It’s that time of the year when many students and graduates are interviewing and a lucky few will get invited back for an assessment centre in which they’ll have to partake in the dreaded… group exercise [cue horror scream]. A personality-clashing mine field. But group exercises need not be that scary and can, in fact, be enjoyable if approached correctly. As you know, we don’t like to churn out the regular generic graduate careers spiel; we like to tell you how it is. So, below we’ve provided 5 awesome golden tips for cruising through any group exercise.

For your interest, I’ve attended assessment centres that have spanned consulting, investment banking, government and telecoms industries. Of course I wasn’t always successful, but I chased down feedback and crucially I learnt from each experience. I’ve also managed to successfully advise friends, so I like to think I have some solid advice. In providing these tips, I’ve assumed that you already understand the basics i.e. do your homework, be presentable, be on time, be confident and don’t be as loud as a motorbike.

Golden Tip #1: Introduce yourself to everybody

At university I sailed through first round interviews, but found assessment centres tricky and in particular standing out in group exercises. Then, I was given some priceless advice from a very sharp Nigerian friend that was in my class. He advised that as soon as you arrive and students are sitting nervously in deafening silence, to go round and introduce yourself and be careful to remember every name, maybe throw in a bit of conversation, and most importantly, ensuring that they remember your name. What this action very cleverly (and subtly) does is to start rounding the troops onto your side. The other students will start looking to you for help, agreement and guidance. So without much effort you’ve immediately made yourself stand out and it won’t go unnoticed by the assessors!

Golden Tip #2: Use the names of your peers

Following on from tip #1, you’ve got everybody’s name, great. But go a step further and actually call your peers by their names during an exercise. “Dan, what do you think of this idea?” or “Helen that’s a very good point!” Not only does this show that you’re well mannered and courteous, but also that you have strong attention to detail. It will also continue the impact of the effect you’ve created in tip #1.

Golden Tip #3: Volunteer to take a role

You’ve watched the Apprentice right? Then you would have noticed the way Lord Alan Sugar targets candidates that play no role in an exercise. “You did naff all!” is a usual retort from the mini-entrepreneur. When an exercise kicks in, quickly take a key role, for example write the notes on the whiteboard, which means you lead the discussion, or be the person doing the timing. WARNING: if you are going to do a role, then do it! Don’t half lead the discussion or be too scared to shout, “We’ve got 2 minutes left guys!!” as this will work against you if the team fails due to the area you’ve taken responsibility for. But it’s better to do something then naff all.

Golden Tip #4: Come up with ideas

Hopefully you’ve read our piece on how to be an awesome intern!? In that article we discussed the importance of coming up with ideas. At one of my earliest experiences of assessment centres, in which I did not progress, I was given feedback that I didn’t contribute ideas. I always considered myself to be a man of ideas, but I was frozen by the occasion. Don’t let his happen to you. Companies look for students with fresh ideas in order to inject much needed fresh thinking and creativity.

Golden Tip #5: Never give negative feedback about your peers

“To be honest, I thought Gary (not actual name) was quite loud and talked over people!” This was my response at an assessment centre when I was asked what I thought about the other members of my team. I was young and naïve and it was one of my earliest experiences (pre-university). Yes, he was extremely annoying but slating others sends big time warning signals that you’re likely to do the same if hired. Companies want team players; people who can work with difficult characters without showing frustration. So, if asked the same question, talk about the positive aspects of the team’s performance and areas where as a team you could have done better.

Have you got an assessment coming up for a student or graduate job? What good advice have you been given? Have you recently taken and assessment centre? Why not share your experiences below.

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