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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
It's becoming more common for organisations to use assessment centres as part of their recruitment drive. So if you've recently been invited to one, and you're not sure what to expect or how to excel, then this is the book for you. You'll be guided through how each activity is conducted and how to prepare for each part of the selection process. You'll find expert advice on how to shine in every activity - and get the career you want.
Succeeding at Assessment Centres For Dummies covers:
- Standing Out in Group Exercises
- Impressing in Oral Presentations
- Achieving in Analysis Exercises
- Performing in Planning and Scheduling Exercises
- Perfecting Your Approach to Psychometrics
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Seitenzahl: 381
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011
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Succeeding at Assessment Centres For Dummies
by Nigel Povah and Lucy Povah
Succeeding at Assessment Centres For Dummies®
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd The Atrium Southern Gate Chichester West Sussex PO19 8SQ England
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-0-470-72101-8
Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall
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About the Authors
Nigel Povah is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist and is the Managing Director and founder of A&DC, which is one of the UK’s leading HR consultancies in the Talent Management field (www.ADC.uk.com).
Upon graduating from Leeds University in Psychology and obtaining a Masters at London University’s Birkbeck College in Occupational Psychology, he decided to pursue a career as a professional chess player. During a five-year spell he represented England on a number of occasions, wrote four books on chess, became an International Master and taught and coached numerous players, including some of England’s current crop of Grandmasters.
In the early 1980s Nigel decided to return to his interest in psychology and embarked upon a career in Human Resource consultancy which included stints in recruitment and training, before he founded Assessment & Development Consultants (A&DC) in 1988.
Nigel is widely regarded as one of the UK’s leading experts in the Assessment Centre field, having co-authored Assessment and Development Centres (Gower). He was also one of the members of the British Psychological Society’s Steering Committee who produced the ‘Best Practice Guidelines on the Design, Implementation and Evaluation of Assessment and Development Centres’.
As well as his executive role at A&DC, Nigel continues to write articles on Assessment and Development Centres and delivers papers at various conferences.
Nigel lives in Guildford with his wife Gill and their children and he still tries to find time to pursue his interest in chess as a keen amateur.
Lucy Povah is a Senior Consultant at A&DC where she has worked with her father for the last five years since graduating from Warwick University in Psychology and obtaining her Masters in Occupational Psychology from Surrey University.
During those five years she’s designed and run many Assessment Centres, both in the UK and internationally, for a wide range of public and private sector organisations such as Acas, BAA, Boots, HMRC, Syngenta, and the UK Fire and Rescue Service. These Assessment Centres have been targeted at staff at all levels from graduates through to senior management and executives, where she has enabled organisations to adopt best practice selection processes.
Lucy has a particular interest in Positive Psychology, which focuses on enabling people to take full advantage of their strengths, especially within Assessment Centres.
Lucy currently lives in London, where she splits her time between visiting her family and friends in Surrey and enjoying the attractions of London.
Dedication
To our family and loved ones for putting up with numerous weekends and evenings of neglect; we hope you’ll forgive us. We would also like to thank you for your encouragement and support throughout this project and beyond.
Authors’ Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the people at Wiley, including Wejdan Ismail for recognising the value of a book such as this, tracking us down and offering us this opportunity, and Rachael Chilvers for being highly supportive and encouraging us during the writing.
We would also like to thank all the clients we’ve worked with over the years for providing the rich tapestry of experiences that have given rise to the numerous anecdotes and useful lessons that we’ve been able to share with you in this book.
Finally, we’d like to thank numerous fellow practitioners, including past and present colleagues at A&DC (too many to mention by name but you know who you are), with whom we have exchanged stories over many years, because many of the observations and recommendations within this book are based on their experiences as much as our own.
Thank you to you all!
Publisher’s Acknowledgements
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development
Project Editor: Rachael Chilvers
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Technical Editor: Angela Baron, CIPD
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Contents
Title
Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
Foolish Assumptions
How This Book is Organised
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go from Here
Part I : Introducing Assessment Centres
Chapter 1: Demystifying Assessment Centres
What Assessment Centres Are (and Aren’t)
Key Features of Assessment Centres
Advantages of Using Assessment Centres
Providing a fair and equal opportunity to all candidates
Common Uses of Assessment Centres
Chapter 2: How an Assessment Centre Works
Knowing about Measuring Performance
Attending the Assessment Centre
Ways of Working
‘Independent’ Exercises versus ‘Themed’ Exercises
Additional Activities
Discovering Who’s Who
Decision-Making Time
Chapter 3: Maximising Your Chances of Success
Researching the Organisation
Finding Out about the Job
Soaking Up Your Briefing Material
Preparing for the Assessment Centre
Clearing Your Path to the Assessment Centre
Part II : Mastering Assessment Centre Exercises
Chapter 4: Standing Out in Group Exercises
Looking into Group Exercises
Common Competencies Being Assessed
Behaving Effectively
Gearing Up for the Group Exercise
Chapter 5: Impressing in Oral Presentations
Figuring Out the Format
Prep, Delivery and Q&A: The Three Stages
Different Types of Presentation
Common Competencies Being Assessed
Behaving Effectively
Avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins of Presenting
Chapter 6: Starring in Role-Plays
Recognising Role-Play Exercises
Popular Scenarios
Role of the Role-Player
Common Competencies Being Assessed
Behaving Effectively
Avoiding Ineffective Behaviours
Gearing Up for the Role-Play Exercise
Chapter 7: Shining in Fact-Finding Exercises
Fathoming Fact-Finding Exercises
Common Competencies Being Assessed
Behaving Effectively
Avoiding Ineffective Behaviours
Gearing Up for the Fact-Finding Exercise
Chapter 8: Achieving in Analysis Exercises
Analysing Analysis Exercises
Outlining Analysis Exercise Formats
Common Competencies Being Assessed
Behaving Effectively
Gearing Yourself Up for the Analysis Exercise
Chapter 9: Performing in Planning and Scheduling Exercises
Introducing Planning and Scheduling Exercises
Six Steps for Project Planning and Implementation
Common Competencies Being Assessed
Behaving Effectively
Avoiding Ineffective Behaviours
Preparing for Action
Chapter 10: Managing In-Basket or Inbox Exercises
In-Basket or Inbox?
Tackling the Task Before You
Common Competencies Being Assessed
Behaving Effectively
Avoiding Ineffective Behaviours
Gearing Yourself Up for the Exercise
Part III : Excelling at Non-Exercise Assessment Centre Activities
Chapter 11: Responding Effectively in Interviews
Staffing the Interview
Taking the Structured Approach
Highlighting Competency Based Interviews
Common Competencies Being Assessed
Behaving Effectively
Avoiding Ineffective Behaviours
Preparing for Action
Chapter 12: Perfecting Your Approach to Psychometric Tests
Studying Common Psychometric Tests
Performing at Ability Tests
Answering Personality Questionnaires
Handling Situational Judgement Tests
Completing 360° Feedback Questionnaires
Psyching Yourself Up for the Test
Chapter 13: Tackling Other Activities
Getting Off to a Quick Start
Making Your Mark on the Assessment Activities
Taking Part in Information Sessions
Providing Feedback on the Assessment Centre
Chapter 14: Learning from Attending an Assessment Centre
Reviewing Your Own Performance
Getting Feedback on Your Performance
Bringing Together What You’ve Learned
Preparing for the Next Time
Part IV : The Part of Tens
Chapter 15: Ten Ways to Impress the Assessors
Dress to Impress
Align Yourself with the Organisation’s Values
Play to Your Strengths
Be Prepared
Exhibit Your Enthusiasm and Commitment
Signal a Willingness to Learn
Retain Your Composure
Show Respect Towards Others
Convince the Organisation of Your Worth
Get It Right for the Assessors
Chapter 16: Ten Ways of Behaving Effectively
Behave Assertively
Show Confidence
Earn the Respect of Others
Gain the Support of Others
Be Genuine and Sincere
Be Friendly and Approachable
Act with Assurance
Stay Focused
Use Appropriate Body Language
Make Sure You Get Noticed
Chapter 17: Ten Tips for Achieving Peak Performance
Arrive in Good Time, Relaxed and Ready to Perform
Pay Careful Attention to All Instructions (Oral or Written)
Focus Clearly on the Aim of the Task
Use Preparation Time Effectively
Manage Your Time
Focus on One Task at a Time
Don’t Dwell on Disappointments
Relax During Breaks
Be Yourself
Enjoy the Experience!
: Further Reading
Introduction
W elcome to Succeeding at Assessment Centres For Dummies! Did you pick up this book because you’re due to attend an Assessment Centre and, like most people, you’re not really sure what to expect? Well, rest assured, this book will remove the veil of mystique and provide you with a clear appreciation of what Assessment Centres are all about.
Assessment Centres have been around for over half a century during which time they’ve grown steadily in popularity, mainly because organisations trust them to help them make effective selection decisions. One of the main attractions of an Assessment Centre is that they’re one of the most comprehensive and accurate ways of identifying the skills and abilities required for success in a given job. An Assessment Centre enables you to display all your qualities, so you have a great opportunity to show what you’re capable of and realise your full potential.
About This Book
Assessment Centres can appear complicated, so we’ve set about providing you with a clear explanation of how they work and what you need to know, to give you the best possible chance of success.
Having designed and run literally hundreds of Assessment Centres of varying duration and content, we have channelled our knowledge of what exercises aim to assess and what assessors generally look for from your performance, to provide you with some focused advice.
You can dip in and out of this book as you like; don’t feel compelled to read it from cover to cover. However, if you’ve received an invitation to an Assessment Centre, the following approach is useful:
If you know very little about the Centre and have never attended an Assessment Centre before, the first three chapters in Part I provide a useful background.
If you know what exercises you’re likely to face, refer to the relevant chapters in Part II.
If you believe that you’ll sit a psychometric test and/or perhaps have an interview, head to the chapters in Part III.
Finally, as part of your general preparation, follow the advice in Chapters 3 and 13 and read the tips in Chapters 15 to 17 in Part IV.
Conventions Used in This Book
To help you as you go through this book we use the following conventions:
Italics have been used to highlight quotations and definitions.
Monofont is used for occasional web addresses which we suggest you might wish to use to access useful information.
We use male pronouns in odd chapters and female pronouns in even chapters to be fair to both genders!
Foolish Assumptions
While writing this book we made some assumptions about your knowledge of Assessment Centres, why you might be interested in this book, and what you want to get out of it. We assume that your reason for picking up this book might be one or more of the following:
You don’t know anything at all about Assessment Centres and you want to gain some understanding, which could range from knowing the basics through to having a fairly thorough grasp of what they’re all about.
You’ve been invited to attend an Assessment Centre for the first time and want to know what to expect.
You have a pretty good idea of the activities you’ll face on an Assessment Centre but you want to be as thoroughly prepared for it as you can, because you’re keen to do well.
How This Book is Organised
This book is divided into four major parts. The chapters within each part go into greater detail of specific aspects or elements of an Assessment Centre. Each chapter provides self-contained coverage of that particular aspect, so you don’t need to read all of the chapters or read them in sequence. The Table of Contents provides a comprehensive list of everything we cover, enabling you to jump around the book as you like.
Part I: Introducing Assessment Centres
This part provides you with an introductory overview to Assessment Centres. Starting with an introduction to the basic principles and a description of what an Assessment Centre looks like, we then go into greater detail about how they actually work. These first two chapters provide you with a foundation upon which to build your understanding. We also focus on some of the general preparation you can do before your Assessment Centre to ensure you maximise your chances of success.
Part II: Mastering Assessment Centre Exercises
This part explains each of the different types of exercises that are used most frequently on Assessment Centres. Knowing what to expect and how to handle these types of exercise will boost your confidence no end, enabling you to feel you can tackle whatever’s thrown at you.
Part III: Excelling at Non-Exercise Assessment Centre Activities
This part covers interviews, psychometric tests and various briefing sessions. Attending an Assessment Centre is likely to be one of the most insightful events of your career, so we also cover how to ensure you make the most of the opportunity to learn from this enriching experience.
Part IV: The Part of Tens
This part provides a series of general tips that apply to the Assessment Centre as a whole, rather than being aligned with any specific aspect of a Centre. We start by covering some practical tips about how to impress the Assessors, because your success at a Centre is very much in their hands. We then provide some suggestions about how best to behave, with appropriate warnings about behaviours to avoid! Finally, we offer some classic tips about how to ensure you’re at the top of your game, so you can leave the Assessment Centre feeling positive and knowing you gave it your best.
Icons Used in This Book
We use a number of different icons throughout this book to draw your attention to particular pieces of information.
The knotted string highlights particularly important information to remember.
This icon relates to technical stuff that you don’t necessarily need to know and can skip over if you want to. However, we include it in case you want to understand the underlying theory behind some of the points covered.
This icon refers to useful ideas and suggestions.
The bomb signals something to be careful about and highlights behaviours to avoid.
Where to Go from Here
What to read next? The choice is yours. You can just dip in and out of the different chapters, depending on which bits appear most relevant and useful to you. Or you can go down the traditional route and read this book from cover to cover.
We hope that this book helps you to perform more effectively in an Assessment Centre, so you can achieve your ambition of getting that job or promotion you want. Give the best performance you can, and remember to always be yourself. Good luck!
Part I
Introducing Assessment Centres
In this part . . .
For many people the term Assessment Centre conjures up an image of somewhere that you go to be prodded and probed until your innermost secrets are exposed. Little wonder that being asked to attend an Assessment Centre can be an intimidating prospect for the uninitiated!
This part aims to remove the mystique of Assessment Centres, so you can attend armed with the confidence to succeed.
Chapter 1
Demystifying Assessment Centres
In This Chapter
Understanding what an Assessment Centre is and what it isn’t
Knowing why and when Assessment Centres are used
Appreciating why you’re being invited to an Assessment Centre
F or many people an Assessment Centre and what goes on there is a complete mystery. In this chapter we explain just what an Assessment Centre is and what it isn’t. We’re also going to attempt to dispel many of the myths accompanying Assessment Centres, so that if you’re invited to attend a centre you can happily go armed with knowledge and confidence.
We also tell you about the different purposes for which Assessment Centres are used and how they’re run so that you know what to expect when attending an Assessment Centre.
What Assessment Centres Are (and Aren’t)
Hearing the term Assessment Centre for the first time, you may naturally assume that an Assessment Centre is a place where assessments are carried out. This popular misconception is based on the fact that the earliest such assessment events were run at a place called the Assessment Centre, so the name stuck. Nowadays, an Assessment Centre is a particular type of assessment process used for selecting the right person for the right job, and which has been steadily growing in popularity since the Second World War. In short, it is a process not a place.
Defining Assessment Centres
No single, universally accepted definition exists for an Assessment Centre, but there are many versions all tending to say much the same thing. Here’s a typical example:
An integrated system of tests and other measures, including simulation exercises designed to generate behaviour similar to that required for success in a target job or job level.
So what does this tell you? Read on to find out.
Activities are relevant to the actual job you’re seeking
First, you can expect the Assessment Centre to include activities relating to the sorts of things you expect to do in the job you’re being assessed for. For example, if you’re applying for a job as a customer service agent in a call centre, then you may well find that you’re asked to handle one or more customer queries over the phone. This type of activity simulates the real job and is an essential principle of an Assessment Centre.
Assessment Centres set out to use realistic tasks serving to give you a useful insight into the nature of the job that you’re applying for, helping both you and the organisation to decide whether there is a good fit.
The process lets you display behaviours you’re actually going to need
Second, an Assessment Centre is designed to let you display the behaviour that’s considered relevant to the job in question. So, unlike an interview, where you have the opportunity to talk about yourself and what you would do or did do in a given situation, at an Assessment Centre you need to show what you can do, the exercise simulations being both practical and realistic.
If you’ve applied for a particular job and you’ve been invited to attend an Assessment Centre as part of the selection process, try to identify what successful performance in that job would look like. What are the sorts of things a successful job performer would do? These behaviours are what the Assessors will be looking for and this can guide you as to how to behave on the Centre.
History of Assessment Centres
The Assessment Centre method was developed during the Second World War when there was an urgent need to find people with the capability to lead under very difficult circumstances. The milestones for Assessment Centres (ACs) are:
1942: German, UK and US Armed Forces use ACs for the selection of officers
1945: UK Civil Service Selection Board (CSSB) – first non-military use of ACs
1956: Telecoms provider AT&T first use ACs for management devel- opment purposes
1960s: Interest grows in the US: IBM, Standard Oil, General Electric
1970s: Interest grows in the UK: ICL (now part of Fujitsu), Post Office, consumer brand giant Grand Metropolitan
1980s: Increasing use of Assessment Centres for development (DCs)
1990s: Growth in use of AC/DCs in US and UK in public and private sectors
2000s: Growing global interest in use of ACs
An integrated system is designed to give a full picture of your abilities
Third, the reference to an ‘integrated system’ highlights the fact that the various parts of the Assessment Centre process all contribute to the assessment of the behaviours needed in the job you’re being assessed for. This shows that Assessment Centres are carefully constructed events and not simply a set of unrelated tasks that have been thrown together.
Your overall performance is determined by how well you did on the assessment as a whole; a less effective performance on one activity can be compensated for by a more than effective performance on another. So give each activity your ‘best shot’ and don’t be discouraged if you feel you’ve slipped up on one, because you may still have the opportunity to recover.
Well-designed Assessment Centres share certain key features, which we describe in ‘Key Features of Assessment Centres’ later in this chapter.
What an Assessment Centre isn’t
An Assessment Centre is a structured process for assessing the capabilities you’re going to need to be successful in a particular job. This description can lend itself to all sorts of misunderstandings about what an Assessment Centre actually is, as the following sections explain.
A real-life version of The Apprentice
In thepopular TV series The Apprentice, a group of contestants carry out a series of tasks and are gradually whittled down to a winner, who gets the much sought-after job. The TV show is very different from the structure and purpose of an Assessment Centre because:
Assessment Centresmake sure that the requirements of the job are clearly defined before the assessment takes place.
A group of observers, known as assessors, are fully trained in what to look for in the various tasks that the participants are asked to do.
The tasks are chosen to simulate different aspects of the job in question. Although this may be true for some of the tasks in The Apprentice, it certainly isn’t true for them all, because the contestants are frequently asked to carry out bizarre tasks totally unrelated to the job.
Participants at an Assessment Centre aren’t competing with one another because they’re all being measured against a common standard, allowing each participant to pass or fail. For the success of the show, Sir Alan Sugar has to hire someone, even if none of the candidates come up to scratch!
A series of interviews or a battery of psychometric tests
You may find that you’re invited to an assessment event which is referred to as an Assessment Centre, but which is made up of the following:
A series of interviews (See Chapter 11)
A battery of psychometric tests (See Chapter 12)
An interview and some psychometric tests
Exercise simulations or activities – but not measuring specific job-related behaviours
Any assessment event that doesn’t include at least one exercise simulation requiring you to actually demonstrate job-related behaviour doesn’t qualify as an Assessment Centre.
For example, an organisation runs an event that they call an Assessment Centre, made up of an interview, psychometric tests, and an activity such as a team task – constructing the tallest tower possible out of Lego bricks. The organisations’ justification for including this type of task is that you’re going to need to display various qualities required in the job, such as teamwork, communication skills, planning, leadership, and so on. However, the potential flaw in this form of assessment is that unless the job needs you to build Lego towers from time to time, this particular task bears no resemblance to the demands of the job. Although the skills being observed may be relevant, the task itself may impact on how those skills are displayed and you may not display those behaviours in the way you would with a more realistic task, thus undermining the validity of the task within the assessment process.
You aren’t in a position to question the choice of tasks, so try focusing on doing your best at whatever tasks are set before you, regardless of their suitability. Avoid being distracted by any irritation or the nagging question: ‘What does this have to do with the job?’ Try figuring out what behaviours the organisation is looking for and do your best to show that you have those qualities. Hopefully, you’re going to have the opportunity to vent your frustration at the end of the event when you’re asked for feedback. However, be very careful not to be too critical, as you may come across as a ‘moaner’ or the organisation may think you’re making excuses for a less than effective performance. Make sure that your feedback is couched constructively, like: ‘I would have preferred it if the task had been closer to the XYZ role, as I believe that communication skills are very important in this role and I don’t feel that I had sufficient opportunity to demonstrate my abilities in this area.’
Answering common questions about Assessment Centres
In this section we describe some of the typical questions which highlight candidates’ concerns when they’re invited to attend an Assessment Centre.
What’s more important: Past experience and achievement or performance at an Assessment Centre?
You may be tempted to think that your experience and achievements to date are more important than how you perform on an Assessment Centre. Not so! Assessment Centres focus on identifying your future potential. What you’ve done up to this point in your life may not show what you’re truly capable of achieving. Indeed, Assessment Centres are most usefully employed in those situations where you’re about to make a step-change, such as graduating from university and taking up your first full-time job, or being promoted to a first-line manager. In both cases, the change is quite significant and you’re going to need to display skills in a totally new setting.
Do people who have previously attended an Assessment Centre have an advantage?
No, not really. Each Assessment Centre is different in terms of the behaviours being assessed, the exercises or activities being used, the make-up of the group of candidates, and the team of assessors doing the assessing. Even if a candidate has previously attended a similar centre, it’s unlikely that this is going to be of any great benefit. It’s very difficult to put on a performance and to keep it up when it’s ‘the real you’ who’s on display and being tested.
Am I competing against other candidates?
Strictly speaking, no. Assessment Centres aim to assess people against a predetermined standard, which is defined in relation to the requirements of the job for which you’re being assessed (the target job). In theory, everyone can meet or exceed the standard required, or fail to meet the standard. However, in reality there are usually only so many vacancies available, and if everyone exceeds the required standard, then the organisation usually picks the best performers.
Aim to do your best, but don’t be obsessed with ‘beating’ the other candidates, because overly competitive behaviour may not go down well in that particular organisation. Avoid being seen as a poor team player who’s too self-centred. On the other hand, don’t be a ‘shrinking violet’ who’s dominated by the other participants. The key is striking a sensible balance by displaying and earning respect for others through an appropriate amount of give and take.
How do assessors avoid bias based on prior knowledge about me?
Bias can be a concern when the Assessment Centre is for internal promotion, and you perhaps feel that some of the assessors have preconceived views about you, influencing how they’ll judge your performance. However, if the Assessment Centre is well designed and properly managed, then this concern shouldn’t arise, as only relevant, observed behaviour will be evaluated. Any attempts to include irrelevant information are likely to be challenged and almost certainly ignored when considering your performance.
Key Features of Assessment Centres
You’ve got to grips with what an Assessment Centre is and what it isn’t (see the preceding sections); now we describe some of the key features in further detail, so as to make you more familiar with the process and increase your chances of success.
Measuring job-related competencies
If you’re invited to attend an Assessment Centre you can safely assume that the event is designed to assess a set of job-related competencies, which have been identified through some form of job analysis. You’re usually told in advance of the competencies that the centre is going to be assessing. You need to give some thought to what the Assessment Centre is trying to measure and how you can show that you possess those qualities.
For a more detailed explanation of Competencies and the role they play in an Assessment Centre, check out Chapter 2.
Using job-related simulations
Your next step is to think about which exercise simulations are likely to be used on the Assessment Centre to measure those competencies. It’s important that the exercises reflect the types of activities that you’re going to meet in the job you’re being assessed for. You can expect to be presented with more than one exercise simulation, as it’s generally considered desirable to have several sources of evidence for each of the competencies being assessed. A typical Assessment Centre may have between three and five exercises, possibly along with an interview, and one or more psychometric tests.
Chapter 2 gives you an overview of the types of exercise simulations you’re likely to meet and Chapters 4 to 10 go into a detailed description of each of these different types.
Involving more than one assessor
One of the most important features of an Assessment Centre is that more than one assessor evaluates your performance. By involving multiple assessors, the risk of individual bias influencing the final outcome is much reduced. Best practice recommends that there’s one assessor for every two participants (candidates), so if you’re one of eight participants then it’s likely that there are also four assessors. If the Assessment Centre is made up of four different exercise simulations, then each assessor is tasked with observing and evaluating your performance in a different exercise.
It’s almost certain that you’re going to need to impress more than one assessor if you wish to succeed at your Assessment Centre. So don’t fall into the trap of trying to impress just one particular assessor, even if that assessor seems to be giving you more attention by sending out positive signals such as a lot of eye contact and smiling.
The assessor’s role is described in more detail in Chapter 2.
Gathering independent data for making decisions
Each assessor is expected to work independently to come to an objective evaluation of your performance on a particular exercise. Any discussion between the assessors about your performance is discouraged to prevent the assessors from unduly influencing one another before the marking is completed.
After the assessors finish their marking, they then come together for a final evaluation meeting to share their findings. This is a critical and important feature of the Assessment Centre. If four different assessors independently conclude that your performance is deficient on a particular competency you can be sure that you’re being judged fairly and accurately.
See Chapter 2 for a more detailed explanation of how the assessors make their collective decision about your overall performance.
Assessing multiple participants
The Assessment Centre is often referred to as a Multiple Assessment Process, because it measures multiple competencies, using multiple exercise simulations, evaluated by multiple assessors, all of which involve multiple participants (candidates). Most Assessment Centres invite 6 to 12 participants, although in theory it’s possible to run an Assessment Centre with any number of participants, or even just one!
It can happen that you’re the one and only participant at the Assessment Centre. If you find yourself in this position, respond in exactly the same way as you would for a centre with more participants, as the assessment is likely to be made up of much the same activities. For example, you may be given a written task, followed by a presentation, a one-to-one role-play, as well as being interviewed. The one obvious difference is that you’re unlikely to be asked to take part in a group discussion exercise, unless the assessors use stand-ins to make up the group numbers.
Take heart! Attending an Assessment Centre as a solitary participant probably means that you’re on the shortlist of candidates being considered for that position.
Advantages of Using Assessment Centres
Assessment Centres have grown steadily in popularity ever since they first came on the scene during the Second World War. But what is it that has made them popular and what does this mean for you?
Predicting future potential with greater accuracy
Every organisation wants to find the best people for the job so that it can maximise its productivity and become the best in the field. Key to achieving this goal is being able to predict who among a multitude of applicants for a particular job is going to be the most successful in that post. This requirement is a perpetual challenge for organisations, which have been experimenting with many different assessment methods over the years. The Assessment Centre consistently shows itself to be one of the most effective ways of predicting future job success.
Researching Assessment Centres
Psychologists have carried out many research studies over the decades, comparing different job selection methods. The following figure is based on a combination of such studies and shows how well each method is at predicting job success.
Unsurprisingly, no absolutely certain way exists of predicting future job success.
Work Samples are the most reliable because getting you to actually do part of the job provides the clearest indication of your capability. This is fine with certain practical jobs but for any office-based job, where you need to know a lot about procedures and the organisational structure, it’s unrealistic to expect you to step into that role for a limited period of time, so work samples only have limited scope. They also lack the ability to assess your future potential as they are rooted in the ‘here and now’.
Ability/Aptitude Tests are a highly effective way of measuring your intellectual capability in a general context, but they don’t show how you can apply your intellect to tackle the practical challenges within that job.
Biodata involves answering a series of focused biographical questions, which provide data that specifically relate to the job for which you’re applying. Such questionnaires can be useful for screening large numbers of applicants, but they’re costly and time-consuming to produce, and are only economical for large-scale recruitment.
Other selection processes include: the Interview, References, Personality Tests, and the Assessment Centre, which is by far the most effective method for predicting future job success.
So, if you’re invited to attend an Assessment Centre, you can be reassured that the organisation is using what is generally regarded as one of the most valid selection methods, hopefully reinforcing your opinion that this is a professional organisation that you’d want to work for.
Providing a fair and equal opportunity to all candidates
Assessment Centres are recognised for giving candidates a fairer and more equal opportunity in the job selection process. This is because Assessment Centres are designed to assess your ability to tackle job-related activities, rather than relying on someone making a superficial judgement about your capabilities, based on some abstract and seemingly irrelevant measures.
When you attend an Assessment Centre you do so in the knowledge that you and the other candidates are going to be assessed against an objectively defined standard, rather than being compared with one another. That standard applies equally to everyone, regardless of background or at what stage in your career you’re attending the centre. The standard acts as a yardstick and is updated regularly to reflect changing demands of the job whenever they occur.
Providing a realistic job preview
Another advantage of the Assessment Centre over other selection methods is that an Assessment Centre gives you a useful insight into what that particular job is going to involve if you are appointed. This is a real benefit because it allows you to decide if this particular job in this organisation is the one for you.
It’s in everyone’s interest to give you the opportunity of considering carefully if the job is right for you; if you’re going to be able to cope and find the job fulfilling. The advantage of the Assessment Centre is that it acts as a shop window, where ‘what you see is what you get’!
Common Uses of Assessment Centres
Assessment Centres are highly sophisticated events which are costly and time-consuming to design and carry out, but despite this they’ve been used for a number of different purposes over the years, as Table 1-1 shows.
Reproduced with the kind permission of The A&DC Group.
The results in Table 1-1 are from an international survey carried out in 2007, of 437 respondents from 43 countries on five continents, showing that the top six uses for Assessment Centres fall into three broad categories, as we describe in the following sections.
External recruitment
External recruitment has always been the most popular use for Assessment Centres and still is today. Typically Assessment Centres are used for two types of external recruitment: large-scale recruitment such as graduate recruitment and senior or key appointments.
Graduate recruitment
Assessment Centres are often used in situations where there are large numbers of vacancies and even larger numbers of candidates, such as in graduate recruitment.
You may be about to graduate or have recently graduated, and you’re applying for a graduate trainee position with a number of big employers. Most of these organisations are planning to take on a large pool of graduates, perhaps in excess of 100, and they often get upwards of 5,000 applicants. This means a large-scale employer needs to screen out those applicants whom they judge as being unsuitable for their organisation. Many organisations do this by using a series of screening activities, each more refined than the last, and culminating in the Assessment Centre.
Often the initial screening criteria are by necessity very crude, which could include only considering candidates with a 2.1 degree, even though many with a 2.2 or even lower are viable candidates. Generally the intention at this stage of screening is to significantly reduce applicant numbers, so your first challenge is to get past this initial hurdle.
You need to stand out from the crowd, by showing the organisation you have the skills they’re looking for. Most organisations’ application forms are now online. Form filling is time-consuming, particularly because you need to repeat the process for each organisation you’re applying to. Try building up a set of standard examples in a Microsoft Word document of how you demonstrate behaviours such as Teamwork, Planning, Influencing, and so on. After making sure that your examples are clear and well thought through you can then cut and paste them into different application forms.
If you get through the initial screening you may be invited to complete an online psychometric test, which is used to reduce applicant numbers even further. Go to Chapter 12 for advice on how to tackle psychometric tests.
After getting through this stage you’re then likely to be invited to attend an Assessment Centre, which is usually the last stage of the selection process.
Getting to the Assessment Centre stage is a good reason for giving yourself a big pat on the back because you’ve managed to get through to the last few hundred. At this stage your chances of success are likely to be approximately one in three, so you have every reason to be proud of your achievement. However, the job isn’t done yet and you need to go to the appropriate chapters within this book to help you make the most of your chance when it comes up. It’s very important to re-read your application form, so as to make sure you give consistent answers in an interview, not forgetting that the answers you gave on your application form helped you to get to this stage of the selection process.
Senior or key appointments
Assessment Centres are also used to recruit people into senior positions where the consequences of getting it wrong are highly significant. If you’ve been invited to attend an Assessment Centre for a senior post such as an executive or a general manager, then the likelihood is that you’re on a shortlist of around three to six candidates. In this situation it’s usual for the candidates to be seen on an individual basis, to avoid any embarrassment, particularly if the applicants are likely to know one another because of coming from the same industry or line of business.
Whatever the outcome, make a point of asking for feedback. You can discover a lot about yourself and you also gain useful insights as to how the Assessment Centre process works, which is likely to be beneficial if you get to attend another centre in the future.
Internal promotion
Assessment Centres are sometimes used for important internal promotions, such as appointments to a first-line managerial position or other key roles within the organisation. The centre can also be used for succession planning, helping to identify people with the potential to move into senior roles in the future.
Unfortunately a few organisations using Assessment Centres fail to make their purpose clear. Sometimes this is simply an oversight but occasionally it’s because the organisation has a hidden agenda. For example, they may claim that they wish to assess their employees in readiness for a switch over to a new working environment, but they fail to disclose that those employees not showing the appropriate skills may end up being made redundant. We’re certainly not implying that all Assessment Centres carry such threats, but it’s always advisable to ask what the centre is aiming to achieve.
Hopefully, the organisation that you’re aiming to join is going to be one following best practice and providing a clearly written brief, accompanied by a Question and Answer session explaining exactly what they are trying to do and why.
Development
Since the 1980s Assessment Centres have been used more and more for development purposes. The detailed nature of the data produced from an Assessment Centre provides a rich source of information, which can be used to pinpoint areas for development and provide powerful feedback. Such Assessment Centres are often referred to as ‘Assessment Centres for development’ or perhaps more fittingly ‘Development Centres’. The relationship between Assessment Centres and Development Centres is illustrated in Table 1-2.
Development Centres can have a number of different purposes and sometimes they even have joint purposes, as outlined below.
Fully understanding the purpose of a Development Centre and how the event is going to be run is vital to the outcome of your attendance. Many organisations provide a clear brief covering questions such as:
What is the purpose of the Development Centre?
Who is the Development Centre targeted at?
How are participants nominated?
Who are going to act as assessors? What training do the assessors have?
How are the results from the Development Centre going to be used?
Who is going to have access to the data/results from the Development Centre?
