Assessment centres are used by employers to observe candidates’ performance in a range of activities to assess skills, competencies and characteristics you would use in the workplace. The same core assessment criteria are applied to all activities. This is seen as more reliable and fair than an interview alone as it gives you the chance to demonstrate your potential in a variety of settings, and you should also be able to find out more about the organisation's culture and job roles.
An invitation to an assessment centre shows you have been successful in the early stages of the recruitment process. Read on to find out more about the situations you are likely to face, how you can prepare for them and where you can find opportunities to practise.
If you need reasonable adjustments for any of the assessment centre activities, make sure you contact the employer to request this in advance. See our page for students with disabilities for more about requesting reasonable adjustments in the recruitment process.
Virtual careers sessions
Assessors observe a small group of candidates and may "score" candidates against a list of skills or attributes they are looking for.
Discussions could be on a topic relevant to the employer, a general current affairs issue or recent news item. They could take the form of a case study (see below). Sometimes one of the group members will be assigned as leader - more usually the group is leaderless.
The task could be a practical activity (eg building a tower out of straws) or problem solving task based on a workplace scenario; it could involve role play where you are briefed to assume a specific role.
See Assessment Day's advice on group exercises.
These exercises are designed to simulate the administrative aspects of the job. You are given a range of material which could include emails, letters, notes and phone messages. Your task is to decide on your priorities for responding to these and deal appropriately with each item. You may need to draft replies and will need to justify your reasoning. Sometimes additional emails and new information may arrive as you are working, and you will need to take these into consideration as you prioritise and respond.
Practice an in-tray exercise on Assessment Day. (You can access more Assessment Day exercises with your York log-in.)
Find out more about in-tray exercises on TargetJobs.
The case study exercise is based on a fictional situation, simulating the kind of business problem you are likely to come across in the role you have applied for. You are given a set of documents, such as official reports, figures, letters, newspaper reports, research findings etc and a problem to solve. You will have to give a recommendation for action in the form of a written report and/or a presentation, and can expect questions on your recommendations. Case studies may be an individual exercise or a group activity, and there is unlikely to be one "correct" answer - the assessor will be looking at your approach and how you justify your recommendations.
Practise case studies from Bain, and find out how to prepare for a case interview.
Situational judgement tests are based on based on reading or watching video scenarios, and then answering questions about how you would respond, often ranking responses from most likely to least likely, or most effective to least effective in the given situation. They aim to assess your suitability for the role and how well you will fit with the company culture.
Find out more and practice on Practice aptitude tests and Assessment Day.
These are often given to candidates to do as an online exercise before they are asked for an interview or to an assessment day. You may also do these tests at an assessment centre, sometimes to check for consistency with the results that you obtained in the online test. They are designed to assess a wide spread of abilities and aptitudes. Find out more on the Psychometric tests page.
You may be asked to prepare a short talk and present it in front of other applicants and/or the recruiters. You may be given a topic before the assessment day or when you arrive. It may relate to the case study or other activity you have done, and may also be a team activity. The length of the presentation required will vary. You may be able to use a variety of visual aids, but you need to confirm this with the recruiters.
See the Presentations section on the Interviews page for resources to help you prepare.
Some graduate recruiters use VR as part of their assessment process, with evidence suggesting responses in VR accurately reflect those in real life. You could be asked to perform tasks in various VR scenarios to assess your strengths and responses in a workplace situation; VR can also help give you an introduction to the company with a tour of the building, and business scenarios. As VR assessment is an immersive experience, you should aim to be yourself, engage with the tasks and respond naturally. Organisations using VR include Lloyds Banking Group, the Met Police, Jaguar, Microsoft and more are likely to include this in their recruitment process in future.
Interviews may form part of your day at the assessment centre, or may be a separate stage in the recruitment process. You may have individual interviews or a panel interview where several interviewers will ask questions in turn. For more on how to prepare, see our Interviews page.
Do remember that you may be assessed throughout the time you are with the employer – on a company tour or even at lunch or in the bar in the evening! It is also quite common for assessors to ask about candidates’ attitude and behaviour towards staff who are not involved in the assessment centre, such as reception staff.
Read more about the social side of an assessment centre on TargetJobs.
Check our events programme to see what's coming up this term.
For general advice on assessment centres: