Our Assessment Centres take place from the end of November for those who have applied early, these will continue to run until February. Our Assessment Centres and Interviews will take place face to face.
Although we know Graduate Assessment centres can be a daunting prospect, we always try to ensure that those who attend are made to feel as relaxed as possible. You will also have the opportunity to meet some of our Recruitment Specialists, Teams and Graduates during the application process, via an online webinar we run for applicants.
The reason we hold Assessment centres as WSP, is because we believe they bring about efficiencies in the recruitment process. As well as allowing prospective Graduates to get a taste of what it might be like to work for an organisation like WSP.
What to expect
One of our Early Careers Recruitment team will be in touch to invite you to the Assessment Centre event, these usually take place in our regional main offices i.e. Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham or London. Your invitation will provide some information about the format of the event you are being invited to and the roles we are recruiting for. We will ask you to complete a short survey to gather information about any special requirements you have for attending and information about your travel arrangements (if required). We will also ask you to upload any relevant documents, so you don’t have to bring anything on the day. If you’re Assessment Centre takes place in one of our offices and you’re travelling from outside the city the event is taking place in, we will book your travel for you.
On the day, we usually start in the morning and the whole assessment including interview should last no longer than 4-5 hours including breaks. Someone from the Early Careers Recruitment Team will be there to welcome you and provide a short introduction to WSP. You’ll then have chance to meet the WSP team(s) and find out more about the day-to-day work in their disciplines. There will usually be around 10 people from WSP attending and up to 12-20 other attendees, many of these people are likely to be feeling just like you are.
Please don’t be put off at this point because we do break candidates up into smaller groups for the group activities, we aim to have no more than 6 candidates in a group, so hopefully this should provide you with some comfort.
You’ll take part in a group activity which lasts around 45 minutes along with a technical exercise for some of our technical roles. We will provide further information prior to the Assessment to advise what activities you will be participating in. We will also give you plenty of time to meet the assessors and chat to them informally. You will also have the chance to meet some of our existing graduates who can tell you more about their experiences of working at WSP.
Following the assessment, you will also have an interview with the team, this is your chance to shine individually, away from the group, and usually lasts around 30-45 minutes.
The key thing to remember is that our assessment centres are a way for us to get to you know you better and for you to get to know us. It’s a great opportunity for you to meet the team you could be working with in the future, and to ask any questions you may have.
Interviews Tips & Advice
Ensure you have done your research about WSP and specifically the sector and discipline you are interviewing for, the interviewers will expect you to know a bit about the company, and why you want to work in their discipline. The most up-to-date information can be found on our website.
If you’re looking to pursue a career with WSP then you should also have an understanding of what’s happening in the industry and how this could affect your future.
At the interview you will be asked some competency-based type interview questions as well as some technical questions. Although you won’t have questions that you can prepare for, it’s always useful to think about examples you could use for competency-based questions.
Competency based interview questions attempt to link together three parameters – knowledge, skills, and attitude. These competency-based questions will assess whether you have the right balance between great interpersonal skills, education or experience, and the right attitude for the role in question.
With competency-based questions it is sometimes easy to go off topic or meander around providing too much information about the situation. All the interviewer wants to know is how you acted. You therefore may find it beneficial to use the STAR technique to structure your response: -
- Situation: give the interviewer a context by describing the situation.
- Task: What did you need to do?
- Action: Tell the interviewer what your actions were.
- Result: the end result – make sure it shows you in a good light, even if the overall project was not a success.
Comparably, you should dedicate most of your response to the Action part.
Some examples of these types of questions are below: -
- Give an example of when you worked in a team?
- Give an example of when you solved a problem?
- Give an example of a time when you have had to deal with an educational or workplace problem?
Technical questions – If you have applied for a position in one of our Engineering or STEM roles, your interview is likely to include some technical questions: -
- Know the basics of your subject inside and out.
- Interviewers could quiz you about your course, so ensure you revise the basics and focus on the topics that relate to the area of work you are applying for.
- Be prepared to talk about projects you have worked on.
- If you can use experience to back up your technical knowledge.
- You may not always have the answer to what you are asked but try to show the interviewer how you might go about solving a problem or finding the information you would need to answer the question.
If it helps, you can take notes to your interview. There is nothing wrong with referring to notes but make sure not to read directly from them throughout the interview.
Don’t overprepare. While you may want to reflect on your previous experiences ahead of the interview and learn a little bit about us, there’s no need to come with prepared responses.
We want to get to know the real, authentic you, so be sure to include personal experiences. The examples you use don’t have to be work or education based. You can also tell us about relevant situations from your personal life. Don’t try to anticipate what’s being assessed or respond in a way that you think we want you to. This could actually have an adverse effect on how you perform.
May seem obvious but remember to have eye contact and don’t be afraid to ask questions about things you are unsure of
Tips & Advice prior to attending an Assessment day or interview
- Be punctual – make sure you’ve checked how to get to our venue. Allow plenty of time to be ready at the given start time. We know trains are sometimes delayed, if anything does happen it’s best to let us know as soon as you can.
- Ask questions – you have a great opportunity to ask those detailed questions about the day-to-day role, what it’s like to be part of the team etc. make the most of this!
- Dress smartly – this might sound obvious but always good to reiterate that first impressions really do count.
- Research WSP – Ensure you have done your research about WSP and specifically the sector and discipline you are interviewing for, the interviewers will expect you to know a bit about the company, and why you want to work in their discipline. The most up-to-date information can be found on our website.
- Be Yourself – this is probably the most important piece of advice we can give. We know that you really want to secure the perfect graduate role, the best role for you will be the one that best matches your skills and natural preferences and so it’s important we see these on the day.
- Create the right environment – Although our Interviews and Assessments take place face to face. If for any reason you are attending an assessment centre or interview from home, we recommend that you let anyone that you live with know that you're attending an important event and ask not to be disturbed. We understand it's not always possible to find a suitable space at home, we know you might be sat on your bed! That’s fine, as long as you are comfortable and sitting upright. If you are conscious about your background and surroundings you can blur this or use a background.
What happens after the Assessment day / Interview
Following your assessment day a follow up session takes place with the Assessors/interviewers and the Recruitment team, to go through the assessment / interview results.
We aim to get back to those who have attended within 2 weeks, following which you will receive a communication advising if you will be offered a position or if on this occasion you have been unsuccessful.
If you haven’t been fortunate enough on this occasion to secure a role with us, you will be able to arrange a feedback session with one of our recruiters.
It is important to note that during the busy periods of our recruitment cycle, feedback calls won’t be immediate due to the volume of candidates we are dealing with.
If after reading this information and tips and advice, should you have any queries or concerns, please get in touch with one of our ECP recruiters [email protected].