This article is the second in a four part mini-series looking at what you should expect at Assessment Centres, some of the tests used and how to show that you should be the one they offer the job to.
Read Part 1, Part 3 and Part 4 in the series.
This is a widely used assessment technique. Normally between 4 and 8 candidates will be given a task to work on together while assessors observe their performance. After observing the performance, once the exercise has finished, the assessors will evaluate the performance against a pre-determined set of competencies. The most common competencies to be measured in group exercises are:
Remember when you passed your driving test. You didn’t just need to look in your mirror before you made a manoeuvre; you had to move your head to show the examiner you were looking. It’s the same in an assessment centre. In a group exercise you not only have to listen to what other group members are saying, you have to show the assessors you are listening through body language and feedback.
The first thing to realise is that the reason they ask you to participate in a group exercise is that they want to see how you can work with other people and therefore much of the behaviour you will need to display is concerned with how you relate to the other members of the group. In most cases they will be looking for someone who can balance making their own contribution quite assertively while also giving value to the contributions of others.
Listening actively to the other group members’ contributions is a must whether you agree with them or whether you think they are talking nonsense. Active listening means looking at the person who is speaking, nodding acknowledgement and then showing you have listened by referring back to what they have said. Excluding others from the conversation by body language, such as consistently turning your back to them, or by constantly interrupting may fatally damage your chances of succeeding in the group exercise.
Your active listening skills can be improved with practice so try it out with your friends and family. Alternatively, organisations like ACP offer opportunities to practice assessment centre exercises in a more lifelike situation.
Because the group exercise is likely to be seen by many as a competitive environment, you may find some other candidates are over dominant in their quest to catch the eye of the assessors. In these situations it is difficult to make sure you make a sufficient contribution simply because of a lack of “air time”. In these cases, there is no choice but to be assertive in making sure you do make an adequate contribution perhaps with a thoughtful question which will cause people to pause and will help broaden or more clearly focus the discussion. Bringing in a quieter group member to the discussion, through phrases such as “what do you think Laura?” will almost always get you positive credit in the eyes of the assessors.
A common “winning” behaviour is to make contributions which keep the group focused on its task, perhaps by referring back to the brief you have been given or by keeping track of time and reminding the group what still needs to be achieved in the time left.
Find out more information about practice assessment sessions with ACP here
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