AIBU Assessment centre nightmare!

[Mrsgbythesea]

Today I had an all day assessment centre for a job I really want, it was a mix of individual and group tasks - individual ones were fine but there was this one candidate who totally took over every bloody group task to the point where the other 4 of us couldn't get a word in and when we did she told us we were wrong and she was right!

I challenged her a few times, I even pointed out that there were 5 people round the table and we should perhaps have a discussion before deciding on a solution - in the end I just bit my tongue because she was seriously pissing me off!

We all tried really hard to get in on what was happening but she just raised her voice and knew better than all of us

I am aware she probably screwed her chances by not being collaborative but I feel like none of us other candidates got to show our skills at all because of her.

Really pissed off, just felt like a massive waste of time!!

AIBU to think that my chances are also screwed for a) standing up to her or b) not standing up to her enough?!

I bloody hate job hunting!!

Maybe she wasn't a genuine candidate.

My dh used to work in recruitment and his biggest client was a huge fan of group interviews for all positions from entry level to upper management.

Without fail they planted someone in every group. One of two extremes - the 'takeover-er', much like your op or the opposite - someone who didn't contribute at all. A huge part of the point of the group stage was to identify candidates people skills and their main aim was seeing how candidates dealt with the mouthy one or helped the quiet one come out of their shell.

I was just about to say I wonder if she was a ringer. It sounds like you tried to contribute which will have been noted.

We had someone like this in an assessment centre I did. Normally I'm the kind of project manager who asks people questions to get them involved but she just dominated the whole group. I got my chance afterwards at individual interview stage (like the semi finals of the Apprentice!) and explained I didn't see any point vying for top dog so I took the role of scribe and fed back 'the group's' views which contained very little of the nonsense she spouted

They will have noticed and whilst it's annoying you couldn't show your full self, you did still show the way you would handle those characters in real situations so they will still have got to see the real you

Oh don't worry. Usually these group discussions are just a chance to weed out the cranks. Most of the decision-making will be done based on your interview.

I've run assessment centres before, and I don't particularly like them.

The assessors will have a criteria with different things they'll pick up on. If someone has been to abrasive and pushy, they won't get to the next round.