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Employers and the Labour Market
How do employers assess your skills for the job?
Assessment centres
What are they?
They are a range of tests and activities that enable an employer to assess a job applicant against competencies or selection criteria. They can run for a couple of hours, a day or sometimes longer; can be done in stages or all in the one appointment. The standardised tests and activities bring some objectivity into the process and provide employers with the benefit of observing behaviours first hand.
What sort of activities?
Testing and Inventories: Some tests are timed, others are not. Tests are designed to find the best match against selection criteria and may involve measurement of a number of aspects of a candidate, including personality, aptitude, skills tests and inventories that measure values and areas of interest.
| TIP! When responding to questions don’t try and 2nd guess what the employer is looking for – you might be wrong. |
TIP! The following websites provide sample tests that give a brief overview of how tests may be formulated:
Test Grid,
One Test, SHL |
Case studies
In this exercise you will be given a set of papers relating to a situation and asked to make a recommendation in a brief report. The subject matter is not the most important thing – you are being assessed on your ability to analyse information, think clearly and logically, to exercise judgment and to express yourself clearly in writing.
| TIP! Use your time effectively by focusing on making decisions based on the information you have before you. Don’t get caught up in trying to identify what is missing from the information. |
In-tray exercises
As a business simulation exercise it is designed to reveal your skills in prioritising workload, drafting correspondence, delegating tasks making recommendations to supervisors and making decisions. The exercise allows your planning and organisational skills to be assessed.
| TIP! Read all your instructions. As this activity is timed a brief plan may show the steps you intended to take even if you run out of time to write everything in full. |
Presentations
You may be asked to do a brief 5-10 minute presentation especially for roles where public speaking skills are important. The subject matter is not that important – the organisation wants to know that you can structure and communicate information effectively. This includes making eye contact with the audience, pitching the presentation at the right level for the audience and delivering clear messages within the time limits.
| TIP! Use a conversational style when speaking and talk from notes rather than memorising a script. Have some main ideas which you then support with anecdotes, statistics and facts or examples. |
Roles plays
Being able to see an issue from more than one perspective is important in workplaces and a role play allows assessors to view behaviour and reactions of each candidate as they interact with the others. Assessors are often looking for how candidates behave towards others with differing views, how they present their own case and the interpersonal skills that allow them to engage in the exercise and have some fun with it.
| TIP! Good listening skills and showing objectivity in decision making are ways you can demonstrate your ability to negotiate. |
Group activities
Assess your abilities to work with others by getting candidates to complete a set task together. The type of activity may vary from discussion about a business problem to participating in a game. The group may be asked to come up with a consensus decision, recommendations to a business problem or to talk through their experience as a participant. Assessors are often looking at your skills in active listening, how you get your ideas across in discussion and how you contribute to the group getting its task done in a constructive and timely way.
| TIP! Find a good balance between putting your own ideas forward and getting the task completed. Quality input is better than quantity. |
Interviews
An interview may be incorporated into the assessment centre. Competency based or behavioural interview techniques are often used in assessment centres.
| TIP! Become familiar with the STAR technique for responding to interview questions. Check out the section on Interviews for more advice on how to prepare and present well at interviews. |
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| Tips! |
- When responding to questions don’t try and 2nd guess what the employer is looking for – you might be wrong.
- The following websites provide sample tests that give a brief overview of how tests may be formulated:
Test Grid,
One Test,
SHL
- Use your time effectively by focusing on making decisions based on the information you have before you. Don’t get caught up in trying to identify what is missing from the information.
- Read all your instructions. As this activity is timed a brief plan may show the steps you intended to take even if you run out of time to write everything in full.
- Use a conversational style when speaking and talk from notes rather than memorising a script. Have some main ideas which you then support with anecdotes, statistics and facts or examples.
- Good listening skills and showing objectivity in decision making are ways you can demonstrate your ability to negotiate.
- Find a good balance between putting your own ideas forward and getting the task completed. Quality input is better than quantity.
- Become familiar with the STAR technique for responding to interview questions. Check out the section on Interviews for more advice on how to prepare and present well at interviews.
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