Assessment Centres

Assessment centres are usually (but not always) the final stage in the graduate recruitment process and are increasingly used in internship and placement selection too.

An assessment centre may be held at the employer’s premises or a hotel, or increasingly it may take place remotely on a virtual platform. They involve a variety of individual and group exercises designed to give you the opportunity to demonstrate specific skills and qualities against a predetermined set of criteria.

You will usually receive an agenda in advance of the assessment day which may give you an overview of the types of tasks you may face in an assessment centre. These could include:

Group Exercise – A collaborative task that assesses how well candidates work in a team, likely to involve a case study or problem solving exercise which the group discusses.
In-tray / e-tray Exercise - Candidates are presented with a set of tasks or emails related to a specific job role which they need to prioritise and action.
Presentation - Candidates may be asked to prepare and deliver a short presentation on a given topic.
Written Task / Case Study - Candidates may be given a written task such as analysing a case study, writing a report, or responding to specific scenarios.
Role Play - Simulated scenarios where candidates play a specific role (usually the role they have applied for) and handle various situations.
Individual and/or Panel Interview – Candidates answer questions to demonstrate motivations, experience, and skills relevant to the role.
Networking / Social Events - Opportunities for candidates to interact with other candidates, current employees, managers, or other stakeholders.

The good news is that you can prepare for these tasks, even if you don’t know the specific details of what you will face. See the links below for further advice, events and useful resources.

MOCK ASSESSMENT CENTRES

To sign up to attend a Mock Assessment Centre, run by the Careers Network team, with participation from leading graduate employers, visit Attend Events for a list of dates available.

Graduates First

Careers Network has teamed up with Graduates First to provide a range of practice psychometric tests, games and video interview practice and example assessment centre exercises.  This gives you free access to:

  • Verbal, numerical, logical reasoning, situational judgment and personality tests.
  • A workstyle personality questionnaire and question identifier tool (QIT) which will help you identify the types of competencies and questions that are likely to come up in any forthcoming interview. 
  • Games and video interview practice, with questions for competency based interviews, strength based interviews and 10 industries (e.g. banking and consultancy).
  • Detailed, personalised feedback on your answers and performance and tips for improving your score.
  • Fully worked solutions for all questions that you answered incorrectly.
  • Example assessment centre exercises.
  • Detailed  and hints on how to pass their assessment process.

Making sure you are connected to the University Network, either on campus or via the VPN.

If you have already graduated, and do not have an account for Graduates First with a Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é email address, please contact studentservices@lboro.ac.uk with your student number and year of graduation, asking for access to this resource.

Further resources to help you prepare for your upcoming assessment centre:

  • Assessment Centres - all you need to know on the app.
  • Careers Network Assessment Centre Framework on the app - Use our scoring framework to understand how a recruiter may assess your performance.
  • Prospects - 
  • Targetjobs - 
  • Bright Network – 
  • Careers Network - Interviews web page
  • Our own guide to Interviews - Preparing for Success on the  app.

Don’t forget to look at company websites as many will have a page giving advice specific to their own recruitment procedure.