Icebreakers and Discussion Groups

One of the first things that a candidate may face at an Assessment Centre is an ICEBREAKER activity. These can range from company to company and can include introducing yourself or you may be given some time to get to know someone else in the room and introduce them. Other companies have a ‘fun’ activity such as building towers or a Wendy house.  Working well as a team is generally more important than the completion of the task.

Discussion Group

The group is given a topic, often a recent news story to discuss. Prepare by reading the business pages of newspapers to get a feel for current issues.   Listen carefully to group to group members and be sure to speak up giving structured points.   If some group members are dominating the discussion, use their names to catch their attention and join in the discussion.

Discussion Topic Examples:

• Should the Media have constraints placed on the reporting of individual’s private lives?
• Environmental Pollution: who has the responsibility and how can it be tackled effectively?
• What is the best way to spend a large grant for the youth in a small town?
• Is politics corrupt in Ireland?