Readers Requests

Two of this blog's readers have asked for more information on the fast stream assessment centre. So here is some more information on the day.

The assessment is split in to two parts - the e-tray exercise and the all day assessment centre.

The e-tray exercise does exactly what it says on the tin. You are given a set time to answer a pre-set number of e-mails. At the start of the exercise the candidate is given 5 minutes to read the instructions and scenario. Once this time is up you begin the timed part. This is split in to two sections and a break is normally given between the two.

The first part sees you having to respond to e-mails. You are unlikely at this stage to have to write anything. Rather you are given four options to choose from . Once you have clicked on your preferred option and moved on to the next e-mail you can't go back and change it. Candidates need to pay close attention as some of the e-mails have attachments and these will be relevant to deciding on how to respond.

It is important to pace oneself to allow enough time to cover all the e-mails in detail, but also quickly. It is easy to see that what is being tested here, amongst other things, is the ability to quickly sift information, come to sound decisions, and see linkages.

The second part of the exercise will see you having to produce some written material. For this you will need to quickly decide which information from the first part is relevant and then demonstrate your ability to use it well. Possible written material that might be requested: Q&A for a ministerial press conference, briefing for your boss prior to a meeting with an NGO or a letter to be sent to the Chairman of X setting out reasons as to why they were not chosen as preferred partner. Only use the material given, but if linkages to events/issues such as the delays in building the new Wembley Stadium or the awarding of the London Olympics are relevant don't be afraid to make them.

You will find out about a fortnight after sitting the e-tray if you were successful. There won't be feedback if you passed, simply confirmation of the timetable for the next stage.

So you have made it to the assessment centre. This will be a long day so the first thing to say is get a good nights sleep and don't go out on the lash the night before, have breakfast, and if you have to stay in a hotel near the assessment centre so that you don't have a long commute first thing.

On arrival all candidates are given their own timetable. Study carefully, and work out when you will need to eat and use the bathroom.

All candidates will start with the situation test. This will give you a scenario in which you are leading a team and something has gone, or is about to go wrong. You will be expected to say what you would do to make sure the event happens successfully. The second part might ask you to imagine that the event happened six months ago and you now need to suggest ideas to build team morale.

The Policy Exercise: does exactly what you think it does. You will be given a large amount of data and a scenario. Read the scenario carefully and watch the clock as you go through the material. You will need to write a policy recommendation paper. Easiest format to use is the one they given you in the scenario - ie the Minister wants to know about the environmental, employment and resource implications of your recommendation. Set out your preferred option up front and then cover everything as background coming to your recommendation again at the end. You will need to balance all options against each other and show why you have discounted the positives of discarded options.

The Group Discussion: In some ways this is the toughest exercise as you are dependent on others being competitive but not too competitive. Each person has a role and you are part of a team that has to come to a consensus on something. There is prep time to get to know the key points for your role. Each person will have two preferred options and something they are against. The assessors are looking for the ability to negotiate, compromise, make alliances, etc. The person who keeps an eye on time and gently steers the discussion without assuming the chair - you aren't allowed to nominate a chair - will gain extra marks. The exercise is spiced up from time to time with the assessor interrupting 10 minutes from the end to say the Minister needs talking points on your recommendation in an hour and you have 10 minutes to send them up to private office. Don't panic - just do it and before you know the 45/50 minutes will be over.

The interview: You should think about this from as soon as you know you have got through to the assessment centre. You will need to develop two good answers against each competency assessed, and to make sure that you can talk happily about them for 3/4 minutes. The assessors are trained, and they want you to do well. If you are shy and retiring you have to leave this at the door as they can only grade you on what you tell them. Don't be afraid of talking about some thing that didn't work out as planned. Tell them why it didn't, what you learnt, and how you moved on. Talking about Learning is the hardest competency to cover, and this is an easy way to do so.

The presentation: You are seated for this, and can't use flip charts etc. Like the other tests there is preparation time. You will be given a scenario and several options. Using them you will need to work up a presentation of not more than 10 minutes. Try to talk for 8minutes max. The assessor will then ask lots of questions to get you to develop the idea further. Be inventive and out of the box. If you can show an awareness of diversity issues here, as well as in the policy exercise, it will be well received.

Finally: enjoy the day. It will be one of the toughest things you have done, but ignore people who appear supremely confident or unsure. Focus on what you have to do, and if you think you did badly in one test forget about it and move on. You are assessed on your overall performance, and whilst a bad grade might scupper your chances you can't dwell on it.

Pass or fail the feedback you are given is awesome and of great use.

Main thing is to understand what the day involves before hand, and to talk to as many people as possible who have been through it or are assessors. Some departments run internal mini-assessment centres as part of their selection process - if you are lucky enough to have this you will have a good idea as to what the real thing is like. If you are coming to this from university then the main thing to keep in mind is that a policy paper is not an essay, and do make sure you understand what they are marking against.

All the News that is fit to print

I realise that I have been somewhat tardy over the last month in posting to my blog, and so as this morning I don't have anything important to do I thought I would do something important and file a new post.

The last month has been rather busy what with starting to plan the wedding, and sorting out my new job, entertaining friends and hanging out with my best friend on his brief stop in London.

I am only one week away from finishing my current job, and I can't wait for it to end. The people are really nice, but I am just extremely bored and am not doing anything I haven't done before. The new job will stretch me professionally as I will be doing new things with new people.

The last four weeks has seen me do a lot of cooking, and in fact I had five people over for Friday night last night. The three courses were very well received, as were the three bottles of red wine! The one thing that would be a nice addition to my kitchen is a dishwasher, but there just isn't room for one and so I have to wash up 12 wine glasses by hand. I don't mind washing plates - I just just am not keen on wine glasses. Don't ask me why!

Talking to someone at work over the cash for honours affair would suggest that the civil servants are in the clear, and it really only involves Labour Party operatives. What I find slightly galling about the stance taken by several MPs in all the main parties is that they were more than happy to take money from their central offices during the election, and yet now are claiming that the Labour party is corrupt. General elections are expensive, and the American experience shows that the first thing a party does once a new campaign finance act becomes law is to hire a room of clever lawyers to find the loop holes. I don't know what the answer to the issue is, as I don't believe in state funding for political parties. Perhaps the best of worse option is to raise the limit, declare all donations over £500 and have an independent body such as the electoral commission scrutinize the spending.

Whilst having lunch with my boss yesterday he asked me what I made of faith based schools. A strange left field question, but my view is that whilst they at times do provide a better standard of education than non-faith based schools, they also result in the ghettoisation of schooling and this has to out weigh any educational standard. There isn't an easy answer to the schooling issue, but the more I think about it, and the more I look at my boss's attempt to get his second child in to the same school as his first child, the more I think that school vouchers are part of the answer - albeit to a slightly different question.

And finally on to the topic of conversation for part of last night's dinner party - the death of Anna Nicole Smith. After much high brow and low brow discussion the consensus view was that it was just a tragedy that someone with a young child died, and that the famous for being famous issue tapped into a wider society focus on big brother reality type television shows. At this point more wine was had by all and we ventured up on to the roof of my apartment block to look at the London skyline in the mist.