“ No Input, Just Vibes… ”

WHEW! assessment centres, I don’t miss them at all. The whole process is bad vibes if you ask me. You mean to tell me I have to fill out an application alongside my CV, do a psychometric test, an aptitude test, a personality test and a numerical test? On top of all that, you have to do a telephone interview and/or video interview. Then, when you get through the group stages, you’re onto the last round. No one is your friend when it comes to this round. You really need to be resilient. 

After the blog I did about the beginning of my journey, I did fix up my approach to applications and I started getting invited to do the online tests. Let me tell you about the Assessment Centres that I went to. I can’t lie, making it to the round of last six is a beautiful feeling. You’re one of the chosen ones. The journey to get there is quite a lot, but with the right preparation you’ll excel. I kind of wish I prepared better but I guess you live and you learn.

I applied for a graduate scheme and they liked my application so they sent me a link to do some tests. The first was a situational test which was to test my judgement (eesh). I then had a psychometric test which was quite fun to be honest, followed by a Maths test where you really have to be sharp (you know, two heads are better than one kinda thing *wink**wink*. Thankfully, I scored well in these tests to get through to the next stage.

The video interview was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever done because I had to prepare my answer and then record it, rather than speaking to someone. It was a whole lot of waffle, although I do remember the final question asking if I had any final comments to help with my interview. At this point, I’d come so far and I desperately needed to kickstart my career, that by the time I finished my answer I was practically on my knees. I was not trying to go back to that coffee machine. Fast forward a couple weeks and I receive a ‘We are delighted to inform you’ e-mail. It was a real proud moment to find out that I had made it to the final round.

When I arrived there, imposter syndrome was real. Everyone had a masters degree and a year in industry. I was sitting there with my undergraduate degree and my year in industry in making coffees. We began with the group exercise. I don’t know where my mind was at but I was daydreaming for the whole time. At some point, the timekeeper said that time’s up. I said ‘huh?’. Immediately, I had to go into T-mode and try to finish the task and conjure up an answer in one minute. Everyone else was contributing and I was literally looking at the paper with no clue what to do. There was information on the back of the sheet which I would have known if I paid attention, but the moment I was dreading was when they had asked for my input and I said, “I have nothing to add. I think we’ve done a great job of finishing the task”. Boy, when I mean I could hear everyone’s thoughts, they must have been thinking, ‘WE?! The audacity to include yourself with us’. Shameless season, we back baby!!!

I messed up on the group exercise but there were two more legs and I was praying to get a good aggregate score and get this job. It was time for the presentation and I saw people bringing out laptops and I was like ‘what’s that for?’. It reminded me of exam season when you see people asking for graph paper and you’re thinking, ‘what question is that?’. You’re probably thinking, how did I even get to this stage being this unprepared? Truth is, I had a good team around me (shoutout SV & NN) and I had let them down in the first round so I had to fix up quickly. In the end, I actually gave a good presentation. I made them laugh (very important), I was engaging and I was quite pleased with how I pulled that off because seeing those laptops really threw me off! 

The last stage was the interviews where they asked a whole heap of competency questions. I wasn’t fully prepared for this part but I did give a variety of in-depth answers, showing I had transferable skills from my experiences and current job. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. I got a call the week after, during my lunch break and was told that the group exercise was what let me down. If only I had focused. But I can’t dwell on the past, I can only learn from it.

Sadly, no tips this week, but to my university students and people who are constantly applying, don’t leave anything to chance and prepare thoroughly for your interviews and assessment centres. If you do need help with proofreading your essays, assignments and CVs, send an email to info@reviewithub.com and they’ll be  more than happy to help you.

I’ll tell you about the assessment centre that got me my current role another time … y’all gonna be proud of me. 

Love & Guidance

TT