CENTRICA ASSESSMENT CENTRE

sorry cant help you there i failed at the SHL testing i found it SO HARD!!!! Ive done tests before for t he big 4 and they were nothin compared to the centrica one

Hey, I just did my SHL tests for Centrica's Finance programme.. and am absolutely shattered by their difficulty, nevertheless I have a tiny bit of hope for passing them. So if I do make it, you won't be the only one without assessment centre "experience". ;)

@ aadi / Monicahiman , did you guys do all of the numeracy questions or did you blind guess some? I think I guessed about 5 or 6, and in the verbal one like 2 or 3.

Can I just say thank you to the above 2 posters for also feeling the Centrica SHL tests were really hard

I've sat alot of online tests for different schemes and passed them all, but I failed the Centrica one, really very hard I thought, glad to see I'm not the only one

im glad it wasnt just me too!!! i was so gutted i failed them argh but they were so so difficult!!! glad im not the only one!

Hey, I truly agree with all of you. I was really suprised when I found out I passed the tests.

Well, that's a rejection then.. failed the tests, oh well.

Hi folks! How long does it take to know the results of these tests (I've just taken them)...

To reassure those who are reading this thread, English is not my native language, but I did not find these tests THAT hard...

It's is just that you need to be prepared to type quickly on your calculator since you have to do stupid additions with 15 figures...

For the Verbal part, more difficult for me because I cannot find every subtility...

I Hope I'll pass this test though :) (with chance maybe ...)

Btw aadi, what are you asked about during the phone interview (in case I am selected :) ) ?

If that's the assessment centre for finance on the 15th April, I have that too. For the numerical test, my best advice is to stay cool and read things over, as some of the data is relavant to two to three questions, and once you've comprehended them they're fine.

As for the results, they email you pretty much the next day. In fact, they get back to you rather quick compared to most companies.

@ gpanesar Yeah I have the assessment centre on the 15th aswell. i have never been to an assessment centre before this would be my first one! all my fellow mates from university havent secured any graduate job yet. im sure it will be very competitive. Any advices or tips on how to prepare??

@ aadi ...

You have applied for a graduate program or a summer internship? btw, how come the salary is so HUGE ! ? (1400 pounds/week!)

Hi, i've applied for the Centrica internship this year, still got to get through a telephone interview first before I get to the assessment centre though.

I thought the main thing that was difficult about the verbal and numerical tests was the time limit, I felt as though I needed to hurry through it, although I actually finished with a few minutes to spare in each. I didn't think any of the questions I got were too hard to do though, although they don't give you your marks back so it's hard to know whether I was answering most of them right or not!

Any tips from anyone that's done a telephone interview with them? What do they ask?

The only tip i would gve you for the telephone interview is, look at your application form. prepare 2 examples each for each competency. my interview lasted for 30mins

I applied for graduate scheme.

Still nothing... I'm anxious lol :) (I know ... it's Easter ... )

The telephone interview was more challenging because you can't use any of your application form examples. Which were obviously the best examples I could think of!! The questions were very standard competency based ones though, so that was OK.

Anyone else going to the assessment centre on the 30th?

I think my best advice for the assessment centre would to be yourself, and keep a cool head in all the tasks to appear confident. In terms of preparation, not much to prepare (apart from the usual commercial awareness, info on centrica) as you've probably covered most of it in the telephone interview. I think the one on one interview will be more personal, for them to decide whether they could see you working in their team, and how you interact with others.

Hope this helps, and if you're booked in for the assessment centre tomorrow, see you there!

I think my best advice for the assessment centre would to be yourself, and keep a cool head in all the tasks to appear confident. In terms of preparation, not much to prepare (apart from the usual commercial awareness, info on centrica) as you've probably covered most of it in the telephone interview. I think the one on one interview will be more personal, for them to decide whether they could see you working in their team, and how you interact with others.

Hope this helps, and if you're booked in for the assessment centre tomorrow, see you there!

Folks who went for assessment centre please share you experience.

Thanks.

How was the AC? How many applicants were there?

Come on guys, you do not want to share your experience?

Yes! Phone interview step reached :)

But new problem... There is no time slot available before 7th of May!!!!! Are there SO MANY applicants :o

EDIT: actually there is now :)

Well done to everyone at the assessment centre- you must have been good, because they've cancelled mine... Just got an email this afternoon saying all of the places on the 2009 Graduate Finance Programme have now been filled. And I was looking forward to sightseeing in Windsor. Ah well.

Same happened to me as you sock.

I am quite livid as no mention was made of this once I'd got information about attending the assessment centre. I haven't applied anywhere else since being told I'd be attending an AC at the start of the month as I really wanted this role. Very unfair of them not to even state once that the AC may be cancelled if places are filled beforehand.

Personally I didn't have any trouble with the SHL tests. Got an e-mail the next day informing I had passed.

Is this the case only with Finance stream or across the board? I have a phone interview coming up for General Management and not sure whether its worth taking.

It was my first choice by a fairly large margin. I was a bit gutted to be honest. You're right, they should have told us there was the chance they would cancel, but I'm coming to expect this kind of thing from graduate recruiters.

Hey guys, I have centrica's assessment centre on 31st of July. Does anyone know what d topic researched on the internet was about?? I'd appreciate some help here pls.

Hello everyone!!

Anyone had a phone interview for grad scheme 2010??

Thanks

Hi,

I have a phone interview coming up for Centrica next week... Did you have yours?

Hi Nope its on Friday. When is yours?

There's an interview with Centrica's director of corporate affairs here: http://www.thegatewayonline.com/article/271 - a great source of info should there be any questions about why you want to join Centrica / what the recent moves towards green energy mean for the company.

Good luck!

Mine is on Tuesday. Is it next Friday or today? Thanks Albatross, that's a very good article.

Glad to see some other people have applied to Centrica - no-one that I've spoken to at my university has, I don't think their scheme is that well known. That was a very interesting article, I also just read the one on Carbon Trading on the same site (http://www.thegatewayonline.com/article/298) - I wonder if Centrica do any of this? I spoke to someone from Shell at a careers event and he said that they have a whole trading team dedicated to this type of thing.

Best of luck on Tuesday sasya, I got invited to an assessment centre but couldn't make the day, I haven't heard back from them yet to see if they can put me on a different one. I do hope they can: they're really high up my list of companies.

Congrats sidewayson on making it to AC... I guess its too early for the places to be filled, so you should be getting another call soon... Good Luck for that :)

Can you please give some pointers about their Telephone interview? Thanks!

Sasya,

Mine is on Friday 4th December, so I guess you are before me, I wold appreciate it very much if you could tell me some tips.

Sidewayson,

thanks for the articles!!! Is it possible you could give us any pointers on the telephone interview.

Thanks a Bunch

btw, what scheme you guys applying to?

Hi guys and girls.

I would be grateful, if anyone has any info on the type of questions asked at the telephone interview. That would be quality.

Mistry16

has any one got any tips for the phone interview? mine is on friday!! HELP!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Stevie

The phone interview is straight forward. Do your research on centrica. I got asked first "what do you know about centrica?" and something about how centrica can help you achieve your career goals. Have good infomation for this part. Then i was asked 3 competence questions based on centrica's key competence's (see the web site for those). The interviewer did explicitly say use new example, you can't use the one used in the application form. So think hard. I got asked about customer focus, sharing knowledge, and focusing on solutions.

They got back to me with in 24hrs with the result. I got through to the final round, some time in jan/feb 2010.

Hope this helps

Mistry16

Hi! To add on to mistry's tips, Prepare some examples of your competency before hand... helps you streamline your answer better. And do thorough research on the company as they want to see that u've done some. And also on why you are applying for the particular role.

Good Luck.

Mistry, Which scheme are you applying to?

My AC is in March!! :( :(

Hey Sasya,

I applied to the Analyst programme. Not sure when my AC will be, as im waiting for the date. They just said at the very beginning of the year.

What scheme are you applying too??

Mistry16

Mistry and Sasya u 2 are superstars, THANKS for the info on the telephone interview!!! I have applied to Finance. when would an assessment centre for that take place?

I am interested that in some of your comments you think the tests and application procedures for this entity are hard and sometimes perceived as more difficult than the Top 4 (Accountancy firms...presumably). It is an area I am not very familiar with and wonder if you have any thoughts as to why this company is apparently difficult to get graduate employment with? Is it because number of vacancies are pretty limited? At somewhat of a tangent, we are all aware of the current graduate employment/unemployment issues and some government spokesmen are suggesting that while looking for jobs graduates should take ANY employment they can find.....even working in call centres. However, joking aside, I read in a recent broadsheet survey of call centres (or "Customer Services" as they prefer to be known)that 38% of their employees are graduates and that many graduates recognise that entry to a company via its call centre is a good career route. Comments?

these tests were fairly difficult, but with practice they are not too bad i believe. I dont consider myself to be that smart and if i passed them then to be perfectly honest i wouldnt say the bar is that high!! i dont know abt call centres, but the way i see it is that if you try your utmost with graduate applications and dont get anywhere with them, then that simply means there are much better people out there!!

has anyone got an assessment centre in finance coming up? i have one in February and really want to know how it went with people!!

Cheers guys!!!

I have a telephone interview for the analyst programme next week. Could sum1 tell me the type of questions asked during the interview? thanks

The phone interview is very structured. Make sure you do research on Centrica, they want to know that you have done your research. They started by asking me this. It was then followed by 3 main competency questions, mine were Focussing On Solutions, Learning & Sharing Knowledge, and Customer Focus. They specifically asked for examples different to the ones you have used in your application, in some cases examples from outside uni/ academy work. I had my phone interviews a while ago, so I am not sure if it would be the same. However, post no. 37 (see above) by mistry16 is pretty similar to mine, so I am guessing all phone interviews are largely the same. Hope this helps rajsiva! :)

Urgent Help Please: I have an assessment centre coming up VERY soon (this Friday in 2 days time)! It is for General Management summer internship. I was wondering if anyone with experience can perhaps share how you found the interview, written and group exercise. I have especially limited experience with the Written and Group Exercise, so any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Does anyone know if the Written exercise (in the form of a report for a fictional situation) is the same as the In- Tray/ E-Tray exercise? Also, is the Group Exercise a Group Case Study, Discussion/ Role Play or Practical Activity??

Thanks guys so much in advance!! :)

Hi all, just had my finance assessment day... found out 2day that it didnt go as well as i thought! nvm... well got some pointers for the day seeing as no1 bothered in the last intake (these were based on my day, so i dont know if they will change):

- the written exercise is much like an e tray exercise but there was only one letter/email that needed to be responded to (in my case it was a customer complaint) main thing is to plan your time very well and read brief carefully (i messed up on time allocation)

- the group exercise is pretty straight forward- it is a presentation (centricas email didnt explain this)... I was in a group of 3; main things are to just be calm and try to have some input whilst always listening to others and brush up on presentation skills, standard stuff really.

- 1 to 1 interview is competency based... MAKE SURE you prepare for AS MANY competency questions as you can AS WELL AS Centrica knowledge... i prepared soooo much Centrica background knowledge but wasnt even asked a question on any of it, however another guy got asked two... so you really dont know what they are gonna ask!

- 1 to 1 presentation... not much i can say about this as its a standard research and present task, try to be clear on your points and avoid just reading off the flip chart... there is plenty of time to research

- Ability testing... only thing here is that they give u a calculator as u cant use your own... their calculator is a standard NON-Scientific calc so maybe practice using one for a few hours the day before or something

Finally remember they looking at all of the competencies not just the ones that might seem more important!

also for those like me who arent sure how many people there are in assessment days there was supposed to be 8 at mine but 2 never showed up.

Hope this helps and good luck!

cheers momkey boy for the info, much appreciated! Sorry you didnt get the result u hoped for. Do you know then how many people they are looking to take for finance? Is the test exactly the same level of difficulty as the shl ones we did prior to the phone interview?

no probs stevie... they r gonna take on 10 finance grads all of them will be on different placements throughout the company.

As for the test I would say it was about the same difficulty except the fact that they give a crapy calculator to use and its on a lap top meaning you have to use the finger pad to move the mouse! i know its little things but it kind of throws you off when uv had a long day of assessments!

good luck!

Had a telephone interview, did not pass that despite thinking it was the best i'd ever had and also i thought i had very good vibes from the interviewer. (Engineering). This was my experience:

The interview was split into three, General Questions, Competency Based Questions and Questions for the interviewer.

General Questions: (Background info) -What do you know about Centrica? -Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years time? -Why did you study ur particular degree? -Why do you want to work for Centrica (I remember answering this but i dont remember being asked this particular question) ?

Competency Based Questions - (I was told not to use examples from application form) - Focus on Solution: Describe a complicated problem that you had to solve/deal with. -Learning and Sharing knowledge: Tell me about a non academic situation where you received feedback...Who did you go to for support? (something along those lines) - Managing Relationships: Tell me about a time when you worked within a team.

UPDATE: TIPS FOR ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS

Focuses on Solutions Discuss the problem in detail, show evidence of recognising the problem and gathering information to solve it. Mention the process by which the final solution was reached.

Learns and Shares Knowledge Show that you actively sought feedback which resulted in a change in your behaviour in order to reach your goal. Mention how you shared the knowledge and information to help others.

Manages relationships Show how you support your colleagues in achieving the group goal and the approach you adopted towards managing the group relationships. Dont forget to specify 'I'.

If you can help it dont use any other pronoun apart from I.

Hope this helps..

@kokojobs

THanks man that is hugely helpful... I have my interview soon and being honest I am not really looking forward to it. I don't like phone interviews but I'll give it a go anyways and let ye know what came up for me...

Hello all

I had my int and thought Id share the wealth.... My format was the same as everyone elses (thankfully!) and so it should be easy to prepare for.

I was asked:

1.) Why do you want to work for Centrica

2.) Focus Solutions

3.) Learns and Shares Knowledge

4.) Focus on Customers

Hope this helps everyone... (also wasnt allowed to use college example in learns and shares knowledge, although for other apps I would reccomend not to use any academic examples if it able to be avoided because they know that you went to college, everyone did)

heyy vegas diamond, can i have ur email-id. I have some problem filling in the application form.

hi

got a phone interview for Centrica on thursday any pointers any one?

@Luch

Look at 48 and 50 above.

Yes I had telephone interview last week. Basically there are five questions: 1) What do you know about centrica 2) what are your aspirations Situation where I demonstrated 3) Focusing on solutions 4) Learns and share knowledge 5) Managing relationship

Thats all.

Yes I had telephone interview last week. Basically there are five questions: 1) What do you know about centrica 2) what are your aspirations Situation where I demonstrated 3) Focusing on solutions 4) Learns and share knowledge 5) Managing relationship

Thats all.

Hi All,

I have Assessment centre in march. Would be good if someone can share the experience. What type of group exercise it is? What topic they give for reaserch and present. is there any technical questions based on the background?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Hi Momkeyboy, in the ability tests were these to test the integrity of the person who had taken the online tests? Also I have an AC coming up in March and have been told it is a shorter version of the original online tests. Therefore how important are the scores of this test. How many questions did you have in AC for numerical and verbal reasoning and how much time did they give for each test.

Hi,

I have my AC for IS on Thu 11th Feb, was pushed back a week from the 19th Feb due to limited resources or something like that. I was notified around the end of January. This might mean a larger group in my AC. Any advice?

Hi Ladies and Gents

I have just had last week and AC for the Analyst role, and I was successful in getting a job with centrica. :-). I thought i would share my experience with all who have an AC coming up.

First Interview. Its all based on the competences listed on there website. I didnt get asked any questions about the company, but i did relate some for my answers to what i would do at Centrica. I Did get asked Why Centrica?? and Why Analyst??? [was about 30 - 45mins]

The the individual written exercise. This was based on some information about the scenario and a compliants letter. I was asked to create an action plan (bullet point is what i did for this), and write a letter to person X about how you would solve the problem. (Brush up on letter writing skills). [was about an hour long]

Group exercise, generally was OK, was based on green technology, and you had to as a group decide which one you wanted to invest money in and why. Then you have to present your thoughts, and everyone has to speak. [an hour for everything, 20mins to read info, 30mins to discuss and create presentation, and 10mins to present.]

Individual presentation. This is one on one. You given information i had an report, and you have to read it and create a presentation to answer some questions, mine was on carbon emissions and how that impacts centrica. Have to create a 10 min presentation on you interpretation of the rule so to speak. [ one hour] There's more than enough time.

You are final retested on the numerical and verbal Shl tests. they are shorter than the one you done at the beginning of the app process. I found them both a little harder, but thats probable because i am a bit rusty.

AAhh there was 10 people at my AC i believe its the same size for all AC's.

Hope the info helps all, and hope to see you in Sept 2010.

Mistry 16

Hi Ladies and Gents

I have just had last week and AC for the Analyst role, and I was successful in getting a job with centrica. :-). I thought i would share my experience with all who have an AC coming up.

First Interview. Its all based on the competences listed on there website. I didnt get asked any questions about the company, but i did relate some for my answers to what i would do at Centrica. I Did get asked Why Centrica?? and Why Analyst??? [was about 30 - 45mins]

The the individual written exercise. This was based on some information about the scenario and a compliants letter. I was asked to create an action plan (bullet point is what i did for this), and write a letter to person X about how you would solve the problem. (Brush up on letter writing skills). [was about an hour long]

Group exercise, generally was OK, was based on green technology, and you had to as a group decide which one you wanted to invest money in and why. Then you have to present your thoughts, and everyone has to speak. [an hour for everything, 20mins to read info, 30mins to discuss and create presentation, and 10mins to present.]

Individual presentation. This is one on one. You given information i had an report, and you have to read it and create a presentation to answer some questions, mine was on carbon emissions and how that impacts centrica. Have to create a 10 min presentation on you interpretation of the rule so to speak. [ one hour] There's more than enough time.

You are final retested on the numerical and verbal Shl tests. they are shorter than the one you done at the beginning of the app process. I found them both a little harder, but thats probable because i am a bit rusty.

AAhh there was 10 people at my AC i believe its the same size for all AC's.

Hope the info helps all, and hope to see you in Sept 2010.

Mistry 16

Congratulations Mistry16!! And thank you so much or the information :)

Hey, i also have an assessment centre is march :) i just wanted to ask does any one know the pass mark for the online test?? I got my friend to help me with the tests and am worried i'll fail them at the assessmenty centre. There soooo difficult!!!! Thanks :)

Hello everyone, I also have an assessment day in march for ANALYST role but I am worried because, I reached a similar assessment day last year for the internship programme and it got cancelled. I am a bit nervous as they fill vacancies on a first come basis. Can anyone tell me how many assessment days that has happened so far and on which days for which roles?

Thanks

Hey,

I jus had my AC on thursday. I thought it went alright. They said they'll notify me within 48 hours so prob get my result by monday. The shl tests were much easier then the one at stage 2. The day was really laid back. The interviewer was really nice. The group exercise was OK, you have a judge who asks you questions that you prob won't have thought of when you're working as a team. The written exercise was tight, you'll have to rush tob write well in the hour given to read and comprehend the subject. You're supported throughout the day by a recent graduate who'll give u some pointers throughout the day. He told me they have 4 AC a week for all positions applied for, summer internships and graduate programmes. There were only 4 people in my AC. They'll give u a lunch voucher 2 eat as much as you want but don't overload as you have the tests and presentation after that. A good prep would be 2 research the core competencies, practice shl tests on the shl website and keep tabs on time on all ur exercises as none of the rooms in the AC have clocks. Also practice reading and extracting info with speed, possibly reading the times or some other tabloids. Also take a highlighter and a nice smooth pen so you can write with speed.

Hope this helps

Ishy

Thanks so much Ishy. Good luck with your result :) Which stream was ur AC for?

Thanks again, Sasya

Hi,

I applied for IS summer placement. I was the only summer placement candidate. The other 3 were IS graduate schemes

Happy to help if you have further questions

Ishy

Cool. Thank you :)

Firstly, well done to Mistry16 and anyone else who has been successful in getting an offer!

Has anybody else heard back since the last post in this thread?

@Ishy: I have an assessment centre next week for General Management - what sort of questions do you mean for the group exercise, that you probably wouldn't have thought about when working in a team...?

Also does anyone know whether the streams listed as closed on the website count for the summer placement as well as the graduate scheme or is it just the grad scheme?

Sorry for all the questions!

Hi ! I have an assessment day with centrica. Could you be a bit more specific on the written exercise as in what actually is the scenario and what is expected. Also, details on the presentation/ group exercise topic would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks, Boozer

Hi ! I have an assessment day with centrica. Could you be a bit more specific on the written exercise as in what actually is the scenario and what is expected. Also, details on the presentation/ group exercise topic would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks,