How can you prepare well for the assessment interview?

An assessment interview can be useful even without extensive preparation if you attend with an open and positive attitude. Nevertheless, targeted preparation will take the interview to a higher level and enable you to get the best out of your encounter with the assessors.

The following preparatory steps will help you to be well prepared.

1. think about likely questions from the assessor team
The assessor team usually brings a list of questions on the planned interview topics. They want to find out how you set your goals, how you will implement them and whether you will actually achieve the desired results. It therefore makes sense to think about typical questions in advance and come up with your own answers. Be aware that unexpected topics may also come up. Sometimes the conversation goes into details that seem less relevant at first glance – so be flexible and prepared to explain subtleties.

2. familiarize yourself with the most important principles of business excellence
The basic principles of business excellence are easy to understand and help you to recognize the logic behind the assessors’ questions. A basic understanding of these principles will give you confidence and help you to formulate your answers in a targeted manner. Business excellence aims to continuously improve and simplify work processes – a perspective that can also help you to reflect on your own work and processes.

3. identify helpful documents
You know your work processes and the reasons behind them well. The assessors, on the other hand, are not familiar with these details. Relevant documents such as process descriptions, key performance indicators, case studies or reports can make your answers easier to understand and give a deeper insight into your daily work. It is important that you are also open about areas that are still under development or in need of improvement. Show plans and measures that you intend to take to further develop these areas.

4. coordinate as a team
You will usually take part in the assessment interviews as a group. Agree beforehand who will take the lead on certain topics and who will be responsible for writing down the most important points. After the interview, it is recommended that you sit down together again to discuss what you have learned and how you can use it.

5. ensure a functioning infrastructure
Make sure that you have access to all relevant systems during the interview and, if necessary, can demonstrate content online. Ideally, the interviews should take place directly at your workplace and not in a conference room – this way you can demonstrate concrete work processes and tools and give the assessors an authentic picture of your daily work.