In this Chapter...

• Dealing with in-tray exercises
• Passing psychometric tests
• Giving presentations
• Contributing to group exercises
• Handling role play simulations

Assessment centres are an increasingly popular way for employers to assess the skills of candidates. Rather than simply asking candidates to talk about their skills, the interviewers want to observe those skills in action.

Assessment centres have been popular with employers for selecting graduates. However, they are increasingly being used for managerial levels and for purposes of internal promotion.

The term ‘assessment centre’ does not necessarily refer to a special building or location. It simply refers to an approach that combines a variety of different methods such as in-tray exercises, role play simulations, presentations, and psychometric tests to provide a more thorough picture of the strengths and weaknesses of candidates. You could be assessed on your own or in a group with other candidates. You could be assessed for only a few hours or up to several days.

One reason why employers use assessment centres is that they are harder to fake than interviews. The scenarios and situations that you face will vary greatly from one employer to the next. However, this chapter covers general pointers and tips that should help you perform at your best.

IN-TRAY EXERCISES

In-tray exercises try to simulate the typical demands that you might face on your desk if you were to be successful in joining the company. You might be presented with a pile of memos, faxes, reports and other correspondence requiring your attention.

For example, the instructions may start: “It’s Monday today, the first day in your new job. It is 9 a.m. and you have taken over from the previous manager who left only last Friday. Unfortunately, he did not clear his desk before leaving the company, therefore it is up to you to deal with all of his remaining correspondence.”

You may be asked to read the documents and respond in writing to the most important. For example: “In order to deal with the correspondence in the in-tray, you may choose to write, type or telephone your responses. You have been provided with blank memo pro formas to write on. There is a computer for you to type emails, or you may choose to use the telephone to leave voicemails for colleagues.”

Managing in-tray exercises

In-tray exercises are usually timed so that you will not be able to read all of the information in detail. Most in-trays contain both critical information as well as secondary information that is designed to distract you from the more critical items.

If you believe that you may be faced with an in-tray exercise, you may want to take along some of the usual stationery that you would have access to in your own office. For example, if coloured pens and Post-It notes would help you to prioritise items, then make sure that you have a supply of these in your briefcase.

Then do read the instructions carefully as different in-trays will require you to respond in different ways.

Graduate in-trays

Graduate in-trays or in-trays aimed at junior managers often test the ability to prioritise and organise work. They often ask you to respond to each and every item within the in-tray.

As such, you should skim-read all of the information and sort out all of the materials into one of three piles:

• Urgent information that is both important and needs acting upon immediately.For example, a complaint from a key customer may need sorting out as quickly as possible.
• Important information that needs your attention, but only when you have sorted through all of the most urgent items. For example, there may be a complaint from a smaller customer, which you would need to answer once you had answered the complaint from the key customer.
• Non-urgent information that could wait until a later date for you to deal with it. For example, there may be memos from senior managers that need your response at some point – but not today.

When you have sorted your initial information into the three piles, you should begin by tackling the urgent items. The instructions for the in-tray exercise should explain exactly what you should do. Perhaps you need to write a memo or type an email to deal with the item. Work through all of the urgent items before starting on the important ones. If you finish all the important items, then you could start the nonurgent items – but only then.

Frequently, there may be additional information given to you at intervals throughout the day. Interviewers like to see how you deal with interruptions. When the new material arrives, just deal with it in the same way, by prioritising it into the above three piles.

Senior manager in-trays

In-trays are quite common as part of internal promotion assessment centres, but are gaining greater acceptance for the recruitment of senior external candidates as well.

In-trays at this level usually require a more strategic approach. The assessors are looking for the ability to balance the need to deal with important short-term issues as well as important long-term issues.

For example, an in-tray might ask you to identify:

• 1.Short-term, urgent issues that must be dealt with in the next two to three days.
• 2.Medium-term issues that must be dealt with over the next four months, by the end of the business year.
• 3.Issues that affect the long-term (12+ months) viability of the organisation.

If the instructions ask you to spend time on two or three separate tasks, try to allocate time to all of them rather than finishing one off completely and neglecting the others. It is better to give some evidence that you are able to be both strategic and tactical at the same time rather than giving evidence that you are only able to do one or the other.