Job done: how graduates can stand out at retail assessment centres

At an assessment centre, groups of candidates are brought together to undertake a series of exercises and assessments. Typically assessment centres last for one or two days.

Tasks can include group exercises, presentations, psychometric tests or case studies linked to the job function that you have applied for. These are designed to measure your suitability for the job in terms of personal and technical skills.

Get stuck in!

• Even if the task doesn’t seem relevant to the position, get involved, it’s all part of the test.
• Don’t try to be more assertive than usual. Such unnatural behaviour will be obvious to assessors.
• Don’t act a part either – friendliness and positivity are the only things you need to project.

Assessment exercises

Perhaps the two most common tasks at a retail assessment centre are group exercises and presentations.

Perhaps the two most common tasks at a retail assessment centre are;

1. group exercises
2. presentations

Group exercises
These come in many different forms. These include discussion groups, exercises that involve role playing a specific brief, leadership tasks, and, most commonly, job-related scenarios that test your ability to operate in a task that approximates the area that you have applied for.

Whatever group exercise you do, you will come across more favourably if you simultaneously demonstrate your own strengths and assist the group to finish the task.

Presentations
When giving presentations you will usually be addressing a mixed group of candidates and assessors. Here are a few ground rules:

• Structure: On the day, you’ll be nervous. A structure is helpful to prevent your mind from going blank and helps the audience keep track too. Once you have a structure, you can decide what kind of notes you will use. Use what you are comfortable with but never speak from a script.
• Content: Five minutes in front of an audience is only enough time for, say, four big ideas or messages. Don’t attempt to fit in too much or your audience will switch off.
• Presentation: Most of the message of your talk is transmitted non verbally: your body language can make a huge difference to your presentation.
• Master the visual aids: You may be invited to use a flipchart, an overhead projector (OHP) or PowerPoint slides to support your presentation. Use these to your advantage to illustrate and support what you are saying.

Recruiter tips: what to do and what not to do at assessment centres

It’s important not to feel intimidated at assessment centres. You aren’t competing against the other candidates and if you meet the set standards you’ll be hired. So:

• Be yourself: you won’t help yourself by pretending to be someone you’re not.
• Research the company and the programme that you are applying to prior to the day.
• Don’t give up if something doesn’t go well: one bad exercise doesn’t mean you haven’t got the job.
• Support the other candidates: it can be a nerve-racking experience, and you will perform better as a group if there is a positive attitude. Recruiters will approve of positive attitudes much more than arrogance.
• Have a variety of examples including work experience, university and personal life to demonstrate the skills you have developed.
• Remember the selection criteria you identified on your application form or in your first interview. These are still the skills and competencies that recruiters will be matching you against.

• Find out how to handle assessment centres
• Check out the employers who are using assessment centres, and find out how to approach them:
  • Tesco
    
  • Morrisons Supermarkets plc
    
  • Sainsbury's
    
  • John Lewis Partnership
    
  • Abercrombie & Fitch
    
  • Marks & Spencer