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1. ASSESSMENT CENTRE
Dr. Anita Mathew

2. What is an assessment centre?
• A series of exercises, carried out individually or in a small
group over one or two days, designed to measure the
competencies needed in graduate recruits
• The final stage in the selection process
• Good news! Normally only 5% of the original applicants will
get this far

3. Why do employers use
assessment centres?
• They are one of the most reliable indicators of
successful future job performance
• They are a fair and objective selection method
• They assess candidates across a number of dimensions

4. What happens at an
assessment centre?
Group exercises:
• Discussions
• Practical tasks
• Role play
Individual exercises:
• Written tasks
• In-tray exercises
• Psychometric tests
• Presentations
• Interviews
A number of different exercises, which are likely to include:
Plus socialising with assessors, fellow-candidates and recent graduates

5. Selection methods of top employers in 2014

6. The most frequently-used exercises at
assessment centres
• Interview 97%
• Psychometric test 91%
• Group discussion 89%
• Personality test 79%
• Case study 71%
• Presentation 61%
• In-tray exercise 48%

7. How will you be assessed?
• By people with clipboards or iPads!
• On a range of competencies that are important in the job you
are applying for:
For marketing it might be negotiating and persuading skills
For computing it might be more problem solving and
analytical skills
• By more than one person
• On your own merits

8. What are assessors
looking for?
• Evidence of the competencies needed to perform well in the
job.
• You have already been assessed on these on paper and at first
interview…
• The assessment centre will look particularly at your ability to
work with others, influence and persuade – and how others
respond to you.

9. Group exercises
•Discussions
•Practical tasks
•Role play

10. Group Discussions
Discussion of a general topic, e.g.
• Should tolls be introduced on all motorways?
• What can be done to improve the NHS?
• How can the problems associated with excessive
alcohol consumption be tackled?
Discussion of a scenario:
• Assessment of bids for lottery funding
• Shipwreck/desert survival

11. Group Exercises
Practical tasks, e.g.
• Constructing a Lego tower or paper
chain
• Creating an advertising campaign for
a specific product
• Crossing a “shark-infested river”

12. Career Ranking Exercise
Rank the following careers in terms of their value to society:
Nurse
Social Worker
Army Officer
Bank Manager
Politician
Lawyer
Architect
Engineer
Research Scientist
Actor
Farmer
Priest
Journalist
Policeman
School Teacher

13. Role Play
• Discussion of a given topic or problem
• Each member of the group allocated a role, e.g. Marketing
Manager/Finance Director
• You will have information that other members of the group do
not
• Need to reach an agreement or produce a recommendation

14. Tips for group exercises
• Use your watch! There is usually a strict time limit.
• Be yourself, relax and enjoy. You will feel challenged, and feel very tired, but that's expected!
• You must speak and play a prominent part in the exercise, not just react to other people. However,
do not be overbearing and listen to others.
• You really are marked on the key competencies they provide you with
• The point isn’t getting to the correct answer but seeing how you got there
• One or two of the candidates tried too hard to impress and were very overbearing
• Take initiatives e.g. in group discussions use the flip chart, watch the time. Show enthusiasm (EY)
• There are always people watching so be careful about what you say/who you say it to/when you say
it. Be friendly to the other candidates. (Deloitte)
• Encourage everyone in your group to contribute and listen to their ideas.
• The biggest thing that gave me confidence was the realisation that not only was everyone else
nervous.
• The other candidates were very friendly. I chatted to people in the breaks and I actually forgot I was
being assessed as I was enjoying myself! It helped to make small talk with the interviewers.

15. Selector assessment form for group exercises
Criteria on which your contributions to a group exercise
might be assessed.
Participation
• Participates enthusiastically in discussion.
• Actively influences events rather than passively accepting.
• Acts on opportunities: originates action.
Spoken Expression
• Expresses his/herself clearly and coherently.
• Makes a clear persuasive presentation of ideas and facts
Originality of Ideas
• Introduces new ideas.
• Builds constructively an the ideas of others.
• Brings a fresh approach to a problem.
Quality of Thought
• Analyses the problem well.
• Gets to the root of the problem: can recognise which
information is important and which is peripheral.
• Can evaluate data and courses of action, draw sound
inferences and reach logical decisions.
Influence on Others
• Makes a point which is accepted by the other
members.
• Influences the direction and nature of the
discussion.
Open Mindedness
• Listens to carefully to other members' views.
• Incorporates the points made by others into their
own.
• Shows tact and diplomacy
Facilitation of the Discussion
• Makes a direct attempt to help another person.
• Squashes a dominant interrupter to allow someone
else to make a point.
Judgment
• Discriminates clearly between the important and the
trivial.
• Does not allow his/her feelings to sway decisions:
unbiased and rational.

16. Case Studies
•May be one of the group exercises and
discussions, often involving role-play ..
•… or an individual task
•Will need to study the information you are
presented with, pick out the key points and
reach decisions …
•… which you may need to write up in a report
or to present verbally

17. Presentations

18. In-Tray/E-tray Exercises
• Simulates the work you will be doing if selected
• You will be given a number of messages – plus attached
documents – that you might find in your inbox one morning
• Need to sort, prioritise and take or recommend action
• Time-limited: new emails
(and even phone calls) may keep coming in!

19. Interviews
• Likely to be more challenging and probing than previous
interviews …
• … but will be with a different interviewer so be prepared for
some of the same points to be covered …
• … especially anything that has emerged as a weak point at
previous interviews

20. The Social Side
• May include coffee breaks/lunch with the assessors and/or
meetings with recent graduates
• Not part of the formal assessment …
• … but anything you say or do could be remembered