You did well in your first job interview and you’re onto the next step. But what’s the secret for a successful assessment centre?
Assessment centres give companies the chance to get a good look at your personality and find out about your skills. Every company has different approaches, but assessment centres generally have stages such as:
1) Group exercise
2) Presentation
3) Interview
4) Case study
Group exercise generally consists in completing a task – like the Futureboard staff shows us in the video below – in a group made of four to six people. Such assignment can be building a structure – the so-called ‘Icebreakers’ – or dealing with business information or figures.
Futureboard Group Exercise from FutureboardConsulting on Vimeo.
Megan Nee, consultant at Futureboard Consulting, says: “From group exercises, employers can find out about your problem-solving skills and your talents as a team worker.”
She adds: “Here, companies get the chance to see who’s a leader and who is not comfortable with being put on the spot and working in a team.”
While doing a group exercise, remember to always respect your team member, avoiding to lose your temper and to exclude them from the task. Being flexible in your communications strategy is also essential: you might have to adapt to people’s approaches to every situation.
What’s more, it’s essential to think on your feet: the company can turn the information they gave you around to test your crisis management skills!
Stay tuned in the next weeks for advice on the rest of the assessment centre tasks such as presentations, interviews and how to deal with case studies.
Picture by: Oxford Careers
