This workshop was designed to put us students into scenarios that we should expect to encounter in the real world in the future, such as interviews and teamwork.
The initial stage of the workshop included an introduction into assessment centre workshops and the importance of them to large companies.
The first task of the workshop focused on teamwork under pressure, something which is very common and the ability to do so effectively is admired by all employers. The task included assessors which would patrol around the hall writing down notes – presumably to add to the pressure of the task. The task itself required us to read through a brief and complete what was on the brief in the tight time-frame which we were given.
My team managed to complete the task in the time which we were allocated, and having worked in high pressure situations with my previous work experience in retail, gave me the same amount of relief and satisfaction as previous scenarios which I have encountered in work. Simply put, the task was very well designed.
After this task, we were given a slight break, during which the assessors would again patrol around the hall making notes on the social interaction and punctuation within groups .
The next stage was the interview scenario, which was the one I was hoping to be the most useful. This task involved being both the interviewer, which was a task I found particularly difficult, and the interviewee.
Each group member was designated a role and we were thrown straight into the task. We were required to ask three questions as the interviewer, and therefore, answer three questions from the interviewer. Being the interviewer was a unique experience for me as it is something I would never have expected to be doing at the workshop, but I found it useful as it got me thinking as to what sorts of questions interviewers would find important, and the sorts of answers they would expect to get.
After being the interviewer, we were required to give feedback to the people who we were interviewing. This was useful because it gave me the chance to see the sorts of answers that others would give to the questions which I designed, and by comparing how I would have answered those questions myself, this gave me useful ideas for the future.
In conclusion, I found the workshop to be very useful and thought provoking. Being placed under pressure during the teamwork exercise was a rewarding experience which as previously mentioned reminded me of being back at work in retail. Additionally, the interview task was thought provoking due to having to both think and answer three questions with very little time given to prepare the questions and answers. This was useful as thinking of questions on the spot is something that is a skill required to do well when interviewed in the real world.
Thomas Nicholls 