Interviews and Beyond

Interviews and Beyond

Second Stage Interviews – The Assessment Day

Preparation for the second stage interview should begin immediately after the first interview. While the interview remains fresh in your mind record on paper then work out answers and strategies that would have been more effective.

• Major issues raised
• Issues raised by the employer more than once
• Issues that the employer stated were key
• Issues that remain unresolved
• Questions you expected to be asked but weren't
• Questions that you failed to answer effectively
• Mistakes made and opportunities missed

What can you expect at the second stage? Option 1 - Fairly straightforward and simple. You are called back to meet with more members of staff, particularly at the senior level. You will be shown around the premises and probably invited to lunch or drinks with the staff.

Option 2 - More complicated but often used particularly by the larger organisations. This is generally known as the "assessment day". You may be required to stay overnight at a hotel and be invited to drinks and dinner where you will meet with staff members and other applicants. The next day you may be given various types of tests such as an aptitude test or psychological one. It is usual to ask the applicants to prepare a short presentation either about themselves or on a specific topic. All assessment days involve some kind of group exercises. These may include working through a case study in a group, deciding with your team how to prioritise and deal with the contents of an "in tray" or debating a particular issue.

How to prepare? Second interviews can appear pretty daunting, particularly when they involve an assessment day. First of all, try to keep as calm as possible and do not overindulge the night before. Apart from this, there is little more you can do except to think about the kinds of qualities the interviewers may be looking for. Positive qualities include: making contributions, keeping focussed to the task at hand, listening to others, cooperating in a team, getting others to talk and demonstrating good judgement. Negative qualities may include: not making any contributions, ignoring what others are saying, monopolising discussions, and being unable to accept criticism.

Many graduates and students have said that despite early fears and nervousness, most enjoyed the experience and gained additional skills at the same time. Their advice is to relax, be yourself and stay confident!