the day was pretty packed - but they supply you with lots of food throughout to ensure you have the energy to do well.
the assessment centre pretty much consisted of:
interview
role play
2 group exercies
presentation (infront of one person only - not indimidating)
the interview: they read a long paragraph (an example) before asking you the question, this did put me off a little- an advice would be not to get so bogged down with what you read out - just pay attention to the question, they ask questions like: give a time you had to persuade other team members to do something/or make a (hard) decision for the team's benefit - how did you get everyone on board (i did give an example with the end result and explained what i did, but that didn't seem to be enough for the interviewer, he wanted a breakdown of how/why/motives etc. - so make sure you've prepared to give a 'juicy' answer in the star format, because i did see him put my answer in a STAR format on his sheet. another question was : give an example of a time you had to work in a way to enhance something. tell me the result.
the role play: you have one hour to read a booklet about this particular employee to prepare you for the role play (which is with this fictional employee(. they include emails/work tasks of other people in the team etc. i did enjoy this part, just make sure whilst you're reading the booklet you write down questions to ask in the role play room. the subject of mine was, this employee who has a lot of potential is really struggling, and you have to find out why and offer a solution (eg. ask questions about his relationship with his team, maybe suggest a way to improve the relationship, if he's going on holiday remember to ask him to do the handover to another employee - cause he has an important call etc.) remember when you go in the room , act the part immediately, i.e. introduce yourself as the manager.
the group exercises are merely a way to see how you act in a group remember to: (three tips: be supportive of others, offer good ideas and also make sure you somehow lead the conversation (do not be dominant, that is something they don't like). the first ggroup exercise was about this company who wanted to do something in a particular country (they have goals like helping the environment or helping the locals start a business etc.) and you have to come up with two things this company should do each and discuss. it isn;t tough at all- (you don't need to present), especially since they give you a few examples you can use in the booklet too. the second group exercise was about a start up company/they ship this particular product and something happened and you all have to come up with a solution - ie. transport surplus of products from one country to another. then they give you a crisis (fire in the company - so all stock go) what do you? don't forget about health and safety etc.) you have to generally sum up your points and tell them to the interviewes in the room, nothing to worry about.
presentation: they give you a booklet about 3 different products and you have to choose one which is appropriate to your country (they all sound good, but i went with the spray one, the majority seemed to have). make sure to include the following in your prsentation: benefits of your chosen products, challenges, why yours is better than the other two/or why the other two are not good. because after the short presentation, the interviewer asks you to sum up these points and he'll write them down.
nb.
the night before they give you a booklet to read, pay attention to the company's values - dalys (you can use them in your presentation). again don't get bogged down with the minor detail, but make sure you understand (no need to memorise).
i didn't get the role, but hopefully this will help someone to :) i'd say relax, everyone is lovely and understanding
