October 18th, 2015 | Uncategorized
On Thursday, my Financial Services course put my class through a mock assessment center. When I first started at UL, I had no idea what people meant by an assessment center but I now know it is part of the hiring process when applying for a job in Ireland. The first step in the process is for the candidate to fill out the job application online for a particular company and attach a resume. Next, that employer reviews the applications and invites the top candidates to participate in their company’s assessment center. The employer then invites the top performers from the assessment center to an interview and then a job offer is made. So obviously the assessment center is major part of getting a job and we have been practicing for it in one of my classes for the past three weeks.
The assessment center consists of four sections that include two sections performed in a group and two sections performed individually. In each of these sections, the employer will give the candidates 40 minutes to complete an assignment while the employer sits back to observe how the candidates interact to solve the problem.
For our mock assessment center, our professors served as the “employer” and they split us up into eight person groups. It was sort of an awkward feeling knowing that the 2 or 3 professors that were in the room were judging everything you said. For an example of one of the group sections, the professors gave us the scenario of 13 people stranded on a boat that was sinking in the middle of the ocean. There was only room for 7 people on the lifeboat and we had 30 minutes to decide as a group who was allowed on the lifeboat and who was left behind. The professors gave us a sheet of paper that provided a descriptive paragraph of each person on the boat and after the 30 minutes we had to give a 10-minute presentation to the professors of why we chose the certain people to survive. There was no right or wrong answer but the point was to see how well we could work in a group environment and to see who emerged as the leaders and who sat back and said nothing.
The mock assessment was a great experience that will help me when I apply for jobs when I get back to the United States.
Victory Scholar: Staats Battle
Present University: University of Limerick
US League: ACC
Club/Community Partner: UL Eagles
Alma Mater: North Carolina State University
Sponsored by: Team Ireland
