An assessment for a technical role: what to expect?
More and more employers add a test or assessment. No reason for stress, every reason to prepare.
Between the first interview and the contract, more and more technical employers insert a test: a technical trial, a reasoning test or a full assessment center. Annoying? Sometimes. But above all a chance to show what a CV can't.
Always ask beforehand what exactly is on the agenda. A practical troubleshooting assignment is prepared differently from an abstract reasoning test or a personality questionnaire. A good employer, or your recruiter, will simply tell you; we brief candidates on what awaits them as standard.
In technical trials your approach often weighs more than the end result. Think aloud: what do you check first, what do you rule out, why that measuring device? A structured reasoning with half an answer scores better than a guess that happens to be right.
For personality and reasoning tests the best strategy is honesty and calm. Answers you polish up will clash with reality sooner or later, usually to your disadvantage. And if one part goes less well, ask for feedback: how a candidate handles that conversation weighs at least as heavily for many employers as the test score itself.
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