www.pwc.com/uk/careers
Employability –
Assessment skills
A bit about me...
Presenters name
Time at PwC
Which area of the business
Interesting personal fact
Interesting client or project worked on
Outside of PwC I like to....
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Agenda
PwC – who we are
Why use assessment tools in recruitment?
Types of assessment tools used in recruitment
How you can prepare for “reported” assessments
How you can prepare for “observed” assessments
Practice session: group assessment
Practice session: psychometric assessment
Review and your questions
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What we do
“As professional advisers we help our clients solve complex
business problems and aim to enhance their ability to add
value, manage risk and improve performance.”
Our business areas:
Consulting
Tax
Actuarial
Technology
Deals
Assurance
And also as part of the PwC
network:
PwC Legal LLP
PwC
PwC facts
1 in The
Times Top
100 Graduate
Number
4th place in Rate
My Placement awards
beating our key
competitors
Employers survey for a
record-breaking
11
years
Over 1200 graduates and
school and college leavers
joined us in 2013. And
over 700 joined on a
work experience
programme.
PwC
Audit
41% of the
FTSE 100
and 29% of
FTSE 350
Over 1,800
employees
volunteered in the ‘One
Firm One May’
programme
Four wins at the
Management
Consultancies Association
(MCA) Awards
15th position in the Times
Best Big Companies to work for
2014 (highest of the Big Four)
Where we do it
We have 57 offices
across the UK, the
Channel Islands and the
Middle East. All of our
people across our
extensive network
are working to create
the value our clients are
looking for.
PwC
Globally
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Why we use assessment tools in
recruitment?
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Recruitment
Tools can be
used in
recruitment to:
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Measure your abilities
Understand your experiences and skills
Establish your preferred working styles
Identify your behavioural responses
Provide a job preview for yourself
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Types of assessment tools used in
recruitment
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Recruitment assessments
Tools can be used to collect information in two ways:
 Reported information
 Observed information
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Recruitment assessments
Tools that may be used to collect reported information from
you:
• Curriculum vitae or resume
• Application forms
• Interviews (by telephone, in person or panel interview style)
• Personal presentations
• Personality or preference questionnaires
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Recruitment assessments
Tools that may be used to collect observed information from
you:

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Ability tests (online and supervised)
Situational judgement tests or questionnaires
Work sample exercises
In-tray exercises testing your prioritising and sorting skills
Case studies
Presentation exercises
Report writing exercises
Group discussions
Interviews (by telephone, in person or panel interview style)
And more, in isolation or combination with each other
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Preparing for “reported” assessments
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PwC reported assessments
Application form
What are these? Interview
Work style preference questionnaire
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Preparing for “observed”
assessments
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PwC observed assessments
Ability tests
What are these? Written exercise /In-tray (Higher Apprentices)
Group/de-brief case study exercise
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PwC observed assessments
Ability tests
• Reasoning tests, e.g. verbal, numerical or logical
• Supervised and unsupervised testing (timed)
• Objective form of assessment
• Standardised and fair
• Can practice ability to be sure to perform at your best, e.g. for a numerical exercise:
- do daily calculations in your head (e.g. shopping, discounts)
- read numerical information in various forms (e.g. financial newspapers and web
sites
• Practice session today
• Online facilities to practice further
- www.pwc.com/uk/careers
- www.shldirect.com
- www.opp.co.uk
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PwC observed assessments
Written exercise
• You are provided with a scenario to write about.
• Be clear and keep to the point.
• Use good grammar and appropriate punctuation.
• Structure your report so that the main points can be found easily.
• Explain your reasoning (provide facts or figures) so that the reader
can follow your logic.
• The in-tray exercise will ask you to select from multiple choice
answers as well as complete a written communication.
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PwC observed assessments
Group exercise
• You are provided with a scenario to discuss.
• Use the preparation time to get an understanding of the topic to be
discussed.
• Express yourself and your ideas clearly.
• Invite others to express themselves and listen to their ideas.
• Avoid competitive behaviours; the group shares responsibility for the
outcome achieved.
• Aim to meet the exercise objectives; keep track of the time available
and the objectives the group has been given.
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Practical session
Group assessment
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Practical session
We will now
practice a
group
discussion
exercise
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Please treat this session as you would a real
assessment session:
- concentrate on the instructions
- cooperate with your fellow group members
- manage your time to meet your objective
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Practical session
Your turn to talk
How did you find that?
Did you express your ideas?
Did you listen to others’ ideas?
What did you find easy about working as a team?
What was most difficult about working with the rest of the team?
What can you do differently next time?
How did the session compare with what you may have expected?
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Practical session
Psychometric assessment
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Preparing for a psychometric assessment
Numerical
reasoning
Why will employers use a numerical reasoning
test?
Verbal
Reasoning
Logical
Reasoning
• Numerical reasoning tests give you an opportunity to make
decisions or inferences from numerical data, presented in
reports, graphs and tables.
• Numerical reasoning goes beyond simple use of data; when
doing a numerical test you can demonstrate your ability to
plan, prioritise and analyse data, see trends and follow
numerical reasoning and logic.
• These skills are relevant to a range of functions that require
working with money or finance, also general management,
finance and sales to data processing.
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Preparing for a psychometric assessment
Numerical
reasoning
Verbal
reasoning
Logical
reasoning
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Preparing for a psychometric assessment
Numerical
reasoning
Verbal
reasoning
Logical
reasoning
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Preparing for a psychometric assessment
If you were told you were going to do a numerical reasoning
test, how would you prepare?
• Remind yourself of the basics of mathematics, with and without using a calculator.
Can you calculate percentages, ratios, fractions, currency conversions etc?
• Read the financial section of a quality daily newspaper . It will help familiarise you
with financial and numerical information.
• Look at numbers presented in tables and charts and see if you can establish the
relationships between the numbers.
• Practise doing maths puzzles . Such as adding up your shopping bill in your head,
especially if discounts are applied to the price; keep the score of a game you are playing
(like darts or cards).
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Preparing for a psychometric assessment
Numerical
reasoning
Why will employers use a verbal reasoning test?
Verbal
reasoning
Logical
reasoning
• Verbal reasoning tests measures your ability to reason with and
to evaluate the logic of verbal information.
• The process is similar to the skills required to summarise large
reports and extract verbal data at meetings . It's very relevant
for roles that require analysis of verbal information.
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Preparing for a psychometric assessment
Numerical
reasoning
Verbal
reasoning
Logical
reasoning
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Preparing for a psychometric assessment
Numerical
reasoning
Verbal
reasoning
Logical
reasoning
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Preparing for a psychometric assessment
Numerical
reasoning
Verbal
reasoning
If you were told you were going to do a verbal
reasoning test, how would you prepare?
Logical
reasoning
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Preparing for a psychometric assessment
Numerical
reasoning
Verbal
reasoning
Logical
reasoning
If you were told you were going to do a verbal
reasoning test, how would you prepare?
• Read newspapers, journals, reports and books
• Have a go at solving verbal reasoning puzzles for example
crosswords or word finding games
• Practice reading passages of information and summarising
the key points
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Preparing for a psychometric assessment
Numerical
reasoning
Why will employers use a logical reasoning test?
Verbal
reasoning
• Logical reasoning is a measure of reasoning, which is
independent of an individual’s numerical or verbal ability
Logical
reasoning
• The test provides an opportunity to work through problems
and isolate information or rules that are relevant to solving
the problems
• This sort of reasoning is relevant for jobs which require the
capacity to learn new things and work through complex
problems in a logical, systematic and analytical manner
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Preparing for a psychometric assessment
Numerical
reasoning
Verbal
reasoning
Logical
reasoning
What comes next in the sequence?
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Preparing for a psychometric assessment
Numerical
reasoning
If you were told you were going to do a logical
reasoning test, how would you prepare?
Verbal
reasoning
•
Logical
reasoning
You can sharpen your logical reasoning ability by doing
abstract or shape-based puzzles
•
Review diagrams you have at home, such as manuals for
electric circuits of your household appliances or selfassembly instructions for furniture. Try to understand the
manufacturer’s presentation of the information, then draw
one of your own
•
Take some time to play sequence or strategy games like
draughts or chess, make an effort to plan your moves ahead
of time, considering the reactions that would result
•
Think about the sequenced tasks you’d do. What steps
would you take when planning a holiday?
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Practical session
Your turn to talk
How did you find that?
How did the session compare with what you may have expected?
Do you feel any differently about doing tests in future?
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Practical session
Understanding your results
• You might not have been able to answer all.
• You might not have got them all right.
• Did you work quickly?
• Did you work accurately?
Don’t take your score on this particular test too seriously; these tests are
short and less accurate than real tests
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Preparing for a psychometric assessment
Numerical
reasoning
Verbal
reasoning
Logical
reasoning
Work style
preference
questionnaire
Other tips:
• Book into Careers Service for test session
• Look at websites, for example:
• www.pwc.com/uk/careers
• www.shldirect.com
• www.opp.co.uk
• Practise using the skills that are to be assessed
• If you have a disability, inform your recruiter prior to
attendance
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Preparing for a psychometric assessment
Numerical
reasoning
Other tips:
Verbal
reasoning
Much like when you’re taking any test, such as an interview or
exam, give yourself the best possibly opportunity to perform at
your best:
Logical
reasoning
Work style
preference
questionnaire
• Get a good night’s sleep
• Give yourself plenty of time to get to the session
• Listen to what you’re asked to do. Pay full attention to test
instructions
• Read through questions carefully
• Work through quickly but accurately
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Summary points
of all assessments
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Summary points
What more can you do to prepare for an assessment exercise?
• Review any preview information you are offered thoroughly
• Get a good night’s sleep and allow plenty of time to get to your session
• Take a watch along so that you can manage your time
• Listen carefully to the instructions and ask if anything is unclear
• Make sure you understand the answers to any examples offered
• Read through questions carefully (or check your understanding in an interview)
• When you are being timed, work as quickly and accurately as you can
• If you have time when you’ve completed an assessment, go back and check your
answers
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Our brand promise
“Great people make
us a great business.
So not only do we look
for the best; we go to
extraordinary lengths to
help our people continue
to grow. Join us and the
skills, knowledge and
relationships you build
right from the start will
benefit you for life.”
Ian Powell
Chairman & Senior Partner
Opportunities for you to grow as an individual, to build
lasting relationships and make an impact in a place where
people, quality and value mean everything.
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Work experience and graduate opportunities
School & college
leaver
opportunities
 Higher
Apprenticeships
 Flying Start
Degree
Programme
 Career
Information Days
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How to apply…
1. Research
2. Get online
(Outstanding Achievement*)
3. First interview
4. Assessment day
5. Final stage interview
6. Offer
7. Pre-employment screening
8. Before you join
www.pwc.com/uk/careers
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Teach First
An independent charity with a vision that no child’s educational success is
limited by their socio-economic background
• Intensive teacher training leading to Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
• Opportunity to pursue a Masters qualification
• Ongoing leadership development, coaching, business training and skills workshops
• Access to professional development and network of supporters
How to apply:
• Register interest and complete an online application at www.teachfirst.org.uk
• 2.1 degree | 300 UCAS points | Relevant degree and/or A-levels required
www.teachfirst.org.uk
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Questions...?
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Take the opportunity of a lifetime
www.pwc.com/uk/careers
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