Group Exercises for Assessment Centres – What You Need to Know

Group exercises play an important role in assessment centres because they allow recruiters to see how well you perform and communicate with others as part of a team. The most common type of exercise is a group discussion where you need to tackle a given topic with other candidates, whilst being closely observed by the assessors. Here are some things they will be looking at:

Your Contribution to the Discussion

• Initiating the discussion or bringing in new ideas
• Asking questions to keep the conversation going
• Suggesting a solution or answer to a challenging issue
• Inviting the contribution and support of other team members.

How You Interact with Others

• Paying close attention to other people’s opinions
• Encouraging contributions and supporting others’ points
• Using colleagues’ contributions to either paraphrase or add to them
• Constructively presenting counter-arguments for other members
• Asking questions to clarify others’ claims.

How You Helped the Group

• Tactfully avoiding digressions or bringing the discussion back to topic
• Reinforcing awareness of both goals and time constraints
• Diplomatically seeking to deflect tensions or conflict between participants
• Summarising the discussion as a whole
• Gaining agreement and reaching a consensus within the group.

At the same time, the employers will be looking out for negative behaviour which can impact the group as a whole. Be sure you avoid:

• Lack of participation or disengagement with the topic
• Off-topic contributions or comments
• Ignoring or not paying attention to other candidates’ opinions
• Interrupting or talking over other participants
• Disagreeing with or dismissing someone’s contribution without justification
• Behaving aggressively and trying to dominate the discussion.

If you want to know more about group exercises and assessment centres, visit our website or drop by our office to pick up some resources. You can also make an appointment to talk about your assessment day with a careers consultant. Just come to room WG3 in the Queen’s Building or give us a call at 020 7882 8533 to book a session.

Raluca – Maria Chereji
2^nd Year French and Politics student

The CV journey – what happens to it after you send it?

You have painstakingly prepared your CV or application form and clicked send. You imagine an employer receiving it, perusing what you’ve written and then emailing you back. You wait. You wait. You hear nothing.

Sound familiar? It’s a common experience and a frustrating one. So too is the experience of sending in an application form you have spent hours over, then receiving a rejection almost immediately.

So what’s actually happening to you CV or application form once you click send? We’ve done a survey amongst a small sample of employers to get the inside perspective and combined this with known trends in recruitment to bring you the following insights.

Once you click send…
Your CV or application form lands in a (probably very) busy recruitment team. It will join a large number of others awaiting screening. It’s unlikely that someone will look at it straight away.

If this is the case, why did you get a rejection reply so quickly?
That’s where technology comes in. The employer may be using screening software to sort applications and reject automatically those that do not appear to meet key criteria (e.g., academic results, technical knowledge and employability skills). This software is being used in more and more cases, although not all. None of the employers in our survey were using software for the first stage screening. However, all are using specialist software to store and process applications through the recruitment process.

Aren’t employers missing some great applicants by automating screening?
That may well be happening, but with large numbers of strong applicants and pressure to reduce recruitment costs, that may be a risk worth taking. To avoid being the one who gets missed, make sure your CV contains terms which directly link to the competencies and qualifications needed for the role. These will match the search terms in the software and make your selection more likely.

So it’s just about matching some key words really?
It’s much more than that. The full content and presentation of your CV and application matters a great deal. As one recruiter fed back to us “I believe candidates do not feel that attention is paid to their CVs…This is not true… some do spend the time both at screening and throughout the process to read the CV fully.”

Impact matters.
How long do you imagine a recruiter will take to read your CV fully? A trained eye may view it for 60 seconds (or less!). You need to make an impact in that time. The same goes for application form questions which are often competency based. “We … read through the answers to the competency based questions to look for good examples that the candidate has given and score these”. So it’s not just about having an example, but having a good and clearly set out example (e.g. of team working) to make sure that your evidence can score as highly as possible.

Is it only Human Resources who read my CV?
No. Our survey showed that people from the business line (i.e. those working in teams you may join) are also involved both early in the selection process and, of course, later if you proceed through to interviews. They will be sent copies of your application materials and have read them, so expect to be able to back up what you said!

What happens to my application once it’s all over?
“If the candidate is successful then the CVs, application forms and any other information about the candidate will be passed over to HR to store in their personnel file. If the candidate is unsuccessful, their details are stored separately to the main database as we sometimes find that candidates may come back to us in future to be considered for other positions. All candidates are informed that their details will be kept on file for future vacancies.” This survey response is typical of many employers. A couple of points to note. Firstly, remember that a previous application may be looked at if you apply to the company again. Be consistent. Secondly, when successful for a role, your application information will be kept on file and could be referred to at any point, so think twice about being ‘economical with the truth’ in your content.

To get advice on increasing the impact of your CV and applications, contact Careers.

Read more in the Wall Street Journal about the journey of a CV from aUSperspective at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204624204577178941034941330.html

What would you ask graduate recruitment managers?

Graduate Question Time – 24 October 2011, 6.30pm to 9.00pm.

A unique opportunity for London’s students to put their questions to some of the world’s leading graduate recruitment managers.

Employers taking part:

• npower
• Morgan Stanley
• Enterprise Rent-A-Car
• HSBC
• Grant Thornton
• The co-operative
• Teach First

Question Time is the perfect opportunity for you to ask any questions you have to a panel of graduate recruiters, from a selection of the UK’s top companies. There will also be a networking event afterwards, where you can approach them in a less formal environment.

Venue: Beveridge Hall, University of London, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU.

For further information and to register visit http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/gqt

Graduate Employment Headlines Can Be Misleading

Headlines going on about 25% of Graduates not being in full time work three years after finishing University could easily make you worried about your employment prospects after leaving Queen Mary.

Fortunately for you, but unfortunately for journalists, is the reality just doesn’t make good headlines. The fact is that a quarter of graduates are not sitting depressed on a sofa watching Jeremy Kyle all day, claiming unemployment benefits. In fact dipping below the headline reveals just 3.2% were “assumed to be unemployed.”

So what are the rest of them doing?*

• 6.5% of graduates are doing further study such as a PhD.
• 7.9% were working part time (this could be for any number of reasons, such as family commitments).
• 5.8% were doing a combination of work and study
• 3% were unavailable for work (some due to disability, but more commonly because they are backpacking round the world)0.5% were volunteering and working unpaid

*From the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

I admit that for the 3.2% it is not good news. But it is a much better figure then 25%.

If you are in any doubt about whether there are jobs out there for Queen Mary students and Graduates, just look at our jobs website. There are  opportunities out there.. .

Things are tough but perhaps not as bleak as the journalists would have you think.

Vinny Potter
Careers Consultant

Download interview and assessment centre tips

A major financial company has developed a free online application  to help students with interview skills and assessment centre preparation.  Although the application is hosted by an investment bank, it is designed to help students and graduates whether they are interested in a financial career or not.

The application features interview questions, candidates’ answers and employer feedback. Download the app for free to your phone or PC.

Don’t forget that QM Careers offers handouts, DVDs, books and practice sessions for upcoming interviews so come and see us!

Merchandising and more – Exciting opportunities in Retail

Retail is a recruitment area that, somewhat ironically, struggles to market itself properly to students.

Last week I attended a conference organised by the Association of Graduate Recruiters looking at the various challenges facing retailers and highlighting some of the little know areas of recruitment within their business.

One of the key messages to come out of the event was that most of the companies present* were unable to fill all of their graduate vacancies during the 2010-11 recruitment cycle, and in many cases vacancies were scheduled to increase for the 2011-12 cycle.

This is seen as being mainly indicative of awareness of the types of roles beyond general management in the sector, which can include areas such as Buying, Finance, Human Resources, Marketing, Merchandising, Product Design, Product Technology, Purchasing, Property, and Supply Chain.

Merchandising was one of the areas particularly highlighted by a number of retailers I spoke to (in particular Arcadia and John Lewis) as being a shortage area across all businesses, with a need for students with a highly numerate background who are interested in statistical analysis to fill a number of roles. This is also a highly lucrative career option in the long run, with experienced merchandisers at the top end commanding close to six figure salaries.

Here is an audio file covering some of the hidden opportunities in retail, please note it was recorded on my phone, so is not amazing quality!

Another thing that was discussed is that looking at many of the retailers present at this event the Head Office opportunities are, with a few exceptions, located outside London, and are particularly focused on the Midlands, Yorkshire and Lancashire. One Graduate, originally from London, I spoke to who had relocated to Manchester to work with The Co-Operative said that it was difficult to move, but he felt it was the right choice for him as he was convinced that the Co-Op was an organisation he wanted to work for due to their Business ethics.

The more ‘traditional’ retail management roles can also feature a lot of travel and relocation during the process of a Graduate Scheme, and in some of the more ‘leisure’ based retailers it was noted that long hours were a normal state for new starters.

The organisers recommended that anyone interested in the realities should look at the videos at Career Player for a flavour of the types of work involved http://www.careerplayer.com/careers/retailbuyingmerchandising.aspx

Here are the slides from the event

*Companies present were Arcadia, ASDA, Boots, The Co-Operative, Dunnhumby, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, HSBC Bank, John Lewis, Majestic Wine Warehouses, Marks & Spencer, Mitchells & Butlers, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose and Whitbread

The Third Degree

If you’ve just graduated and got a third here is an interesting article from the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/sep/11/graduate-careers-third-class-degree

Incidentally, I was at an open day for Careers Staff hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers earlier this week and they mentioned that they have now developed a scheme for students who may have mitigating circumstances for not doing as well as they expected in their degree, or perhaps even at A-Level.

The scheme is called ‘Inspired Talent’ and, as they phrased, it is ideal for ‘rough diamonds’, by this they mean people who on paper might not have the right eligibility in terms of academics, but might have an awe-inspiring extra-curricular activity like running a successful Business, or Social Enterprise, or perhaps have been heavily involved in something like training for the Olympics.

If this has piqued your interests full details and eligibility can be found at: www.pwc.com/uk/en/careers/student/inspired-talent.jhtml

It might also be worth your while looking at other larger companies (if that is the route you want to go down), for similar programmes.

AXA Investment Managers Visit

Yesterday Sabrina, one of the careers advisers at QM, visited AXA Investment Mangers to meet their Head of Graduate Recruitment and find out the lastest news in this area.

Their top tips for students are:

1. GET WORK EXPERIENCE!  Part-time jobs, summer placements and year long internships all build up valuable employability skills that will help you secure a job once you graduate.  Try stuff out, learn what you are good at.
2. BE OPEN…to different jobs, different sectors etc.  Most people fall into their careers from places they never expected to be.  Take opportunities and don’t discount things solely because ‘it’s not in the plan’.
3. BE YOURSELF….When you come to an interview.  Don’t oversell yourself, because a recruiter can spot embellishment a mile off!  Show your personality and be proud to be who YOU are.

AXA-IM recruits to roles in corporate finance, sales, web communications, trading and real estate investment.

www.axa-im.co.uk

Employers plan to raise graduate recruitment targets

Good news if you are graduating this year and are looking for a job: Almost 40 per cent of employers are planning to raise graduate recruitment this year. This is according to research by the Association of Graduate Recruiters. A  snapshot survey of almost 100 companies, found that almost 60%  say they are still open for applications and 55%  are more confident about the economy compared to three months ago.

These findings are supported by the careers website Graduate Prospects, which has experienced a 50 per cent increase in advertising from recruiters in the first four months of 2010 compared to the same period last year.

“Companies are taking on more graduates as the economy is rebounding,” says chief executive Mike Hill. ” We hope and expect this trend to continue into 2011.”

Click here to read the full article.

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www.prospects.ac.uk has detailed job profiles and industry information to give you an insight in to different areas of work. The site also has vacancy information and lots of work and study related articles covering topics like taking a gap year, working abroad, work experienc and postgraduate study.