Ofcom Graduate Scheme 2014
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Hey mate,
Could you let me know if the test was a verbal and/or numerical reasoning test.
And how was it structured.
Thanks pal
Could you let me know if the test was a verbal and/or numerical reasoning test.
And how was it structured.
Thanks pal
This is for the benefit of anyone who is attending an Ofcom graduate assessment in the future. What I describe below was for the 2014 Generalist Graduate Scheme. I was successful and I accepted the offer. This is the whole process from the very beginning, I hope it is helpful:
The application for the graduate scheme was at the end of December 2013.
In February I got sent a Matrigma test to do online - this is a non-verbal reasoning test, which revolves around pattern recognition. I would advise you to try the practice inductive reasoning test that you can get on the SHL website. Also, questions at the beginning of the test are a lot easier than the questions towards the end, so try to do the first few questions as fast as possible... as the later questions will take longer to work through.
Later in February we were asked to write an essay titled: ‘In the internet age where you can access any content at any time, the regulation of television and radio content is no longer possible, desirable or realistic.’ We had to discuss this in 1,000 words. I was questions on the content of this essay in the assessment centre (I'll come to this later). I had about 2 weeks to write the essay.
In April I attended an assessment day, which lasted from around about 9.30am to 3.30pm. It consisted of a competency interview with two ofcom staff. This was followed by a written exercise. A lunch break (which included a presentation from HR, detailing a bit more about Ofcom does and what the graduate scheme would be like) Then a presentation exercise before another two Ofcom staff members.
The interview was filled with fairly standard competency questions. It is a quite a dry interview session, since all the interviewers do (who are not HR, but Ofcom staff from a variety of different departments) is ask questions - they will not ask follow up question whilst you answer and they will not provide any clarification on the questions - they simply take down your answer. Oddly, I was not directly asked any general questions such as why I want to work for Ofcom or what skills/experiences I have that make me suitable for working at Ofcom. However, it did begin with "what does Ofcom do?" - which I really should have prepared more for this... so I would advise you are ready to list Ofcom's key responsibilities and departments... also I believe that this is the opportunity to explain why you want to work for Ofcom and why you would be good at it. Other questions were assessing various skills and required that you answer with reference to your past experiences - questions such as "outline a time when you had to resolve a conflict", "say a time when you had to work as a team to overcome a challenge", "when have you had to persuade a team member to change their mind"... etc..
After that we where given 2 hours to handle two exercises - it was our responsibility to use time appropriately.
There was a written exercise that had to be handed in at the end of the session. This involved reading an official Ofcom report (about 4 pages) on nuisance phone calls as well as a report produced by an academic from the LSE (about 10 or 12 pages). The scenario was that we needed to summarise the key facts on the subject for a head of department who is facing a parliamentary select committee, explain what nuisance calls are, what ofcom is doing about and what else ofcom could do in the future. We were told that this summary should not exceed 2 sides on handwritten A4.
We also had to write a list of question/topics that we would research into further, in order to gain information that would assist the head in the parliamentary select committee meeting.
I decided to allocate a bit over an hour to the two written exercises. I probably spent a about 5 to 7 minutes on the list of questions part. I spent the rest of the time on the presentation. We had to read some papers on the prevalence of mobile phone signal throughout the UK. The presentation that you prepare is to last only 5 minutes (which is really short, considering the amount of information), you are then questioned on the report in detail, for about 15 minutes. I think we had to say what ofcom can do and has done to expand telephone signal throughout the UK (e.g. conditions attached to licences, gathering and presenting relevant data to national and local governments)
I'd advise to take down some of the key statistics from the papers that you have read and have them on a separate piece of paper, so you can quickly refer to them during questioning from the two interviewers. It is also good to read up on any major deals/mergers/licence-awards that have occurred in the telecommunications industry in the past 6 months, so you can refer to them in order to support your arguments. Also, a bit of research to have a small passing knowledge of competition policy and spectrum would not hurt.
In the second part of the presentation I was asked to speak about my 1000 word essay on the internet age... essentially you are asked to succinctly summarise your key arguments as outline in the essay... then you are questioned and challenged on various points that you have made in the essay... where you are expected to expand on the points that you made and give your views on whether your arguments are applicable to various hypothetical situations. Unlike the first interview, the presentation assessment is highly conversational and the interviewers will basically ask/challenge you on any points they appear to find interesting.
I had mixed feelings about how I did on the assessment day... but I got an offer, which I accepted, so I will start on the graduate scheme in a few months.
The application for the graduate scheme was at the end of December 2013.
In February I got sent a Matrigma test to do online - this is a non-verbal reasoning test, which revolves around pattern recognition. I would advise you to try the practice inductive reasoning test that you can get on the SHL website. Also, questions at the beginning of the test are a lot easier than the questions towards the end, so try to do the first few questions as fast as possible... as the later questions will take longer to work through.
Later in February we were asked to write an essay titled: ‘In the internet age where you can access any content at any time, the regulation of television and radio content is no longer possible, desirable or realistic.’ We had to discuss this in 1,000 words. I was questions on the content of this essay in the assessment centre (I'll come to this later). I had about 2 weeks to write the essay.
In April I attended an assessment day, which lasted from around about 9.30am to 3.30pm. It consisted of a competency interview with two ofcom staff. This was followed by a written exercise. A lunch break (which included a presentation from HR, detailing a bit more about Ofcom does and what the graduate scheme would be like) Then a presentation exercise before another two Ofcom staff members.
The interview was filled with fairly standard competency questions. It is a quite a dry interview session, since all the interviewers do (who are not HR, but Ofcom staff from a variety of different departments) is ask questions - they will not ask follow up question whilst you answer and they will not provide any clarification on the questions - they simply take down your answer. Oddly, I was not directly asked any general questions such as why I want to work for Ofcom or what skills/experiences I have that make me suitable for working at Ofcom. However, it did begin with "what does Ofcom do?" - which I really should have prepared more for this... so I would advise you are ready to list Ofcom's key responsibilities and departments... also I believe that this is the opportunity to explain why you want to work for Ofcom and why you would be good at it. Other questions were assessing various skills and required that you answer with reference to your past experiences - questions such as "outline a time when you had to resolve a conflict", "say a time when you had to work as a team to overcome a challenge", "when have you had to persuade a team member to change their mind"... etc..
After that we where given 2 hours to handle two exercises - it was our responsibility to use time appropriately.
There was a written exercise that had to be handed in at the end of the session. This involved reading an official Ofcom report (about 4 pages) on nuisance phone calls as well as a report produced by an academic from the LSE (about 10 or 12 pages). The scenario was that we needed to summarise the key facts on the subject for a head of department who is facing a parliamentary select committee, explain what nuisance calls are, what ofcom is doing about and what else ofcom could do in the future. We were told that this summary should not exceed 2 sides on handwritten A4.
We also had to write a list of question/topics that we would research into further, in order to gain information that would assist the head in the parliamentary select committee meeting.
I decided to allocate a bit over an hour to the two written exercises. I probably spent a about 5 to 7 minutes on the list of questions part. I spent the rest of the time on the presentation. We had to read some papers on the prevalence of mobile phone signal throughout the UK. The presentation that you prepare is to last only 5 minutes (which is really short, considering the amount of information), you are then questioned on the report in detail, for about 15 minutes. I think we had to say what ofcom can do and has done to expand telephone signal throughout the UK (e.g. conditions attached to licences, gathering and presenting relevant data to national and local governments)
I'd advise to take down some of the key statistics from the papers that you have read and have them on a separate piece of paper, so you can quickly refer to them during questioning from the two interviewers. It is also good to read up on any major deals/mergers/licence-awards that have occurred in the telecommunications industry in the past 6 months, so you can refer to them in order to support your arguments. Also, a bit of research to have a small passing knowledge of competition policy and spectrum would not hurt.
In the second part of the presentation I was asked to speak about my 1000 word essay on the internet age... essentially you are asked to succinctly summarise your key arguments as outline in the essay... then you are questioned and challenged on various points that you have made in the essay... where you are expected to expand on the points that you made and give your views on whether your arguments are applicable to various hypothetical situations. Unlike the first interview, the presentation assessment is highly conversational and the interviewers will basically ask/challenge you on any points they appear to find interesting.
I had mixed feelings about how I did on the assessment day... but I got an offer, which I accepted, so I will start on the graduate scheme in a few months.
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