Ace your hospitality, leisure or tourism assessment centre

If you get through the first interview stage, you may be invited to an assessment centre. They are regarded as a fairer and more effective selection process than a second interview, which can be subjective. As such, an increasing number of employers within the hospitality, leisure and tourism sector are using these, particularly those offering formal training schemes.

Hospitality assessment centre basics

An assessment centre typically lasts one or two days and brings together a group of candidates who undertake a series of exercises and assessments. These can include group exercises, a presentation, a series of aptitude tests or a case study linked to the hospitality graduate job function that you have applied for. These give you the opportunity to demonstrate that you possess the personal and technical skills required for the job.

An organisation will design its own assessment centre, so if you attend several you may find that the format varies. Keep in mind the selection criteria that you identified for your first interview throughout your time at the centre. Every test, exercise and interview will match you against these criteria so do your best to show that you meet them.

They enable us to identify candidates’ individual strengths and limitations.

An example hospitality assessment centre

Rebecca Sutton, progress graduate scheme co-ordinator at Mitchells & Butlers prefers assessment centres, ‘as they enable us to identify candidates’ individual strengths and limitations based on objective measurements of relevant abilities. We also want to provide each candidate with an equal opportunity to demonstrate their abilities and give them the opportunity to assess us!’

At Rebecca’s organisation, the assessment centre begins with a group exercise to see how candidates interact with other people. Candidates also complete a numerical test to assess their general numeracy. They are then required to complete a competency-based interview, which is measured against a set of competences as well as helping to demonstrate a candidate’s own abilities and personality.

Be yourself but be the most positive version of yourself.

Top tips for graduate assessment centres

• Get stuck in. You might be asked to do some strange things but don’t stand back – get involved. These exercises are designed to see how well you work with others.
• Don’t lose concentration. It’s only natural that, over a couple of days, your concentration will waver. You might, for example, find yourself overdoing the food and drink and behaving in a slightly more robust way than you should. Remember that you are constantly being observed!
• Don’t act a part. It’s quite easy, having studied an organisation’s selection criteria, to convince yourself that you need to come across, for example, much more assertively than normal. This can lead you to behave unnaturally. So don’t act a part. Be yourself but be the most positive version of yourself.