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My Day at an Assessment Centre

By Katherine Rowe, BA History Over my time at university, it became clear to me that I wished to pursue a career in either the public or the charity sector. This meant that I started looking at graduate schemes in the summer of my second year.  When I came across the Local Government Association’s National …

How I Made the Most of the Careers and Employability Service

By Paige Linden, MEng Mechanical Engineering student  When I started at Nottingham, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I was quite overwhelmed by all the different options and didn’t know how I would decide. 1. Attend careers fairs The careers fairs at Nottingham were informative and gave me a better insight into my …

My Experience at a Think Ahead Assessment Centre

By Bethany Webb-Strong, Law with South East Asian Law (2018) In January 2018, I attended an assessment centre for Think Ahead as part of the recruitment process for their social work scheme. The role involves working in a local trust for two years while studying for a diploma and masters in mental health social work.  On the day …

How I Survived My First Assessment Centre

By Alice Gould, student blogger After the stress of January exams and coursework deadlines had finally come to a close, it suddenly dawned on me that I will be graduating very soon. I don’t have much longer left as a student. In barely a few months, I am going to have to face the fact …

My First Assessment Centre Experience

By Hannah Smith, student blogger So, last Friday I ventured to London and felt like a ‘big city’ businesswoman for the day, taking the tube like a pro with my Oyster card to offices with a fantastic view (see pic!). But it wasn’t all in the name of role play; I was invited to my very …

Five reasons to attend a mock assessment centre workshop

By Bety Mehide, student blogger Some employers ask their applicants to attend an assessment centre to evaluate their skills as part of the recruitment and selection process. I participated in a mock one and found it very helpful so I figured I would share my thoughts on why you should attend one too. 1. Knowledge …

Group Exercises: What Do Employers Look For?

By Sarah Allen, Employability Education Projects Officer Graduate employers often use a group exercise during their assessment centre process.  These normally involve a group of four to eight applicants completing a task in a set amount of time.  You will have an assessor recording what you say and do throughout the task and this information …

Your assessment centre crib sheet

Now you’ve passed the initial application stages, assessment centres can be a nerve-wrecking experience if you’re not sure what to expect. Our short guide to different exercise types will help demystify your assessment day, or days.  Ice breaker task What is it? Usually at the start of the day, there’ll be a short exercise to introduce …