Gaining an edge at assessment centres

Assessment centres are a series of tests, rather than a place. Nigel Povah, managing director of Assessment and Development Consultants, a company that organises assessment centres for banks, says: 'They are exercises or simulations that recreate the demands an individual would face on the job.'

Most centres include an interview, an ability test and a personality test. Many include a group discussion, a presentation by students and a case study. They usually take place over a day and cater for up to 12 applicants.

Fiona Sandford, head of careers at London School of Economics, says: 'If you don't prepare, you're in trouble. It's about knowing what sort of behaviour banks are looking for.'

Candidates are most likely to be wrongfooted during group discussions, says Sandford: 'Employers are looking for people who can exhibit team behaviour. They are not looking for highly competitive, blocking behaviour.'

Students who directly compete against others risk sending out the wrong signals to recruiters. John Sponton and Stewart Wright, authors of Succeeding at Assessment Centres in a Week, advise how to react during the group assessment: don't interrupt others; don't monopolise the conversation; do address other members of the group by their names; and do invite them to contribute to the discussion.

Recruiters will be impressed by consultative leadership. Candidates should say things such as: 'Shall we see what everyone else thinks before we reach a decision?' Equally, students should not be frightened of putting forward their own viewpoint.

Banking applicants say excelling as part of a group is difficult. Jochen Kuenzel, a student at ESCP-EAP European School of Management, says: 'It is a challenge to present your best qualities when everyone else is also trying to show theirs.'

In the case study, applicants are given data relating to a problem and asked to work through it to find a solution. The content of a case study cannot be secondguessed but will often relate to the area of the bank applied to.

One student, who applied for positions in equity and fixed income research, says she was given information about a company's financial position and asked to analyse its performance.

Most university careers services offer trial case studies - it is worth practising. Time-keeping is crucial as candidates have a limited period in which to reach their conclusions.

It is easier to prepare for the presentation as banks usually leave it up to applicants to decide a topic. Most presentations last five minutes.

Sponton and Wright say recruiters use presentations to assess everything from planning and organising to persuasive communication, self-motivation and resilience under questioning. Candidates should structure their presentation carefully and think through the arguments in advance.

The assessment centre is likely to break for refreshment. Candidates should not be deceived into relaxing. Povah says those who drink too much alcohol, or fail to socialise with others, could be judged negatively.

If assessment centres sound difficult, they are. Edward Tong, in his second year studying accounting and finance at the London School of Economics, says the centre he attended was tiring and nerve-wracking: 'There were two interviews, a test, a group discussion and a presentation.'

Banks believe assessment centres are the most effective way of distinguishing top candidates - they cite tests that show interviews are only 20% effective, whereas for assessment centres the figure is 65%.

If you fail an assessment centre, a bank will often tell you why. One student was told she had failed due to a lack of commercial awareness. She says: 'It was not that I didn't know enough but that I didn't express what I knew in my answers.'

You usually get only one opportunity to apply for a full-time graduate position in an investment bank - so ensure you are well prepared. Two books that will help you are:

Succeeding at Assessment Centres in a Week, by John Sponton and Stewart

Wright (Hodder and Stoughton). How to Succeed at an Assessment Centre, by Harry Tolley and Bob Wood (Kogan Page).