{"id":1207,"date":"2018-11-09T13:00:59","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T13:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/?p=1207"},"modified":"2025-10-22T15:56:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T14:56:32","slug":"top-5-assessment-centre-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/2018\/11\/09\/top-5-assessment-centre-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Assessment Centre Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2018\/11\/Group.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-1208\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2018\/11\/Group-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2018\/11\/Group-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2018\/11\/Group-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2018\/11\/Group-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2018\/11\/Group-323x215.jpg 323w, https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2018\/11\/Group.jpg 1095w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the past couple of years I have spoken to several employers, alumni and students with regards to what advice they have for being successful at assessment centres and therefore here are my top 5 assessment centre tips.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Be yourself<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I know many of you come with a deep sigh when I say this one, stating that you rather be what the employer wants. My answer back is quite simply: don't you think the employer notices when you are not being genuine or try and be someone you are not? Feedback from students that were successful at assessment centres usually say that the atmosphere on the day and the people they met made them feel motivated to work there and genuine, which in turn helped in the group work exercises. So, try and be the best version of you, whether that is a natural leader (then remember to listen and engage others), facilitator \u00a0or collaborator (then remember to also voice your own opinions). The employer generally wants a variety of people on their teams and will choose the applicants who are themselves, have something to say and who are inclusive. Be positive, courteous and professional.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Engage<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you know that many employers share\u00a0key information about assessment centre tasks and what they are looking on their webpages, blogs and\/or social media? A NHS recruiter told me at an event that if you engaged with<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nhsgraduates.co.uk\/connect\/our-insiders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> their current graduate management scheme trainees<\/a> via <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nhsgraduates.co.uk\/connect\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">their blogs<\/a>, for example, you would gain knowledge that would put you at a great advantage about tasks, presentations and more that will await you in their assessment centre. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bath.ac.uk\/guides\/using-bath-connection-as-a-careers-tool\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Talking to alumni<\/a> and\/or previous placement students may also give you important information you can use on the day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Know why you want to work for that employer<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The assessment centre is usually one of the last stages of the application process. Knowing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bath.ac.uk\/guides\/find-a-graduate-job-find-out-about-employers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">why you want to work for that employer<\/a> and for that sector is crucial at this point as if you are not motivated you won\u2019t do well. What inspires you about working there? What current news and developments interest you in the sector? Have you already spoken to people that work there? Commercial awareness and motivation are key recruitment factors.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Be healthy<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This one might be obvious but make sure you sleep well and eat healthy before the assessment centre. You don\u2019t want to look or be tired, lose focus or seem unmotivated. Make sure you get there early, you don\u2019t want to feel any more stressed than you already feel. If you are particularly anxious, what techniques and strategies do you have to try and remain as calm as possible? My own strategy is warming up beforehand. See my <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/2016\/11\/25\/exercise-tips-for-your-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Exercise Tips for your Interview<\/a> blog entry for more tips.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Get advice and support<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you have never been to an assessment centre before, you may be extra nervous.\u00a0 Talking to fellow students, alumni or previous placement students will support you in preparing for the assessment centre, but you can also come and see a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bath.ac.uk\/guides\/careers-service-appointments\/#careers-appointments\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Careers Adviser for a careers appointment<\/a> where we can talk more about the different tasks, how to prepare and discuss strategies. If a 1:1 interview is part of the day, we may also be able to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bath.ac.uk\/guides\/careers-service-appointments\/#practice-interviews-with-careers-advisers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">book\u00a0 you in for a practice interview.<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Need more tips?<\/strong> Check out our <a href=\"https:\/\/myfuture.bath.ac.uk\/students\/docs\/detail\/28?filename=interviews-and-assessment-centres-guide.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Interview Skills and Assessment Centre guide<\/a> and look through our <a href=\"https:\/\/myfuture.bath.ac.uk\/students\/resources\/search?order=Relevance&amp;topicsUseAnd=true&amp;search=assessment%20centre\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Resources on MyFuture<\/a> which includes videos, information and more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>We wish you the best of luck!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the past couple of years I have spoken to several employers, alumni and students with regards to what advice they have for being successful at assessment centres and therefore here are my top 5 assessment centre tips.\u00a0 Be yourself...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":827,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[748],"tags":[222,408,282,370],"class_list":["post-1207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","tag-assessment-centre","tag-group-task","tag-interview","tag-nhs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/827"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}