[Click for full size]

While the handwriting is much better than some of our staff, if you can’t read it here is what they have written.

• Work together.
• Put 100% into everything you do!
• Support each other.
• Walking boots will be your new best friend!
• Find a positive in everything.
• Be on point at all times.
• You need to each as much as you can.
• Stay up beat at all times – a happy group will progress.
• Negativity is infectious.
• Challenge yourself, you are not doing to die.
• You will only ever do this stuff once.
• Think outside the box.
• Work with [what] you know, work out what you need.
• NO restrictions means NO restrictions, use whatever you can.
• CAN’T is not a work in your vocabulary.
• Sleep a lot.
• Get ready to push yourself to the ultimate limit.
• Do not argue, resolve instead.
• PLAN, do not dive in head first.
• Bring supplies! (junk food, fizzy drinks, etc)

We’re not sure about the last one but otherwise I’m not sure we could have written a better list ourselves.

More than eighty students signed up for the day and spent it building contraptions that Heath Robinson would be proud of. Machines that sorted coins, threw table tennis balls and climbed ropes, along with a few puzzles, codes and a research paper. There were some extremely inventive solutions to some of the challenges but ultimately victory went to the team that was organised, managed their resources, knew when to give up on a project, used the strengths of team members and kept track of time. These are all the behaviours that major employers are looking for today.

It was such a success that the University in-house magazine ran an article on it and asked for our top tips for students who have to attend assessment centres. Here is our advice for those who find themselves applying for a job where a centre is part of the process.

Five Top Tips for Assessment Centres

• 1. Get involved. You don’t have to be the leader of the group, or even the loudest, but we are assessing your contribution, if you don’t contribute, we don’t have anything to assess.
• 2. It’s not about whether you win or lose it’s how you play the game. Employers don’t care whether you can build a newspaper tower, solve puzzles or guide a colleague blindfold around a course. What they are interested in is the process you go through to get to your result. They want to see you communicating with others, sharing your part of the team’s workload, contributing ideas to discussions and how you work out solutions that are not immediately obvious.

 

• 3. Look after yourself. Assessment centres can be long drawn out affairs, typically at least a day, sometimes as many as three. Make sure you eat and drink plenty all day, if you are hungry or dehydrated you won’t perform at your best. Get plenty of sleep the night before and, if you are there for more than one day, don’t be the last person in the bar!

 

• 4. You are always on assessment. Every interaction I have with you as an assessor makes an impact on me, that is from the minute you walk in until you leave. Be polite, help out where you can, don’t be rude about anyone when you think they are out of earshot. If you are willing to do so on assessment, my assumption is you’d do it in the workplace as well.

 

• 5. Don’t put others down. While you may all be competing for the same job, you won’t win points with the assessors by bad-mouthing or putting down other candidates. Almost all employers want team players, not lone-rangers and we are very adept at seeing through games like this. Give praise to others where it is due and it reflects well on your ability to function well in the modern work place.