Terminology

In analysis presentations candidates are asked to analyse a variety of information in order to make a recommendation. Candidates may be asked to present their recommendation as a written report, an oral presentation, or both.

Assessors are involved in the activities at the assessment centre. It is their job to rate candidates fairly and objectively against job-relevant criteria.

Competencies are groups of behaviours that have been shown to be relevant for the role.

Facilitators or Centre Managers are the people who co-ordinate the assessment event. They do not assess candidates, or participate in the selection decision.

In these exercises, you will be given limited information about a situation. You will be required to ask an assessor questions in order to understand the situation more fully.

As you would expect when in a group exercise you will be assessed on how you interact with a group of other candidates. In some group exercises you will be asked to meet a collective target, in others you may be given your own case to argue.

The purpose of the interview is for assessors to ask questions to find out more about you. There are several types of interview, ranging from general discussions, through to very structured interactions. It is becoming increasingly common now for interviews to be competency-based. That means that the questions are specifically designed to assess job-relevant behaviours. Assessors will be interested in specific situations you have been involved in and how you dealt with them.

When completing an in-tray exercise you will be given a large volume of information to deal with, as if you have just started a new role; have returned from a holiday; or are covering a colleague’s work. You will be asked to sort through the in-tray and will then be asked a series of questions that require you to prioritise, make difficult decisions and generally demonstrate your organisational ability. This exercise is designed to simulate real working conditions and therefore test your ability to assimilate facts and figures, prioritise information and make good decisions under pressure.

In a presentation exercise you will be expected to make an oral presentation to at least one assessor. You may be given a topic in advance or may be given something to prepare during the assessment event itself.

A role-play is an assessment exercise where you will be in a meeting situation with the assessor (who will be in role). You will normally have some background information about the situation and will be expected to deal with it as you actually would, rather than adopting an alternative role.

The word ‘test’ in an assessment centre setting generally refers to ability or aptitude test. These can assess a variety of skills from verbal and numerical reasoning to problem solving or creativity. These tests are usually strictly timed; however there are practice leaflets available and practice questions allow you to become familiar with the question format before starting the test itself.

As you can imagine employers collect a large amount of information about candidates during an assessment event. By the end of the centre you will have demonstrated your skills to a number of different assessors and all this information will be considered when employers make their final decision. The way they do this is to have a wash-up or integration session. Assessors discuss the skills you have demonstrated and the extent to which they fit the role. Because the discussions only focus on behaviours, the decisions made are fair and objective.

These are used to determine how people are likely to behave under various conditions. There are no right or wrong answers and can usually be completed in your own time. The best way to approach these questionnaires is to answer them as honestly and straightforwardly as you can.