What Is An In-tray Exercise?

By Author: Edward Mellett
Total Articles: 1
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Many assessment centres for job seekers, graduates and graduate schemes, involve an in-tray exercise. Sometimes this exercise is conducted electronically and is referred to as an e-tray exercise. Whichever one, an in-tray exercise are used to test job seekers on real life working situations and demands. In-tray Exercise at the Assessment Centre Assessment centres are usually used by employers to test skills which are not assessable from the job application or traditional interview alone. An assessment centre can last from half a day to maybe several days. This allows employers to put job seekers through their paces. In-tray exercise In-tray exercises usually last between 60 and 90 minutes. You will have to quickly absorb lots of information and manage demands on your time, whilst deciding how to respond to each in tray item.

The in-tray exercise items will be specifically designed to measure job skills such as:

• Ability to organize and prioritize work

• Analytical skills

• Communication with team members and customers

• Written communication skills

• Delegation E-tray exercises ...
... The use of a PC or laptop is becoming increasingly common with employers. E-tray exercise is the electronic version of the in-tray exercises. E-Tray exercises tasks can vary from:

• Extract information from data provided

• Making calculations

• Dealing with company and client problems Whether it is a paper or electronic version, the basic principles of the in-tray exercise remains the same. Preparing for your in-tray exercise If you are required to attend an assessment centre as part of a job application process, you are very likely to face an in-tray exercise. This is because in-tray exercises enable assessors and employers to test a wide range of your skills and aptitudes in situations that closely resemble those you might face in a real workplace. How you behave during an in-tray exercise offers a more accurate and reliable indication of your characteristics and behaviours to assessors and employers. In-tray exercise provides in many ways better and more in-depth results than more abstract methods such as interviews. It is crucial that you practice in tray exercises before attending an assessment centre as in-tray exercise has grown to be very popular with employers.

Edward Mellett is a careers journalist specialising in helping Gen Y students prepare for the world of work. They write many article about In Tray Exercises and In-tray exercises for more details please visit www.intrayexercises.com