The Novus programme holds assessment centres to provide successful candidates with Novus status.
Activities at the assessment centre will be similar to those that companies often use to recruit new staff, but everyone involved will understand that this is likely to be the first time that you have taken part in such an exercise. You will be assessed by HR professionals or other managers drawn from the companies sponsoring Novus.
The session will last for half a day (either a morning or afternoon) and will be completed online. If you are unfamiliar with online calling platforms, there will be the chance to practice in advance with the Novus Programme Manager. This practice will not form part of your assessment. At the assessment centre itself, the activities you will participate in will include an interview and a presentation. On the day, we will also ask you to take part in short group exercises and to undertake a simple written exercise.
Further information on the activities is provided below:
You will be interviewed by up to two people from a Novus sponsor. The interviewers will ask a series of questions to find out more about you and your personal qualities. Everyone will have the same questions.
You should expect to be asked about your past achievements, your future goals and the subjects you are interested in studying at university. You may also be asked to describe situations you have been in, for example, when you may have worked in a team, faced a challenging situation, had to persuade others or had to make a difficult decision.
We recommend that you think in advance about appropriate answers to these and similar questions that you may be asked on the day. It is a good idea to draw on relevant examples and experiences from a variety of different contexts, such as your school life, your personal life or work experience. You should research the STAR technique to shape your examples.
In advance of the session, you will need to prepare a short presentation on the following topic:
‘The importance of supply chain management, why I am interested in joining the Novus programme, my top three Novus companies and why’
To make the presentation more interesting, you may wish to focus on a particular supply chain – for example food, automotive or fashion. You could even consider topical issues such as food safety concerns or the impact of buying online on the way that supply chains operate. It would be a good idea to identify the skills and abilities needed by people working in logistics or the supply chain and to show that you understand the skills needed to work in the profession.
You will need to prepare visual materials, in PowerPoint, or internet-based presentation software (e.g. Prezi). Help will be given, if needed, to share your presentation with assessors through the online platform on the day. The presentation should last for no more than 10 minutes and you will be asked to deliver your presentation to a small audience of around two people from a Novus sponsor.
Think about the structure of your presentation and the best way to communicate so that it is informative, interesting and engaging. Try to make your presentation visually appealing (adding graphics or pictures) and avoid putting too much information on each slide. We recommend that you rehearse your presentation in advance, with an honest audience if possible.
You will take part in a group exercise with a small group of students also being considered for a place on the programme. This is a fun exercise – you are not there to compete against the others, just to show what you can contribute in a team situation. Everyone at a Novus assessment centre can achieve Novus status – it is not a competition!
For the exercise, each candidate will be given a short brief containing a particular point of view. The candidates then debate these with each other, trying to persuade others to their point of view.
You will not need any prior knowledge of the topics to be discussed, as they will be subjects about which everyone has a view.
In the group exercise, we will be looking at how you communicate and how you work with others. Candidates that can communicate effectively, work well with others in a team, construct a logical argument and show enthusiasm for the task will do well. Showing respect for others will also be valued. Assessors will take into consideration that these tasks, online, are much trickier than face-to-face, so please don’t worry!
This will consist of a one page prioritisation scenario. Candidates that can communicate well in writing, think the situation through, and make appropriate decisions are likely to impress the observers.
The tasks have been designed to help you demonstrate that you have the following competencies:
We will be looking for evidence of these in the various tasks.
Remember, the assessors will be looking to see the best in you and will want to see you succeed. They will understand that you may be a little nervous but there really is no need to be!
If you have any questions about the assessment centre, we are here to help! Please get in touch with our Novus Programme Manager, Zara Nash: zara.nash@ciltuk.org.uk
