In this report, I use the Gibb’s reflective cycle to reflect on my experiences of attending the Anfield assessment centre on 20th March, 2022. The Gibb’s model helps people learn from a process through six stages - description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan (The University of Edinburg, 2020). The group activities at Anfield Assessment Centre (AC) helped me identify my personal attributes and weaknesses that I need to work on to enhance my chances of making a successful placement application. I learned that I am a great team player though I am less confident when participating in team project. In the future, I will make adequate preparation before making a job application by familiarizing myself with the organization and job requirements, as well as improving both my verbal and non-verbal communication skills to make a successful application.
Description
The employment placement assessment involved a one-hour group exercise followed by a 10 minute individual presentation. For the group task, our role was to create a plan to fundraise for a cancer foundation using a fixed budget of $25,000. In a team of 10, the two assessors gave us one hour to brainstorm ideas about the venue, audience profile, and particulars of the budget so as to get the best financial outcome from the fundraiser. The activity took place at Anfield stadium.
After a lot of deliberations we made several recommendations that we believed would lead to a successful fundraising event. First, we decided to target 400 people for the event at a cost of $10 per ticket. Secondly, we decided to invite a player from Liverpool Football Club to help draw attention to the event and raise awareness about cancer. Lastly, we would host the event at Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium and have booths to sell different commodities. The profits would go towards the fundraising kit. I did not have a specific role but I collaborated with the team members to generate ideas for the event.
For the individual presentation, I had to choose a company, formulate a new business idea, and sell it as a potential market opportunity. I selected Unilever and talked about a new range of luxury ice cream brand that the company could incorporate in its business model. I used the 3 action steps – create, capture and convert to make the presentation more persuasive. I made Power Point presentation to 5 students in 10 minutes.
Feelings
When I heard about the assessment centre, I was very excited about the opportunity to work in a group. It was my first time working with classmates on such a timed brainstorming project. In addition, the group-work assignment was important since it affected my overall academic performance while offering me the opportunity to exercise my communication skills in a placement scenario.
At the start of the group-work assignment, I was feeling nervous and anxious. I was not confident about my skills and I did not want to disappoint the team. I was equally confused since I did not know my specific role and how I would fit into the team. During this initial forming stage I was apprehensive and uncertain since I wanted to be accepted into the group as West Chester University (WCU) (2021) describes. I looked up to other members to start the discussion since I was so anxious about the entire project.