Advice for Assessment Days
I was approached by one of my LinkedIn connections for some advice on attending a forthcoming assessment day for a Maintainers role.
A number of companies that I’ve worked with in the past hold assessment days and the processes seem to be similar in most respects.
Assessment days are often done when a company want to interview a large number of people for multiple roles, so they can sometimes be well attended.
I’ll share with you what I’ve learnt over the years based on the feedback given by candidates that I’ve spoken to, and the story told to me by a friend of mine that attended one, as well as the information he shared with me.
“On the day I was met by someone from HR and shown into a room with 4 other candidates.”
“Everyone was there for the same job, which felt a bit strange.”
“It’s odd sitting in the same room as 3 other people that are going for the same job as you.”
“The process was split into 3 sections. There were the ability tests, then there was a competency based interview, and then there was the technical interview.”
The Ability Tests
“The ability tests and personality questionnaires were for basic reasoning skills as well English and Maths.”
“They were mainly multiple-choice questions such as”
Verbal Comprehension
“Examples of questions would be”
Hard is to Soft as Hot is to…
A) Cool
B) Warm
C) Cold
D) Icy
E) Tepid
Which of the following words is closest in meaning to Toxic…
A) Putrid
B) Poisonous
C) Bitter
D) Contagious
E) Inedible
A straight edge should be used to ensure that the ends of the shelves are correctly
A) Tightened
B) Aligned
C) Concentric
D) Separated
E) Flat
Then there was..
Numerical Comprehension
With questions like…
46 Minus ? = 17 (You had to replace the question mark with the correct number)
A) 17
B) 19
C) 27
D) 29
E) 39
3/5ths x ? = 1/5th
A) 1/5
B) ¼
C) 1/3
D) ½
E) 2/3
60% of 20 = ?
A) 12
B) 13
C) 14
D) 15
E) 16
Spatial Recognition
Here my friend managed to find some examples similar to the test paper he was given on the day so I’ve included them. Clicking on the image should make them larger.
Choose the shape on the right which is identical to the given shape.
Spatial Recognition Tests
Spatial Recognition Test
Spatial Recognition Test
Mechanical Test
“This is an example of a question from SHL Direct, and these are typical of the questions I was asked in the Mechanical Test.”
“If you go to the SHL website here and choose the Mechanical Comprehension Test you can take a practice test for free.”
Mechanical Questions for Assessment Days
Mechanical Questions For Assessment Days
Fault Diagnosis Test
“I can’t tell you much on the Electrical Part of the Test so I hope this helps (it’s all I could find)”
Fault Diagnosis Test
The competency based Interview
“The next part of the assessment process was an interview with the HR department covering competency based questions.”
in a competency based interview you’ll be asked to give specific examples of past behaviours that show how you behaved in certain situations.
The interviewer will assess if you have the required competencies for the job.
“Some of the questions I was asked were…”
“Tell me a time when you had to use leadership skills or when you had difficulty with subordinates accepting new ideas, how did you overcome this?”
“Can you give me an example of when you failed to meet a deadline? What did you do?”
“Can you give an example of the time you took the initiative to implement a new system?”
The Technical Interview
“Finally there was the Technical interview with the Hiring Manager”
“This was like every other interview I’ve done and was the first time I felt back in my comfort zone. It was typical questions about how I would deal with everyday issues of doing the job.”
My Advice
My advice for all of these interviews is the same
PRACTICE – (Repeated exercise in or performance of an activity or skill so as to acquire or maintain proficiency in it: example it must have taken a lot of practice to become so fluent)
My advice for the Testing
When it comes to the ability tests and personality questionnaires go back over the theory of your Electrical silks, Mechanical Skills, Testing and Fault Finding skills and anything else that’s relevant.
You can take some practice tests here,
Free Spatial Recognition Tests
Free Mechanical Reasoning Tests
Free Numerical Reasoning Tests
My Advice for the Technical Interview
PRACTICE – (Repeated exercise in or performance of an activity or skill so as to acquire or maintain proficiency in it: example it must have taken a lot of practice to become so fluent)
For the technical interview the interviewer will ask you questions based on the information you’ve provided.
Read back over your CV and practice expanding upon the job roles and responsibilities you’ve had, how you went about the jobs you did, the challenges you faced and what you achieved as a result of it.
I’ve had feedback from interviewing managers in the past that after reading a good resume they were surprised that the person didn’t live up to their expectations.
It’s your CV, and your experience, you wrote it so talk about it with some degree of interest.
My advice for competency based interviews
PRACTICE – (Repeated exercise in or performance of an activity or skill so as to acquire or maintain proficiency in it: example it must have taken a lot of practice to become so fluent)
Prepare some responses to some typical questions you’ll get in a competency based interview and practice saying them out loud.
Summary
Assessment days and online testing are regularly used by companies for their interviewing process.
Regardless of whether you’re attending one or not taking some time to sharpen up your interviewing skills can only pay dividends in the long run.
Have you been on an assessment day style of interview? or taken online tests? Help others by leaving a comment below of your experience.