The Assessment Centre

Etray / In-tray Exercise

The in-tray exercise simulates a real office environment. You will be involved in various real time office tasks such as responding to emails after analysing client information and compiling graphs, charts and spreadsheets.

Group Exercise

This exercise will be conducted in groups for the purpose of assessing your teamwork and coordination skills, although other competency/strength areas will also be taken into account. Depending on the service line you have applied to, the key topic will either be provided beforehand or on the day.You will all receive a standard ‘information pack’ to build up your knowledge on a particular topic, which you are expected to discuss with the team. You are expected to confidently communicate your opinions with other participants and aim to reach a final conclusion.

Written Exercise

In this exercise, you will be provided with an information pack to analyse and base concise reports on through use of a laptop. Tasks are designed to simulate real Big Four work environments and your responses here in will affect subsequent test stages.

Presentation Exercise

The objective of the presentation exercise is for you to gain and demonstrate a clear understanding of business operations and develop real insight. You will be provided with a presentation topic beforehand and are expected to come fully prepared for both initial and follow-up questions. You will be challenged and rigorously cross-questioned for around 10 to 15 minutes after making your presentation, by a company partner. It will not be easy to impress the partner, as he or she will be involved in business development pitches every day and will have been doing so since you were a child.

Role Play Exercise

The role play exercise hinges on your interpersonal as well as your professional skills and consists of two separate face-to-face meetings. In the first part of the exercise, you will have a meeting with a firm manager or partner based on fictional information. Next, you will meet company trainees and seniors at lunch where you will discuss your questions and career aspirations and learn about their views on working for the firm. However, this is not just a casual chat, it is in fact a 40-minute informal assessment during which you will be judged on your ethics and manners.

Further Psychometric Testing

At the assessment centre, you will be required to re-sit the numerical reasoning test and then either the verbal or diagrammatic reasoning test depending on the service line you have applied to. This will be carried out on paper and under supervision.

Partner Interview

This is the ultimate stage in your search for Big Four employment. Here, you will be meeting with a company partner to discuss your responses to previous tests and examples you have offered regarding your previous experience. You will be rigorously challenged and cross-questioned by an experienced assessor. Green Turn’s market-leading direct coaching packages are the ideal preparation for high-pressure interviews. At this stage you are so close to the finish line that you simply cannot afford to slip up!