Assessment Center, Essay, and In-Basket 

Your assessment center, essay or in-basket test may include questions specific to your profession.  On the Job provides links to specific professions and job functions.  You'll find information on the latest trends, issues, and terminology. 

ASSESSMENT CENTER

• Assessment Center Handbook, Brian T. Page, 1997 - RECOMMENDED

Law Enforcement

• How to Promote Yourself: A Guide to the Assessment Center Process, Keith M. Hilgenfeldt, 2000 - RECOMMENDED

• The Law Enforcement Assessment Center, Randy Narramore, 1991

• Police Assessment Center Preparation, Lawrence R. O'Leary Ph.D, 1994

ESSAY AND SUPPLEMENTAL TIPS

1. Present your thinking in a clear, logical manner.  Where useful, use frameworks and business concepts to organize your answer.  In general, in any situation you will want to: 

• Understand the scope of the issue/problem
• Pinpoint the objectives
• Identify the key players

2. As you practice, you will find yourself developing this framework unconsciously as you attempt to gain clarity over a situation. Capture and package this framework, and have it available by memory (or on paper if you wish) for use at any time.  (These tips have been borrowed from case interview strategy for consulting from Vault.com.

3. Use the same or similar wording from the job requirements and duties.  For example, if the job duties refer to management, use the word management and not supervision.

4. Emphasize accomplishments

5. Provide examples as appropriate.  For example, if you're asked to define excellent customer service, give an example where you provided excellent customer service.  Or if you're asked about your project management experience, you might want to frame your answer with an actual project that you managed and the success of that project.

IN-BASKET EXERCISE

• Sample In-Basket questions from the State of Louisiana

• New York State Public Employees Federation offers Promotion Test Battery Study Guides for the simulation answer key.

• Supervision and Leadership in Action: An In-Basket Simulation, Barry L. Reece, 1989

• Instructor's Manual and Key for Supervision and Leadership in Action an In-Basket Simulation, Lester R. Bittel, 1990

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Administration

• Describe any policies and/or procedures you have written.

• Describe your experience in budget preparation and administration.

• Describe your experience with project coordination.

• Describe your public speaking experience.

Information Technology

• Describe your experience, education and training regarding the use of computers and management information systems.

• How has your previous training and experience prepared you to understand the various levels of data processing, their uses, limitations, and interrelationships (mainframe, micro, mini, LAN, WAN)

• Explain how your experience and training in using 4th generation application development tools.

Management

• Describe the most challenging situation you have dealt with in managing people, including what your goal was, how you handled it, and the extent to which you achieved the goal.
• Tell us how you meet the following minimum qualifications:

1. Public Agency Administration

2. Supervision

3. Budget Development & Fiscal Management

4. Project Management

5. Collaborative Problem Solving

6. Community & Interpersonal Relations