Preparing for an ITB Assessment Center
The company you work for – or a company you have applied to – has invited you to take part in an Assessment Center (AC) that is to be conducted by ITB Consulting?
Here you will find information on how to prepare for the AC, and answers to frequently asked questions.
Basics
Our ACs are developed and carried out according to firmly defined standards of quality. The important thing for you is: You can count on the highest possible degree of transparency and fairness.
The exercises reproduce the requirements of everyday professional practise: You can be sure that you will not be confronted anywhere in the AC with exercises that are meaningless or embarrassing or otherwise violate your dignity in any way.
You will receive all the information you require to carry out the individual tasks. The time slots for the preparation and implementation of the individual exercises are observed with all precision. All observers are carefully prepared for their role before the AC. This guarantees that all participants have the same chances of carrying out a task successfully.
How can or should you prepare?
Preparation for an ITB-AC is sensible on three levels:
- Know the company: You should inform yourself sufficiently about the company in which you envision your professional future (particularly if it is already your employer!).
- Know yourself: It is important that, before the AC, you take some time to think about yourself and your abilities and preferences: What have you got to offer the company? What are your strengths? In what areas is there room for improvement/development?
- Know the methods: It is helpful, but not absolutely necessary to acquaint yourself with the Assessment Center method. At any rate, it can help you to be familiar with simple presentation techniques.
During the AC: Pointers on Behaviour
- Behave as you would in the everyday, on-the-job situation.
- Participate actively in discussions; voice your ideas and proposals.
- Do not blindly trust the supposedly clever advice in handbooks or from friends / colleagues who have taken part in an AC in the past! Trust your own power of judgement!
- Always read the instructions thoroughly: They contain all the information you need. If something is still unclear to you: Ask!
- Just like in real life, performance in our ACs is judged on the basis of both process and result.
- Stick to the time allotted to each activity!
- After the AC you will receive feedback on the impressions the observers have gained of you. Use this opportunity to learn something about yourself. Ask specific questions if any aspect of this feedback remains unclear!
- And last but not least: Go at it in a sportsmanlike manner! Nobody wants to hurt you during the AC; every observer would prefer to give positive than negative feedback when the AC is over. And if the company wasn't confident that you could be successful in the AC, you wouldn't have been invited to participate!
Further information in German: Ernst Fay im Experten-Chat des Manager Magazins über Assessment-Center
