Assessment Centers today: Are you more likely to have to participate in an A/C?

Chances are that if you are going for any type of promotion in public safety, from a first line supervisors role to a mid or upper level manager position, you'll mostly likely have to take an assessment center to promote. The good news is that once you really know what they are and understand what they are designed to do, you should be able to put your fears of the unknown aside, and really start to buckle down to prepare for them. In truth, they are really nothing more than a series of supervisory or management scenarios that simulate your work environment. Much of what you do every day, particularly for those of you who supervise or direct others in some form or another, is part of the same skill sets of a supervisor or manager. For example, just a simple daily in-basket that you go through every day, can be an exercise simulation. Having to run a meeting, give a presentation, or counsel a subordinate, which are all common roles of a supervisor or manager, are often basic assessment center simulations. My focus is on helping you link the job description to your behaviors, so that you can demonstrate that you indeed have those skills, without mystifying the process. We help "demystify" the process, so you feel much more confident and comfortable when you actually have to participate in an assessment center.  Please feel free to ask some questions about those scenarios you may be concerned about, or how to work on developing some new skills if you haven't had these experiences in some form or another. Many folks forget that they really have "transferable" skills from past employment, business, military or even volunteer experiences.  Assessment centers have been around for a long time, and they will likely be more popular in the future since the key to their success is in their predictive value of a candidates performance. We've been conducting workshops since 1990 and have helped probably over a thousand candates throughout the U.S. prepare for their assessment centers,  but more importantly, helped them prepare for the job itself as a new supervisor or manager.  Let us know what you are facing, and I'll wager that we can help. The best experience of course, is "hands on" practice, so take this bit of advice: Everyday at your work now can be turned into free OJT (On the Job Training!) if you really look at the skills you need to develop and start working on practicing those skills every day: running a meeting, counseling/coaching/mentoring/directing others, working on your in basket as though you had to delegate items to others. I wrote an article for Police Chief Magazine for June of '06 on Succession Planning for Public Safety and I outlined many ways that you can work on developing your skill at no "cost" per se, just your willingness to learn new skills and get some true "OJT" for free. Let me know what you think?