Experience Rolls Royce- Assessment Center

A long hectic two days event in Derby- Miles away from London comprising of a dinner with the corporate, two tests, two interviews, lunch, group activities and group presentation, individual presentation and trip around the Rolls Royce heritage facility. Sounds (And is) a lot to do in only two days with the hours of journey both ways to and from London each day but is an experience totally worth it. Its about meeting great and diverse people from places you’ve never been and getting to know their experiences that astonish you.

The day 1 started with four hours of journey and welcome to the Jury’s Inn, a personal trip around Derby High Street and then a dinner at Limes Bar. Coming from London its surprising how neat, calm and happy Derby seems (Not sure how long it takes for that to get depressing though). So, its day 1- I arrive at the Limes Bar and am directed to this table of ten at the corner, shocked by the small size of the group I reconfirmed if that was the right group and finally joined the three HR Director Executives from RR, two other Summer Internship Candidates and four Graduate Scheme Candidates. I was puzzled to see with us post grads discussing their experiences and education background. So much of individual attentional for recruitment of company like RR was impressive and surprising. The talking stays no limited to education and profession but traveling, corporate decision in RR in the past, desserts etc. The day ends with intense pressure build up for what happens next day. Back to the hotel (which by the way was very impressive, booked and taken care of by RR)- around 10ish.

Next day, early morning with breakfast at 7am and taxi waiting outside Jury’s at 7. 50am to head down to the RR facility. Beginning of a day- So hectic and stressful but absolutely worth it regardless of the outcome- positive or negative. Us 7 were welcomed by the RR HR representative and presented with the whole day’s plan. It all began with a tea/ coffee with the corporate followed by an individual case study that involved reading a case study for thirty minutes and providing solution to deal with that specific problem being an executive of that company. The thing to keep in mind is there is no right or wrong answer, there is only a strong or weak argument. It was followed by a technical interview, where again a business scenario was presented in approximately 50 pages of text with statistics, emails and surveys. Being an HR director you needed to address some issues and present solutions to them to a RR HR Representative. That was followed by a psychometric test with 36 questions in 45 minutes. A lot of thinking but exam was fairly do-able.

After that was a guided trip around the RR heritage facility that ran us through the background history, major management decisions from the past and their outcomes along with a viewing session of RR engines and motors. It was finally time for lunch which again was scheduled with the corporate- Amazing food though! It was now the time for a personal interview and individual presentation with the presentation lasting 10 minutes and personal interview lasting 45.

The questions got more tricky as they progressed but being honest is the key to dealing with questions when it comes to personal interviews. Right after this was the numerical test with 35 questions to be attempted in 45 minutes which was incredible puzzling and lengthy. With no delay was our group case study where we were watched by two HR executives while we worked out a business strategy to deal with a business scenario for 30 minutes, followed by our final task for the day- a presentation about our business strategy that was designed and proposed by us. By 4. 00pm we were all free and exhausted when we were dropped off to the train station on the taxi.

An incredibly challenging experience, pushing you to the limits, especially being a student- it is worth the exposure and experience it gives you. Regardless of what happens with the results, this was one event that added so much to my experience and knowledge of myself and Rolls Royce. Its amazing what sort of people you get to meet and things you get to witness- that inspire you and those that don’t. The point is, when something comes your way, make the most of it- Whatever is a success- Follows. Whatever is not- Gives you exposure.