We caught up with Bright Network member Lutfha, who recently completed a virtual Experience Day (assessment centre) with EY, to hear all about her experience and her top tips for other Bright Network members looking to prepare for virtual assessments.
What was the structure of the day?
Prior to the day, EY sent across a schedule of the experience and instructions on how to join the virtual meetings on Microsoft Teams. We had a timetable for when all of our personal assessments would be, so you would log on and off ready for each activity. I checked my internet connection on the morning of the Experience Day, and I was ready to go.
To start the day, everyone had a welcoming introduction from the Head of Student Recruitment at EY, James Gordanifar, and heard about his story. Then we jumped straight into the first exercise.
After the first exercise, I logged off for a while and logged back on when it was time for my next activity. This consisted of two parts in a one-hour block. The first was a case study exercise followed by an email activity. To help you throughout, there was a chat function that was opened at the start, so if you had any issues or connection problems, then you wrote your question in the chat and someone from EY would be ready to help.
What was it like meeting the team?
It was a really new experience meeting the team virtually. Before the experience I hadn’t even used the technology before, but it was exciting as you become one of the first people to go through that experience with them. Everyone I came across was super friendly – and it was actually the first time for my assessor too which was nice to bond over.
How did you feel about it being a virtual event?
I was quite nervous at the start as I thought it would feel different to an in-person assessment. Although being virtual meant we weren't able to network with other candidates, once it started it became a one-on-one conversation with an EY team member, so it didn’t seem as daunting. It was also really nice to be in my own space and feel really comfortable.
How did you prepare for the virtual assessment centre?
I had a phone call with Phil from Bright Network before, which was really useful in helping me to understand what to focus on in preparing for the day, such as research about technology that EY is working with clients on, and consequently I was able to feel really comfortable in the case study.
What are your top tips for other members going through or preparing for virtual assessment centres?
- Make sure you know your way around the software being used and be confident in your use of it – it will make you feel more prepared and set up for the day which will ease your nerves. It’s important to still prepare for the day in the same way you would for a normal interview – it’s still a few hours of assessment with multiple people from EY involved.
- Be comfortable in your own space and because I was at home, I actually felt I could converse more naturally – but prepare the same way you would for a video interview – i.e. be aware of your surroundings and make sure everything is tidy