Application was challenging, the role that I had initially went for (Graduate Engineer) had a change of requirements mid-application round, therefore I was placed onto the Grad Development Enablement Programme.
Interview process was highly unexpected, no previous information given about how day would pan out with the exception of being asked to prepare a presentation with the topic 'How would you ensure you were successful on the Scottish Water Programme?'.
Interview started with a group exercise along the lines of 'being stranded on a desert island, what are your priority items', then interview went onto a more competency based direct questioning and technical specific task, however, I felt this was unfair as some people had only 2 people interviewing whilst others (including myself) had 3. Technical task was difficult, particularly in the short timeframe that was given to look over the data provided. Competency based questions were standard 'tell me about a time where...' and 'give me an example of when...' questions.
Next part of the interview was a role-play and analysis exercise where we were given examples of tendering companies for a new project, you then had to pitch forward to senior managers which one of the 4 companies you would choose and why.
Final part of the interview was the pre-prepared presentation to 2 interviewers.
Overall, difficult interview and felt as if you knew right away whether you had done well or not. The overall assessment centre is long-winded and I felt, personally, if one area had gone badly then it put you off for the rest of the interview. Sometimes felt as if interviewers were purposely trying to trip you up on certain questions to test your knowledge which makes for an uncomfortable and awkward situation.