This will be a traditional 45-minute interview with a panel of at least two assessors. They will explore your technical expertise if you have applied for a professional cadre or specialist vacancy, your career to date and interest in the advertised vacancy. You will be given a brief opportunity to ask questions at the end of the interview.
The CBI will assess your key core competencies. You will be asked to give examples demonstrating the five key core competencies required for the specific vacancy. The CBI usually lasts around 45 minutes and is carried out on a one-to-one basis by a trained HR assessor.
You may be asked to produce a piece of writing that is typical of the job you’re applying for. For example, you may be asked to provide a short written briefing for a minister on a current ‘hot topic’ in your profession or specialism, or international development generally. You will usually be given an hour to complete the exercise. This exercise assesses both your written communication skills and your technical skills. You will normally be given a laptop, and pen and paper will also be available. For some vacancies you may be asked to complete the written exercise before the assessment centre.
Group discussions give you the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to work as part of a team. They can be either vacancy-specific, or generic. You will be given brief background information on a situation related to the vacancy you have applied for, or a generic issue or problem. You may be given a short period of time to prepare. You will then be asked to discuss the issue with the other participants for between 40-50 minutes. There may be no right or wrong answer to the problem. We will be looking to see how you communicate and work as part of a team, and at your problem solving skills. Assessors observe the exercise and take notes but do not participate.
You may be asked to make a 5-10 minute presentation to the interview panel on a given topic. You will either be given around 30 minutes to prepare the presentation immediately before your interview or the topic will be sent to you around seven days in advance, depending on the assessment centre programme. The interview panel may ask you follow up questions at the end of your presentation.
For some vacancies, you may be asked to complete a short psychometric questionnaire. This will cover topics like working with others, planning and organising work, and dealing with challenging situations.
Personality Profile Questionnaires may be required/used. In these cases your results will be discussed with you one-to-one, and you will be given a short written summary. You may be asked to complete the questionnaire online before coming to the assessment centre.
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