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ASSESSMENT CENTRE

The assessment centre day, a day that I never wanted to come around, came around. And after all the worrying, I came out with a happy face. The assessment is split into three; group task, interview and presentation. All three are stages that happen in an application process.

Group Task - Assessed by Laura Moughton

Starting off with the group task, this is a task that you can’t prepare yourself for. We went in with no idea what we was going to be asked to do. When I sat down, I tried to make eye contact with everyone else on the table to make them aware of who I am so no one ignores that I am there. The assessor gave us the task to pick a trend and relate it to a magazine to therefore propose an idea of how we could write an article about. We was give 20 minutes to then talk about it and then 10 to present it. In my group, I could sense a lot of nerves which made people very quite and not joining in. I found myself making a lot of input and contributing to a lot of ideas. It was difficult as there was only two other girls who was responding and everyone else was just sitting there agreeing. I tried to get people involved by asking open ended questions but I got a few responses but nothing to help move the conversation forward. I decided it would be good to make a list of what we needed to do so then we can go through each part as a group and in relation to this the feedback I got said I demonstrated my passion and enthusiasm for the topic and I shared my ideas freely. I am happy with the feedback I got as I felt like I was in a challenging group, on my feedback sheet here is what the assessor ticked off:

Makes sensible, balanced and fact based contributions to the discussion
Encourages creative thinking in response to the task during the discussion
Challenges the points proposed by others professionally and without humiliation
Understands the brief and can articulate with the group
Dismisses irrelevant information
Presenting confidently

For things to improve on, Laura mentioned to think of other ways to get everyone involved. I agree, as a confident member in the group I should of took it upon myself to try harder to get people to feel comfortable to contribute more. I will keep this in mind for when I go for a real application day. I am happy to walk away with this feedback, as I feel I managed to get a positive outcome from a tricky situation. Even more, at the end of the day the observer in the room approached me and my friend who was also in my group saying that she was very impressed with how we controlled the situation and how her students would never be able to do what we did.

Interview - Assessed by Debbie Vick

After the group task, I then prepared for for my interview. The interview was based on a communications role from the Hearst Magazine. I was asked numerous questions including why I suit the role, an example of this and what I think my best attributes of me are. As the interview was going on, I made sure I had a positive attitude and maintained eye contact. I was very bubbly and tried to explain myself in full detail. Before I had feedback, I believed I did well but not as good as my actual feedback. Which took me by surprise and I was very proud. Heres a few things that the assessor said I did well:

Displays positive body language throughout the interview exercise
Displays enthusiasm when responded to the questions throughout the interview
Ability to articulate thoughts into structured responses during the interview
Demonstrated a strong commercial awareness throughout the interview
Demonstrated a strong self awareness
Used examples to reinforce ideas and thoughts to create a compelling case
Upbeat and confident
Keen to put across evidence of my skills
Articulate and engaging

For things to improve on, Debbie mentioned how I should prepare questions for the interviewer as it shows that I want to know more and to think more on the structure of my answers. I agree with this as I did mumble on a lot with some answers as I was nervous and couldn't get straight to the point.

I was extremely happy with this response as I didn't feel very prepared walking in as I could of done due to me spending most of my time preparing for my presentation. Next time, I will look more on the job application so I know what to cover in my responses and to think of a few questions to ask at the end.

Presentation - Assessed by Dawn Leggott

The presentation was what I was dreading the most and I think the majority of the students that day could agree with me. I made sure I was prepared by creating a leaflet that folded out into two A3 boards so it was easier for the people watching the presentation follow what I was saying. I also made flash cards that I rehearsed everyday for a week before but for some reason I didn’t use the flash cards as the people who I watched before used them and it looked unprofessional. Instead I took one of my leaflets up with me and talked through that. It was a 5 minute presentation and when I timed myself at home it was 8 minutes long. This was something I was very cautious about, so cautious in fact that I ended up speaking so fast that I finished on 4 minutes 30 seconds. I was okay with this as that is a lot closer to 5 then 8 minutes. I just wish I didn't talk talk too fast. The assessor said I:

Had a good introduction and links between sections
Very attractive and creative visual handout
Well prepared and well structured presentation
Good eye contact and clear delivery
Answers at the end of presentation were credible
Responds to questions in a calm and rational manner
Presentation engages the interest of the audience

After this was done, I felt so relieved and proud that I did every task with my full effort. I was a little underwhelmed with my presentation as I found out the assessor doesn't even do fashion so was unclear of the knowledge I was talking about. Also, a lot of the time the assessor had her head down writing instead of watching how I was presenting which made it hard for me to maintain confidence. I will try and speak a slower next time instead of panicking and rushing my end due to time.