need to give some thought to any visual aids you wish to use – make sure you find out what resources are available to you at the Assessment Centre.

Think about your audience – don’t use technical jargon if they are not familiar with the terminology.  Make sure your presentation has a clear structure and be careful about telling jokes – not everyone may appreciate your sense of humour.  Speak clearly and stick to the time limit!

Be prepared to answer questions posed by the assessors at the end of your presentation – use this as a chance to clarify aspects of your presentation in more detail.

Possible competencies being assessed:  Verbal communication, confidence, time management and information handling, thinking on your feet and initiative.

Psychometric Tests

Please see our psychometric tests section for details.

Interviews

Please see our interviews section for details.

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