Job Hunting: Toyota Assessment Center

Toyota AC was my last assessment center I have been to. I took place in Brussels in the European Headquarters of Toyota. I did not like it much - poorly organised, some of the activities were too difficult and worst food ever - I stayed in toyota for 5 hours and I got one lousy baguette. They should at least offer decent lunch. So what did the activities look like?

• Interview with HR - typical competency based interview with young HR girl. It is easy to prepare and tell them what they want to hear. I had to 'pass' this one to get to the next stage. Important! If they ask you what do you want to do in 5 years do not tell them you want be managers. HR girl told me that in japanese companies it takes lot of time to become manager and if you tell them you want become one in 5 years they consider you overambitious and so. Tell them some stuff that you want to improve your theoretical knowledge and practical experience...
  
• Tests - I was told to retake those online tests. Easy.
• Meeting with the managers - I have met 5! managers (I guess the managers only hire people, they actually do not work...why there has to be 5 of them to hire one graduate? If you imagine that toyota europe hire about 200 graduates and AC lasts for at least 5 hours, than the managers really do not do anything else but talk to gradutes.) This meeting consisted from 2 parts. The first one were basically questions by the managers - mixture of competency based questions and questions about IT (what is important for page rank in google etc.). This was pretty ok. However, the second part was difficult. I was supposed to show the managers how I would deal with preparing party for people from toyota. I could use whiteboard. I did not get any time to prepare. What they wanted to hear is that preparing party is a project, which means there are several aspects (time scale, people, money and other resources). I do not think I did well.

I found this AC badly prepared and managed. I was not successful, but I would not like to work for Toyota - people were not friendly there.

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Job Hunting: Shell Assessment Center

Shell assessment center took place in The Hague in the Netherlands in Shell main building. The Hague is BTW very nice city full of beautiful blond girls. The evening before AC we had a meeting with Shell representative and two graduates who has already been working for Shell for about a year. Next day the AC started at 8.30. I have to admit that this AC was pretty demanding. Shell focuses on so called CAR skills (capacity, achievement and relationships - for more, visit shell's career page). It is good to know, that Shell AC differs a lot from other ACs. For example there is NO competency based interview.

• Business scenario was about reading A LOT of information and identify key issues the imaginary company faces. There were basically 3 issues to identify. Then you had to present your conclusions to the managers. After that you were supposed to select one of those three and offer a solution. They wanted exact plan what you would do if you were responsible for solving the problem (ex. 1) I would contact somebody from the markenting, 2) I would do this and that...). They had pretty mean questions.
• Group exercise - there were several corporate responsibility projects in which imaginary company could invest. Within a team we were supposed to choose two of them (we had a budget). Basically to come up with a conclusion and defend this conclusion. Each manager represented different stakeholder (one was city major, other represented press etc.). Difficult since the group was pretty big (6 people).
• Business scenario 2 - I do not remember the official name for this exercise so I will call it BS2. Task was to choose one function within a company (IT, finance, HR...), then you were given several information about problems the company faces in this area, find solutions and present to managers. Again, pretty mean questions.

For me, this was quite difficult AC. Very competitive (there was a guy from Oxford) and extremely exhausting. Also it differs a lot from other AC I have been to, which makes it very difficult to prepare for this AC.

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Job Hunting: Bentley Motors Assessment Center

Just few day after my Allianz AC I had my Bentley Motors AC. It took place in Crewe in the Bentley factory in Pyms Lane. I was surprised than only two of us came to this AC, but I was told that for some exercises we will be mixed together with AC for purchasing programme (I was IT). So, what did Bentley AC consisted from?

• Presentation to managers - as usual, it was a decision making problem. You were supposed to solve and than present on a solution. Our task was to read internal email and notes from meetings of a fictional company which was looking for new premises. The presentation went well, the managers were not mean, but had some tricky questions.
  
• Interview which was pretty long. I was interviewed by two managers (both women) and asked about my competencies. What was interesting about this interview was that during the second part they asked more specific questions about project management and IT (mainly about data mining and so.). It was not extremely specific, but I had to know something about data-mining, data-modelling and business intelligence. This has never happened to me before - interviews were always very general.
  
• Group exercise was quite funny. We had to build a tower from Lego blocks. Fortunately the guy I was competing with was little bit shy, which gave me a space to breathe. I think I did pretty well.
  
• Online tests verification - we had to retake the online tests. We also took some computer skills test, which were little bit crazy since they were too specific (ex. detailed knowledge of ASP syntax etc.).
  

In general I really liked Bentley AC. It was demanding but not extremely. We also had a tour through the factory line, where the Bentleys are produced. And I was successful in this AC! And accepted the offer :-).

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Job Hunting: Allianz assessment center

Allianz assessment center was one of the worst I have been too. It was extremely demanding and the people (managers) were very unfriendly. I understand that they want to hire the best people possible and so they are little bit mean when asking questions, but this was too much. Also the whole day was little bit overwhelming - for example there were 3 interview in a row! So what did the day consisted from?

• 3 interviews in a row with 5 minute breakes! I don't know why they demanded 3 interviews, but it was crazy. Each lasted for about 30 minutes and they asked nearly the same questions. All were basically competency based questions.
• Presentation given by me to the managers about a decision making. The presentation itself wasn't super difficult, but the questions of the managers were. They were really mean - in one hour you simply cannot prepare argumentation for all the questions they have asked.
• Role play - another crazy thing. You were supposed to play middle management role within a insurance company. There was a problem to solve and you were to meet other managers. Two assessors played those managers and together you simulated the meeting. You should have come up with a solution for the problem. Again, very very mean...only thing to recommend is that you should offer you help = there is a problem, how to solve it? I will be active part in solving the problem...I will not just propose the solution, but also be part of this solution.
• Career path interview - this one was easy. Just to tell them what you want to do etc.

In general, this was difficult AC. Too many activities and too many mean questions. I would really not like to work for such a company.

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Job Hunting: AXA Assessment center

For one month my blog was without any new post and the reason is simple - it's summer time and I was on holiday. But now I can continue with my series about assessment centers I have been to. The next one is AXA UK, which is one of the largest insurance companies in the world. The AC took place in Bristol, which is by the way, very nice city - I really liked. AXA building is located about 15 minutes (with train) outside the Bristol and is new and bright. The AC started at 9.00 with short overview of the positions offered. Then it continued with the following activities:

• Interview with manager was the same as usual - asking questions about your skills and experience. I really felt like a vending machine - insert a coin and I will tell you everything about my professional life in 30 minutes. You should be prepared to give some insurance industry related examples - I have studies mathematics so I know lot about probabilistic models used in insurance...so I have kind of a relationship to insurance, which was very useful during the interview.
• Tests - again they did not believe us our test results so we had to retake the tests. There were two kind of tests - numeracy and 'computer ability' test. If you have done few of them, then you will pass it...no problem with that.
• Presentation was quite difficult. We had one hour time to prepare presentation about a decision we made based on materials provided. It was typical decision making - two locations for new factory, some data provided. It was more about presenting than decision making since both locations were good. You should persuade the audience (one manager) that what you chose is the right thing. Don't forget some financial analysis!
• Group exercise was quite OK, since the fellow candidates were easy-going. We had to prepare a schedule for visit of representatives from collaboration company. Try to push your ideas, but do not push hard...persuade others.

In general I found this AC very good (and I was offered a position) and easy going. Any advice? Inform yourself about insurance industry!

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Job Hunting: Ernst & Young Assessment Center

During my job-hunting period I have applied for all Big4 companies but made it to Enrst & Young assessment center only, which is pretty interesting since all the companies have the same requirements. The AC took place in Leeds and was quite easy, which I did not expect. It consisted from only 3 exercises - interview, case study and group exercise. So let's have a look at those:

• Interview was typical competency based interview with partner of the company. It was lot focused on two things - teamwork (you were asked to provide examples of teamwork you were involved in) and reasons why you want to work for Ernst & Young. Big4 companies ask you a lot about why you want to work for them. The trickiest question is whether you know what are you going to do during the first 1 - 2 years. It is essential to answer this question well, otherwise you will not succeed. Quite good answer is: a) I will develop my skills in area of my interest + audit (everything what they do is connected with audit), b) I will build up a strong social network (basically teamwork) and finally c) I will gain certification like ... (by this you show that you are aware of the fact you need lot of certification for audit).
• Case study is 2 hours long - you get a lot of materials (emails, ads, analysis) about a hotel chain, which have to decide whether to sell its restaurant branch. Your task is to analyse these materials, find key issues the company faces and decide whether the company should or should not sell its restaurant branch. It is also important that you should offer ways how E&Y could help with selling the branch. I guess they do not read it, at least I am not aware of any comments from their side. This is mainly preparation for the group exercise.
• Group exercise lasts about 1 hour. In the first 40 minutes you asked to discuss your findings with the other applicants and then to come up with solution = the company should / should not sell the branch. You should also provide reasons why did you decide to do this and that. The last task is the plan, how will you proceed with your decision (the company should do this and that). Cooperation is crucial - do not force others to accept your proposal and ask others about their opinions.

It was not very difficult and it was quite short (from 9.00 AM - 13.00 PM). The lunch was not very good :-(. I passed this one and was offered a position.

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Job Hunting: 3M Assessment Center

In the beginning of March I attended assessment center of 3M in Bracknell, where the headquarters are located and now I would like to share my experience with you...

The assessment centers tarted at 9:00 AM with short presentation of the IT Graduate Programme and the company. Then we were told that only two of us have arrived so the group exercise will be cancelled and schedule must be adjusted. At 10:00 AM we started with competency based interviews, there were 2 one hour CBI in a row! Both of them were very difficult and demanding. After these interviews we had time for lunch and after the lunch other graduates showed us the company building (mainly the IT department). Then we had to retake the numerical and verbal tests in order to prove that we did not cheat and finally the day ended with a presentation, which we were supposed to prepare at home. The topic was: My Idea of a Good Leader, so typical bullshitting stuff. The presentation was difficult because you had to present in front of 8 managers and all of them asked you one question.

Summary

In general I did not find this AC extremely difficult, it was kind of demanding, mainly due to 2 long interview in a row. The presentation was also tough, but the managers were OK.

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