Three parts to the assessment centre: 1:1 Competency interview, 1:1 Technical interview, Group exercise; with a casual lunch in between the interviews with the assessors.
To start off we were introduced to the four assessors outside of the assessment centre area with refreshments. It was great to be introduced to them and have a chance to hear their experiences and career stories. It was relaxed and everyone was so nice so quickly put me at ease.
Competency interview
5 min prepared presentation on my motivation for stating my career at Rolls Royce, my thoughts on how Rolls Royce can remain competitive and future challenges for the company. The assessor then asked me questions on my personal experiences, designed to extract some examples of skills I have used (team-working, communication, etc.), my knowledge of the company and my future ambitions.
Technical interview
I was re-asked a couple questions about my ambitions and what areas of engineering interested me. I was then asked to pick one topic area from a list. I was really poor here but I could tell that he just wanted to know how my mind works and how I got to the answer, as opposed to whether I was the smartest applicant or not. If you're struggling they will help to out and nudge you in the right direction.
Group exercise
Finally, after everyone's interview we were gathered in a meeting room with the four assessors onlooking. My advice here would be to plan, communicate, include everyone (especially if they are quieter), think logically and don't rush into it. Better to show that you are good at working through a task sensibly and calmly with a good teamworking skills than to complete the exercise in a mess.
Everyone I came across was super helpful and nice, they got current graduates to come in and discuss their experiences so far. It really came across as an enthusiastic, communicative, well-resourced company for which I would be pleased to work.
They were very quick to give feedback, asking for a time to call each of us at the end of the day and getting back to us within four days. On the feedback call they also gave the offer.
