A typical assessment day Preparation Research the organisations website - particularly the recruitment and other relevant information.

tion. Draw up a list of your main strengths, focusing on those most relevant to what you have applied for. Think of questions you may want to ask. Plan to arrive in good time for the start of the assessment centre. Converse with other candidates - this will help when it comes to group exercises later.

What to expect You will be in a group of people that can vary in size from several people to a much larger group. You may be individually interviewed and asked to take part in a number of exercises, including reasoning tests. The exercises will be based on the type of work for which you have applied. Other exercises, usually undertaken with a number of other candidates, may take the form of an in-tray or case study exercise, a presentation and a group discussion. Your performance You are not being assessed on what you know but on how you think. Be yourself. Listen carefully to the instructions given to you at the start of the day and always read the information thoroughly. The assessment centre will give you a number of chances to show your strengths and meet their criteria. Stay focused and motivated throughout the day. You are being measured, not against other candidates, but against certain criteria.

You will learn... How you react in different situations. You may find you have previously unidentified strengths. About the company you are applying to. More about the position you are applying for.

Criteria The following are examples of the skills and traits that selectors are likely to be judging you on at the assessment centre: teamworking;

communication; leadership; time management; listening; motivation and enthusiasm; data analysis; decision-making; influencing; creativity; integrity; initiative.

The diagram below shows the most common exercises to be included in an assessment centre.

An in-tray or in-basket exercise asks to assume a particular role as an employee of a fictitious company and work through the correspondence in your in-tray. This exercise is designed to measure your ability to organize and prioritize work. In a presentation exercise, you will be given a topic or possibly a choice of topics and asked to make a presentation of around ten minutes with five minutes at the end for questions. This is designed to measure your presentation skills including your ability to organise and structure the information and to communicate your points clearly and concisely. Group discussion exercises involve you working with other candidates as part of a team to resolve a presented issue. These exercises are designed to measure interpersonal skills such as group leadership, teamwork, negotiation, and group problem solving skills. Panel interviews are regarded as a more objective means of assessing your suitability as you will be interviewed by between three and five people and therefore the decision is not reliant on just one person's opinion. In addition, they are usually more structured than a oneto-one interview as the panel need to assess all of the candidates against the same criteria.

Assessment Centres usually have a pass/fail criteria

are geared towards filing a job vacancy address an immediate organisational need have fewer assessors and more participants involve line managers as assessors have less emphasis placed on self-assessment focus on what the candidate can do now are geared to meet the needs of the organisation assign the role of judge to assessors place emphasis on selection with little or no developmental feedback and follow up give feedback at a later date involve the organisation having control over the information obtained have very little pre-centre briefing tend to be used with external candidates Development Centres usually -

do not have a pass/fail criteria are geared towards developing the individual address a longer term organisational need have a 1:1 ratio of assessor to participant do not have line managers as assessors have a greater emphasis placed on self-assessment focus on potential are geared to meet needs of the individual as well as the organisation assign the role of facilitator to assessors place emphasis on developmental feedback and follow up with little or no selection function tend give feedback immediately involve the individual having control over the information obtained have a substantial pre-centre briefing tend to be used with internal candidates