You’ve discovered the job of your dreams… or at the very least a role that sounds very exciting which you could happily see yourself doing, and you are invited to the assessment day. Most people consider assessment days to be solely linked with jobs in call centers or low paid, high turnover positions but this is not the case. A number of industry leading companies use this tactic to recruit their work force, but whilst it works for them it doesn’t work for everyone.

A question that many candidates ask is how do I prepare for an assessment day?! The simple answer is exactly the same as you would for an interview; in fact don’t think of it as an assessment day but rather a very long job interview or a three stage interview process crammed into one day. Most assessment days start with the normal ice breakers which are simple exercises to get people talking to each other so the people managing the assessment day can see how you interact with strangers and build relationships. Are you easy going, open and approachable or do you sit back and let everyone get on with it which could show you might not fit into the company and team culture? Generally you will then be given a team task or split into groups and given tasks depending on the number of people who are attending the assessment day. Whilst it is impossible to prepare for the content of these tasks it is important to remember to get involved take the time to voice your opinion but make sure you do not impose your will over everybody else in your group as you want to avoid the appearance that you cannot work as an equal member of a team.

When considering the face-to-face interviews which are generally held at the end of an assessment day, and then only for a select few, treat this as you would any other interview and ensure that you have done your research beforehand on the company and the role in question.

The five key things to remember when attending an assessment day are:

• Turn up in plenty of time
• Dress professionally
• Do your research on the company and the role
• Have some intelligent questions ready to ask
• Relax and enjoy yourself!