Graduate Assessment Centres in Mining

Situation

This mining organisation was preparing for their 2023 graduate and vacation student intake, with a large number of candidates applying for roles across various disciplines. They needed a cost-effective high-volume solution that would enable them to reduce the time and resources involved in selecting the right applicants – those with the key qualities and competencies for the roles.

Having worked with People Solutions on their successful 2022 intake, they approached us to help with the process again this year.

Challenge

The organisation had received over 270 qualified applications, so needed an appropriate and valid approach to reduce the number of applicants to a more manageable number for Assessment Centres. There were also a number of interstate candidates whose schedules needed to be accommodated for Assessment Centre planning.

Given the current highly competitive graduate market, the organisation was also concerned about losing candidates to competitors, as they had their choice of opportunities. As such, candidate care and quick turnarounds were paramount for during the whole recruitment process.

Solution

We conducted psychometric assessments ahead of time to pre-screen applicants and help identify the top 60 to invite to Assessment Centres. This involved a concise personality and cognitive ability assessment, with personality results mapped against the organisation’s values. All candidate results were sent to the client organisation in a spreadsheet, with traffic light recommendations about whether they were strong, sound, or needing potential development. This solution was both quick for candidates and the hiring organisation, accurate in identifying those who would be most suited to the organisation, as well as being a cost-effective solution.

We then designed an in-person Assessment Centre involving fun practical and group activities, interviews, Q&A sessions, and informal interactions with assessors. People Solutions designed and selected activities that were role relevant and that would enable assessors to evaluate candidate performance against each of the organisation’s values and key behaviours. Morning tea and lunch were provided by the hiring organisation and provided a great informal opportunity for candidates to chat to people who already worked at the company, as well as an opportunity for assessors to get to know the candidates better.

Result

The Assessment Centres facilitated 60 candidates to participate over five sessions. Incredibly positive feedback was received from candidates, who said that they preferred the Assessment Centres over interviews alone and appreciated the opportunity to showcase their abilities and meet people from the hiring organisation. Over 90% of the candidates said that the Assessment Centre positively influenced their perceptions of the hiring company and helped them decide that they would like to work there.

The hiring organisation was able to identify top quality candidates to progress to the next stage of the recruitment process, feeling confident in their decisions.