Assessment Centre

This workshop ran by Clare Brass was aimed at teaching us techniques to deal with the stresses of job interviews and providing us with useful experience when attending assessment centres

Being Watched

Over the course of the assessment centre my group was observed, and at times this became quite distracting, especially when he sidled up behind me to listen to my interview answers.

Apart from watching us, the observer was not of much help whatsoever, in the group task he had no answers to any of the questions we asked him about the task.

This assessment centre was very useful and informative for me, in how to work as a team in a more professional setting as opposed to standard group work I do with friends.

The panel interview, as well, showed me how scary they can be, but also what they look for and little tricks to impress them.

Body language and eye contact were a big takeaway from listening to and interviewing others as it got distracting when they wouldn’t look at us interviewers.

The importance of the informal aspects of your personality were also impressed on me, as I floundered and babbled when asked.

Protecting the Egg

Our task on protecting the egg from a balcony fall was not successful at all, and ours made the largest mess of any of the groups.

However, the task was enjoyable as it allowed me to express a bit of my creativity.

We arranged ourselves into 2 groups of 3, one group to focus on protecting the egg in the fall and my group was to find a way to launch it.

This allowed us to spend the full time on both aspects and meant that there was a manageable number of competing voices per section.

My group was very democratic, and we all had an equal role in the construction and design.

The other half on the other hand was monopolised by one person due to the shyness of the remaining 2.

We focussed well on the details of the task, as we worked to make a launcher for the egg, thinking we’d heard it as part of the task.

Group Grilling

The panel interview was far more intimidating than group tasks with peers, as you are the one being judged and where in a group, it’s more of an even dynamic rather than feeling like being singled out.

Being on the clock meant there was no more friendly conversations and it was far more professional and jarring to come from the informality of group discussion.

I tried to give mostly positive feedback or emphasise the positives in my peers’ interviews before giving them the aspects to improve, to cushion the criticism and they did the same for me in turn.

I have gleamed from these interviews that I am too focussed on the work side of employment and I need to prepare answers for questions about my social life and go in with more of a plan rather than just babbling.