Assessment centers: how to stand out?
6 December 2017
Read by 3741 persons
Role-playing, group sessions, tests, interviews with a psychologist... you're going to be scrutinized! How to appear as THE ideal candidate for this sales or marketing manager job offer?
To find out which candidate best suits their job offer, large companies are increasingly relying on assessment centers, evaluation sessions that allow them to decide on their future employees. Potential candidates are carefully selected based on tests and role-playing games and are evaluated on specific skills and personal qualities.
This method was developed in the 1940s by the American and British armies for the recruitment of their spies. Today, companies also use it, or they use agencies, to select executives and employees with "high potential".
Do you have the profile companies dream of?
The evaluation is used to predict people's behavior in the event that they hold the position. The employer draws up a profile. Based on this profile, the company develops exercises, tasks and simulations. Candidates will be confronted with this profile during the selection process. Behavior, skills and potential for development are taken into account. Assessment centers take different forms: role-playing, group sessions, psychological tests, presentations, IQ tests, interviews with a psychologist, etc.
Each task or test focuses on a particular skill. Among the best-known tests are: the mail test (defining priorities), complaint management, announcing bad news, information/instruction notes, thesis defense, and writing advice.
Group sessions
One of the most interesting methods for observing a candidate's team spirit and leadership qualities is the group session. A group of 4 to 10 people is brought together to discuss a specific problem. The skills and qualities of individual candidates (creativity, problem-solving attitude, crisis management, consensus building) are assessed during this discussion.
Role-playing
Through role-playing games, candidates are asked to manage a specific professional situation under pressure: analysis of a business plan, development of a marketing campaign, making a sale, etc.
The collective role-playing game confronts the candidate with other participants or other factors likely to generate tension. The simulations must show how a candidate manages organizational and interpersonal problems and how he/she analyzes situations, delegates, negotiates and makes decisions.
A golden tip: stay yourself!
Many companies inform candidates of the different evaluations. It is then tempting to prepare more than you normally would, to make a better impression. However, it is important to be honest. Simply be yourself!
The assessors are experienced behavioral scientists (often psychologists), an "imposter" will inevitably be unmasked. An actor is always identified and therefore definitively removed from the list of potential candidates. If you are a good analyst but show no leadership skills, you will obviously not be selected for a sales director position.
The advantage is reciprocal: if you were nevertheless selected for an "inappropriate" job, you would quickly become unhappy in that position.
What you can do:
- You can prepare for the most difficult parts of the intelligence tests by practicing with numbers, calculation series and analogies. It is important not to spend too long on a difficult task; trying to guess is always better than not answering at all. Whatever you do, stay calm and focused on your greatest qualities.
- Be careful with the amount of information you have to manage. Start by taking a look at the whole thing. A lot of information is probably not relevant and can therefore be ignored. Set priorities, take clear positions and ask for additional information if a task seems nebulous or ambiguous.
- A candidate must familiarize themselves with the company and the position they are applying for. Questions about motivation and the qualities required for the position are inevitable and can therefore be easily anticipated.
- Be mentally and physically fit for the selection (go to bed early enough), don't lose sight of your goal, wear appropriate clothing and be punctual!
Marketvente.fr
Posted online on July 16, 2015.
To find out which candidate best suits their job offer, large companies are increasingly relying on assessment centers, evaluation sessions that allow them to decide on their future employees. Potential candidates are carefully selected based on tests and role-playing games and are evaluated on specific skills and personal qualities.
This method was developed in the 1940s by the American and British armies for the recruitment of their spies. Today, companies also use it, or they use agencies, to select executives and employees with "high potential".
Do you have the profile companies dream of?
The evaluation is used to predict people's behavior in the event that they hold the position. The employer draws up a profile. Based on this profile, the company develops exercises, tasks and simulations. Candidates will be confronted with this profile during the selection process. Behavior, skills and potential for development are taken into account. Assessment centers take different forms: role-playing, group sessions, psychological tests, presentations, IQ tests, interviews with a psychologist, etc.
Each task or test focuses on a particular skill. Among the best-known tests are: the mail test (defining priorities), complaint management, announcing bad news, information/instruction notes, thesis defense, and writing advice.
Group sessions
One of the most interesting methods for observing a candidate's team spirit and leadership qualities is the group session. A group of 4 to 10 people is brought together to discuss a specific problem. The skills and qualities of individual candidates (creativity, problem-solving attitude, crisis management, consensus building) are assessed during this discussion.
Role-playing
Through role-playing games, candidates are asked to manage a specific professional situation under pressure: analysis of a business plan, development of a marketing campaign, making a sale, etc.
The collective role-playing game confronts the candidate with other participants or other factors likely to generate tension. The simulations must show how a candidate manages organizational and interpersonal problems and how he/she analyzes situations, delegates, negotiates and makes decisions.
A golden tip: stay yourself!
Many companies inform candidates of the different evaluations. It is then tempting to prepare more than you normally would, to make a better impression. However, it is important to be honest. Simply be yourself!
The assessors are experienced behavioral scientists (often psychologists), an "imposter" will inevitably be unmasked. An actor is always identified and therefore definitively removed from the list of potential candidates. If you are a good analyst but show no leadership skills, you will obviously not be selected for a sales director position.
The advantage is reciprocal: if you were nevertheless selected for an "inappropriate" job, you would quickly become unhappy in that position.
What you can do:
- You can prepare for the most difficult parts of the intelligence tests by practicing with numbers, calculation series and analogies. It is important not to spend too long on a difficult task; trying to guess is always better than not answering at all. Whatever you do, stay calm and focused on your greatest qualities.
- Be careful with the amount of information you have to manage. Start by taking a look at the whole thing. A lot of information is probably not relevant and can therefore be ignored. Set priorities, take clear positions and ask for additional information if a task seems nebulous or ambiguous.
- A candidate must familiarize themselves with the company and the position they are applying for. Questions about motivation and the qualities required for the position are inevitable and can therefore be easily anticipated.
- Be mentally and physically fit for the selection (go to bed early enough), don't lose sight of your goal, wear appropriate clothing and be punctual!
Marketvente.fr
Posted online on July 16, 2015.
