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for selection processes
Our selection tools are designed to assess the fit between the requirements of the degree programme, for example, and the skills and competences of the applicants. A poor result or a rejection does not mean that you are not suitable or not good at something, but that your skills and competences do not match the respective requirements as well as those of other applicants.
A low fit is often associated with the fact that the person has to work harder to achieve his/her goals, is less successful overall than people with a higher fit and is often less satisfied or happy. Therefore, take the feedback as an opportunity to consider whether the path you have chosen (e.g. the choice of your field of study) is really the right one for you.
Important: A less good result does not mean that you could not successfully complete your studies or that you made a wrong decision.
Ability tests assess cognitive abilities that are relevant for studies, a later professional carreer or a scholarship. Our tests usually only contain types of exercises whose trainability is low. This means that the abilities develop over several years and can only be influenced to a very limited extent in the short term, e.g. through commercial preparation courses. In individual cases, we supplement our ability tests with types of exercises that capture basic knowledge (in the sense of school knowledge) in certain areas. This is the case when this knowledge has proven to be particularly relevant for studying successfully.
For universities, scholarship organisations and other institutions that use our tests, we often provide information material with sample questions that you can use to prepare for the test free of charge. You are most likely to find this sort of information on the website of the university or institution to which you are applying.
Ability tests are structured in such a way that they distinguish as best as possible between people with a higher and a lower ability level. Therefore, such tests contain easy, medium and hard exercises. The tests are composed in such a way that on average about half of the exercises are solved correctly.
In addition, such tests often have a restricted time limit, which may also mean that you cannot complete all the exercises in the given time. However, this does not necessarily mean that you have achieved a bad result.
Personality and motivation inventories are not about a right or wrong answer. Here you are asked to rate on a scale the extent to which various statements apply to you.
Our personality tests only assess characteristics that are relevant to your studies, a future career or a scholarship. The same applies to our motivation inventories. We only record the motivation that is important for taking up a particular course of study, a particular later occupation or a scholarship.
One requirement for such procedures in the selection context is “occupational relevance”. However, many applicants for scholarships or study places have little work experience – you might have too. Therefore, we adapt the statements to your “daily world” and refer to experiences from school, for example.
There are actually no special hints for processing this type of selection instruments. Therefore, here are the non-special ones:
Interviews are one of the most proven and popular methods in personnel selection – and rightly so. Because of the personal contact you have with the interviewers in an interview, different hints apply than for tests.
Remember that the interviewers want to get to know you better. They know very well that applicants are nervous in selection situations and therefore try to take away their nervousness.
We have put together a few small but effective tips for selection interviews. Some of the tips you might think go without saying, but then we wouldn’t list them here.
Listen to the entire question. Only then can you give a concrete answer to the question.
You do not have to answer immediately after the interviewer has finished the question. Take a few seconds to organise your thoughts and then answer.
If you do not understand the question clearly (acoustically and/or in terms of content), then ask. It is better to ask than to answer what might have been asked. If you did not understand the content of the question, be as specific as possible about what you did not understand. A question about understanding will not immediately be counted negatively against you. Despite training and experience, it can happen that an interviewer formulates a question clumsily.
The interviewers will evaluate you on the basis of your answers. If you only answer in a few words, there is little that the interviewers can evaluate. You should therefore give the interviewers enough content so that they have a good basis for an evaluation. But it is not true that the more you answer, the better your answer. Answer the question as concretely as possible – do not stray from the topic, do not embellish unnecessarily.
Answer the question honestly and as concretely as possible, avoid generalities, phrases and rote learning. Interviewers usually notice when something is being pretended.
Actually, this goes without saying, but we wanted to mention it for the sake of completeness.
And last but not least: There is no one ideal answer.
The following always applies to our interviews:
In interviews we have developed, the questions are based on the competences identified in advance. This means that the questions asked are related to the requirements, e.g. in the study programme or the scholarship programme. The questions are asked in such a way that you have sufficient opportunity to present yourself and your competences. Among other things, we use so-called biographical and situational questions.
Individual interviews are enriched by other elements such as small role plays or short analytical exercises.
An assessment centre (AC) is a selection tool in which you have to complete various elements and you are assessed by at least two trained observers. ACs usually last half a day to several days. In addition to “classic” AC-elements, tests and interviews can also be used in an assessment centre. The hints described above still apply, of course.
You either have to prepare a presentation on the AC or you receive information with your invitation so that you can prepare the presentation at home. In the latter case, you will not have any preparation time at the AC. For the on-site presentation, you will have the available materials such as metaplan cards and flipchart at your disposal. In the case of prepared presentations, you may also be able to create a PowerPoint presentation, for example.
Role plays simulate a specific situation in which behaviour is to be observed that is important for a later career. These are usually interactions or conversations in which a certain issue is to be clarified. A role-player will be your conversation partner.
In group exercises, it should be observed how you work together with others on a certain task. The main focus is on the ability to work in a team. However, there are also group exercises in which each participant has to represent his or her own interest and, for example, choose one idea out of several. Attention: You do not automatically get better marks if you “win” and e.g. your idea is selected.
The same applies to interviews within an AC as to interviews in general.
Shorter tests tend to be used in ACs, which are then also evaluated directly within the AC. In principle, however, the same instructions apply to these tests as described above.
In an in-tray exercise, you receive various “events”. These are usually e-mails with information, appointments and to-dos – similar to your inbox in your e-mail programme. You have to prioritise the e-mails according to importance, check deadlines and draw conclusions from the contents. This type of exercise is rarely used in selection processes for students or scholarship holders.
In case studies, you are given extensive information material, often including data, tables and diagrams. You then have to “work through” these materials, i.e. identify the most important information, recognise connections, draw conclusions and, if necessary, derive measures. Case studies are rarely used in selection processes for students or scholarship holders.
Our advice for assessment centres