Interview: What kind of an experience was the suitability assessment?

Katriina Sudenlinna was invited to a suitability assessment when she was applying for a managerial position in her field.

Katriina’s first thought was that this recruitment is taken seriously. She had never come across suitability assessments in previous job searches.

The assessment was a new situation, which made Katriina a little nervous in advance and raised several questions. Clear communications from the start made preparing for the assessment easier. She received a phone call with the main information, and soon after, she got detailed instructions and links for the exercises in her email. From a technical perspective, everything went really smoothly.

The interview was a pleasant experience

Katriina enjoyed the consultant’s way of asking more detailed questions and their nice approach to the interview. Katriina felt that the interest in her was genuine and that the interview dove deep into her ways of working and personality. She was able to express exactly the things about herself that she wanted to.

The psychological tests were in part difficult. Katriina felt that her performance in the capability tasks was varied: some were easier, but in others, finding the common thread was more of a challenge. Nerves or not getting the best night’s sleep might have had an effect.

In the multiple choice questions, Katriina wondered which choice would best describe her. At times, she felt like she wanted to explain her choices in the test instead of just choosing an option. Many people taking the assessment ponder these questions, but fortunately, the tests are built so that individual responses won’t tip the scale one way or another.

Katriina received the same assessment report as the client

She mostly recognised herself from the report but wanted to discuss some matters further with the consultant. The feedback session was rewarding, and Katriina was in particular looking for her development targets and how to improve them. The consultant’s feedback was extremely constructive and encouraging.

Katriina’s tips

Katriina’s tip for anyone coming to a suitability assessment is that you should try to relax and not be too nervous. You will always get something out of the assessment, and it’s not a one-sided process. For her, the test was a positive surprise, and she had gone into the process with an open mind.