Graduates West Yorkshire
Delivered by Gradconsult on behalf of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
Performing your best at the Development Centre!
The Tasks…
The Development Centres will be comprised of a combination of group and written tasks. These activities are designed to assess specific skills profiles. You will receive a detailed brief at the start of each activity, which will outline the task and the skills profile(s) being assessed.
Acing the Group Tasks…
The group task is your opportunity to work together to respond to a brief. Even if you’re not the most confident at speaking your mind, or working collaboratively with people, here are some tips that will help you to perform well:
Make sure you communicate consistently. We can only score what we can see, so try and share your opinions and thoughts with the group, even if you feel a bit shy. If sharing your opinions is scary, you could also bring other people into the discussion by asking for their viewpoints.
Take on a role. Perhaps you might offer to write your group’s ideas down, or you might be time-keeper and make sure that you utilise the full time allocated. This is a great opportunity to show your teamworking skills by contributing to the group.
Consider the group dynamics! If there is somebody who is less confident at sharing their ideas, perhaps you could ask them for a contribution. Or if one person is dominating, you could try and include other members of the team in discussion.
Communicate concisely and clearly to ensure your team understand your ideas and viewpoints. You are likely to be working in groups with people from all different backgrounds, so be aware of their differing experiences and understanding when you contribute to discussion.
Keep an eye on the time! It is common for groups to get so engrossed in discussion that they lose track of time – ensure you know the outputs you are expected to produce within your allocated time, and that you have enough time to achieve them.
Nailing the Written Tasks…
Please don't be put off by the term 'written task' - you won't be asked to produce tonnes of written information, but you will be asked to respond to two written briefs in different ways. Here are some tips which may help to boost your confidence and performance in these written tasks:
Take your time. Make sure that you leave enough time to read through the brief and understand what you are required to submit, as well as ensuring that you leave enough time at the end to re-read your response.
Focus on what you need to produce. For both activities, you will be required to submit something slightly different. Make sure you read the brief fully so that you know exactly what you need to submit and what format it needs to be submitted in.
Keep an eye on the time! You need to make sure you submit a finished product so check the clock regularly to avoid running out of time. Make sure you leave enough time to write your response carefully - it needs to be legible and easily understood by the assessor.
Plan before you write. It can be tempting to jump straight into writing something, but by spending 30-60 seconds planning your answer, you can help to keep your response focussed.
Be clear and concise in your response so that the assessor understands what you’re trying to say without using too many words or waffling. Consider using bullet points, headings and formatting to provide clarity to your response - but only if this is something that meets the brief you have been given. Finally, try and make sure your handwriting is clear.
General Tips and Advice …
We understand that this may seem overwhelming, but we would recommend that you try to relax and focus on yourself. Remember, your best will look different to everybody else - so be authentically YOU! Everyone's unique skillset will look different and that's ok- you don't have to ace every task to pass the development centre stage. Don’t put pressure on yourself to be perfect: nobody is!
Here are our final tips for Development Centre success:
Get to know the other candidates on the day - this might make you feel more relaxed. It's also a great opportunity to meet fellow West Yorkshire graduates!
During assessments, consider the impact of your actions in the context of being a recent graduate in a business.
Don’t stress if you feel you didn't perform your best in one task - mistakes are part of the process.
Familiarise yourself with the skills being assessed in the above activity.