A free professional guide for employers in the UK covering all aspects of recruiting staff.

Assessment Centres
Much beloved of Occupational Psychologists these normally run over 1-2 days covering a variety of assessment situations. If you get the opportunity its worth attending one just to gain experience but be selective they can take up a lot of time and can leave you exhausted for several days after they finish. The general format is similar, participants take part in a variety of assessment exercises normally lasting an hour or so. The exercises are assessed by a team of trained assessors, each looking at a different aspect of the individual. Typical exercises would include:

A situational interview where you are given typical workplace situations and asked to describe how you would respond to them.
A variety of personality and ability tests normally followed by a feedback session. Bear in mind your response to the feedback session is part of the assessment.
Various group exercises (normally discussions) where assessors view your performance compared to the other candidates.
A short presentation on a relevant work subject.
An 'in-tray' exercise where you are given a stack of written material (normally role playing as a manager) which you have to deal with in a defined period.
Role play exercise where you are expected to adopt a supervisory role e.g. counselling exercise where you have to deal with an underperforming member of staff.

Various one-to-one interviews
Whilst companies vary as to their exact requirements most seek to recruit individuals with similar characteristics:

Impact: Ability to create a good first impression on others and to maintain that impression.
Stress tolerance: Stability of performance under pressure and/or opposition..
Self-motivation: Displays energy, drive, enthusiasm and a determination to achieve at work.
Persuasiveness: Ability to make a clear presentation of ideas or facts and to gain agreement to a particular course of action.
Leadership: Ability to develop teamwork and maximise resources within a group.
Interpersonal sensitivity: Awareness of other people and the work environment and your own impact upon these.
Planning and organisation: Ability to establish efficiently an appropriate course of action for self and/or others to achieve a goal.
Problem analysis: Effectiveness in identifying problems, asking the right questions, recognising important information and thinking ahead.
Judgement: Ability to evaluate data, to consider possible courses of action and to reach logical decisions.
Decisiveness: Readiness to make decisions and take actions.

Our advice is firstly not to take all this too seriously but a little preparation can go a long way. Try to get someone to give you a mock interview preferably recorded on video that you can later review. Take every opportunity to practice making presentations, read a book on the subject to get some tips of the trade.

Ask your tutors if during tutorials you can get some experience of working as a group to solve exercises, then get them to give you feedback on how well you contributed.

Ask your careers service if they have an 'in-tray' exercise you can have a go at. The trick to good performance in 'in-tray' exercises is to structure the time available to take a swift overview and then prioritise.