This week in Careers we are celebrating the success of the Assessment Centre Activity Day this Wednesday 20 November.

Over 80 students came to attend sessions led by Aviva, Teach First and Jaguar Land Rover. The day started with a Q & A panel with all three employers, before students split off to have taster sessions of realistic Assessment Centre activities.

The sessions provided students with a real idea of what employers are looking for in potential candidates, as well as the reassuring message that many employers test competencies in more than one exercise during the day. As the points system for competencies is summed to give an average for the candidate, students shouldn’t feel disheartened about finding one exercise particularly challenging. Additionally, it is entirely possible for all candidates within a group to be marked highly, so it is hugely beneficial to treat your peers as colleagues rather than competitors on the day!

From information about Psychometric Testing to practice for a Group Presentation, many students hugely benefitted from the feedback of the employers invited and the chance to experience these activities in a supportive atmosphere.

The sessions provided were:

•             Psychometric Testing Presentation – A session with insider tips, advice, examples and hints to help you through psychometric testing.

•             Group Exercise – Survive in a Rainforest as a group! This was an opportunity to take part in a group exercise used in a recent assessment centre.  There will be a debrief at the end of the session with hints and tips on the types of skills and behaviours that assessors are looking for.

•             Group Presentation – This was a chance to take part in a group exercise that was used during a recent assessment centre day.

•             Case Study – This was an exercise designed to test how you think, solve problems, express solutions and interact with other people, focusing on 8 key competencies graduate recruiters look for in applicants.

If you have an Assessment Centre day coming up, or would like to apply to grad schemes next year, come along to our Assessment Centre Activity Day next term on Wednesday 29 January 2014.

Keep up-to-date with Careers events by checking our events page and following us on social media.

Vikki Touzel, Graduate Intern, Careers