Page 141 - Career Development Guidebook

SECTION 3: INTRODUCTION TO THE MANAGEMENT TRAINEE PROGRAM

4. Assessment Center Round

What is required at this round?

This round is to test the teamwork ability through discussions, debating, and problem-solving.

You will be divided into teams with 4 to 8 other applicants in the same or different departments such as
Marketing, Sales, Supply Chain, etc. (depending on the company)

Language Structure

English Usually, including the “Problems” and “Solutions” parts to analyze.
Some companies provide super long requirements, while some others will be
simpler on just one A4-page.
Some companies’ requirements are not related to business, but just a problem
to assess the discussion process and ability of the teams.

How to prepare for this round?

1 Understand the assessment criteria and keys, primarily:
Communication - verbal language, gestures, manners, etc.
Analytical & Problem-solving - breakdown and logically utilize given materials and data
Innovation - come up with the solutions and ideas with lateral thinking
Influencing & Negotiation - persuade other members
Leadership - arrange and organize tasks, to lead the discussion of the group

2 Get the knowledge and Practice:
Learn the industry, company, industry, and company reports, etc.
Case studies - practice doing them, have strategies to breakdown and process them, etc.

3 Reinforce your preparation:
Keep up-to-date with news related to industry, company, and departments

3 common mistakes leading to failures
Everyone is a competitor and I need to shine
This is a teamwork round, teamwork is the most important criterion. When having a competition, you
will tend to set your ideas fixed and refuse others with the hope that your ideas will be chosen, which
will pull down the team’s energy and show your bad teamwork skills.
Talk too much but low-value ideas
You may think speaking up and taking the spotlight will be impressive, but it’d be despicable if you try to
say something repeatedly or raise an exclamation sentence without further elaboration like “Wow! I
agree!”, etc.
Being “zone-out” during the discussion
Several problems are considered: inability to follow the team flow, unable to finish reading the
materials, weak reasoning to protect opinions, time-consuming explanations, and messy wording, etc.
This shows your weakness in attention, not good communication skills, critical thinking, or the ability to
follow unexpected conversations.

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