Assessment Centres
Assessment centres can be virtual or in-person. They can be a full day or half a day and are often used in the recruitment process prior to a final interview. The range of tasks will be designed to check your suitability for the role and, to ensure this process is robust, you will likely be tested on the same competencies more than once. Being prepared is really important as well as remembering the reason you are at this stage is down to the strength of your application up to this point and the company will now be looking to see these strengths in action. Preparation can involve further research into the company and reminding your self of the key skills and person specification in the original job description and how you demonstrated these in your application. Knowing your strengths and being self-aware can help with group exercises and our psychometric testing and researching employers pages may also be useful.
Search in Handshake for Assessment Centre events and gain an insight into how assessment centres work at a range of events including workshops, with example group exercises, external employer sessions on assessment centres and mock centre events.
Many graduate employers use Assessment Centres as part of their recruitment process. In this podcast John Greaves an Employability and Placement Adviser, takes a closer look at Assessment Centres and considers what should you expect, and how should you prepare. You can also download our short guide to Assessment Centres.
An Introduction to Assessment Centres - If you have an assessment centre coming up, why not tune into this 3 minute video for a quick overview.
An Introduction to Psychometric Tests - If you are applying for a placement or graduate role with a large employer there is a high chance you will need to complete psychometric tests as part of the recruitment process. To learn about these types of tests, tune into this 4 minute video.
Presentation Skills - You may be asked to give a presentation as part of your assessment centre, so why not watch this webinar to help you to prepare?
Professionalism and Joining the Workforce - Join Rachel Sloan, Employability Careers Consultant, for her workshop on professionalism and preparing to join the workforce.
Graduates First includes assessment centres exercises: case study, presentation, group discussion and in-tray exercises. It also has a wide range of psychometric tests including - numerical, verbal, logical, spatial, diagrammatic, situational, personality, gamified, Watson Glasser and coding. The site allows you to select an industry package such as consulting, finance, law, healthcare, technology and you can access relevant tests, assessments and practice video interviews.
You can use Learning Zone (Aptitude Test Guide) | AssessmentDay for further free exercises and Assessment Centre tests.
Profiling for Success – includes mock situational judgement tests and a sample Deloitte Assessment Centre Pack includes helpful examples of reasonable adjustments.
Prospects information and tips on assessment centres.
Next steps
- Whether you have an assessment centre coming up or simply curious about the exercises try out Graduates First’s selection of free assessment centre activities to understand what recruiters are looking for and the format the activities may take, along with the other free exercises listed above.
- Before attending an assessment centre, research the employer again, the values of the organisation, refresh yourself on the competencies required in the job description, revisit your initial application to the company and consider the character a suitable employee in the company would show.
Need more help? Contact the Career Zone.