From Impostor Syndrome to Success- a Guide to Acing Assessment Centres
Your CV is excellent. You passed the psychometric testing, impressed the interviewer, and now you've advanced to the (typically) final round of the recruitment process, the assessment centre (often shortened to AC). Many students and graduates find this to be the most difficult part of the recruitment process; seeing the other applicants and being grilled by recruiters can be intimidating, not to mention that the stakes have risen as you've reached the final hurdle after investing a great deal of time and energy into your application over the last few months.
Sadly but unsurprisingly for women, there are additional hurdles. Our all-common enemy, impostor syndrome will likely rear its head. With confidence being such an integral factor in the selection process, and 41% of females in a recent study citing career confidence as the skill that required the most work, we've spoken with a recruiter and a recent graduate to compile the best tips on what to expect and how to ace your assessment centre. Along with some great advice for those annoying on-the-day nerves, you can walk in there with your head held high, knowing just how powerful of a woman you are.
So what are assessment centres?
An assessment centre is part of an interview process that usually forms part of recruitment onto a grad scheme, or other job. It often takes place over a full working day (sometimes half) and aims to assess you through activities and tasks that will demonstrate why you would make a great employee at their company. An amazing benefit of partaking in an assessment centre is it allows you to show the recruiters any special skills or talents that will set you apart that you have not been able to show so far in the recruitment process.
Tasks that often come up in assessment centres are;
Case studies - The recruiter will give you a situation and need to respond analytically, eventually reaching a logical conclusion with substantial backing from what you have been told and by applying wider sector knowledge.
Psychometric tests - These will be similar to the ones you may have already completed and aim to assess different types of reasoning and personality.
Interviews - These will likely be more competency-based than previous interviews, looking to assess both your hard and soft skills with questions, such as “Tell me about a time you led a team to success?” and "What are your actions when a team member disagrees with you?” You should be able to find more examples of these online to help you prepare, it’s useful to keep in mind the STAR method when answering these, more on this later!
Group work - You may be given a business scenario or problem and have to discuss the logical course of action with other attendees. Group work can also consist of role-play in which you will be provided with a role, background information and brief before conducting a mock meeting or conference with your group.
In-tray exercise - During this, you will often be tasked with replying to emails/ analysing charts, policy documents etc typically over 30-60 minutes, this aims to assess time management and prioritisation skills.
Presentation- You may get a presentation brief before or on the day of the AC, here you will focus on your communication and public speaking skills as well as formatting a set of information you have completed or been given into a talk.
Example day.