It’s about the journey as much as it’s about the destination
I’ve always been a very confident and bubbly person but whenever it has come down to interviews or assessments my nerves have always gotten the upper hand. The experience of completing both an interview and an assessment has provided me with helpful feedback and practice, which hopefully as I participate in more, my confidence will outshine my nerves.
There is a first time for everything
As this was my first time doing an assessment centre and only the third time doing an interview, I ran around like a headless chicken an hour before hand not knowing what to wear, how to have my hair and trying to decide whether wearing my glasses would make me look smarter or not. But after a few deep breaths, I took my seat and the sessions began.
Not everything is a competition…
From participating in a variety of sports since a young age one would say that I am quite competitive, and after completing my assessment centre I realised that you don’t need to ‘win’ in everything.
My feedback reminded me that this wasn’t a competition and that there was no right or wrong decision, just a discussion within the group and justification of which would be the best route to take. It also made me aware that I needed to think deeper and provide a better analysis and consider all options, and to think outside of the box rather than just within. Because after all it’s about the journey and not just about the destination.
Don’t let your nerves get the better of you
One thing that really stood out to me before my interview was my nerves. I was putting off doing it and was overthinking every little detail about the process. These nerves knocked my confidence which caused my answers to become flustered and repetitive, losing structure and moving away from the CAR model. Because I was panicking, I forgot the answers I had roughly prepared and didn’t mention how my skills made me a good applicant for the role, even though I held good skills as feedback for my CV identified. When reading my feedback it claimed I carried out little preparation, but even though at the time I thought I had prepared enough, I now know further is needed.
Practice makes perfect
As this was my first experience of an assessment centre and I am still in my early days of being an interviewee, I think that the more I encounter, the better I will become.
My nerves will take less control as I become more confident in the assessment conditions as well as having more knowledge and experience of the process and the generic questions that may be asked, all of which will make me a stronger applicant when being assessed in the future.