Mastering Intray Exercises: Your Secret Weapon for Assessment Centre Success

Assessment centres are where graduate job offers are won or lost. Whilst many candidates focus on interviews, intray exercises often prove decisive—here's why and how to excel.

Why Intray Exercises Matter

Employers can't truly gauge your workplace performance from a CV or 30-minute interview. Intray exercises solve this by placing you in realistic work scenarios where you must deliver actual outputs.

Leading graduate recruiters—including the Big Four accounting firms, NHS, IBM, and top consultancies—rely on these exercises to identify candidates who can genuinely perform, not just interview well.

What You'll Face

Intray exercises typically involve:

• Writing professional emails and memos

• Creating reports or presentations

• Prioritising conflicting deadlines

• Managing stakeholder expectations

• Making decisions with incomplete information

• Responding to crisis situations

You'll have 30-60 minutes to handle 10-30 items, testing your ability to work efficiently under pressure.

The Skills Being Assessed

Hard competencies:

• Business analysis and data interpretation

• Financial literacy and budget management

• Technical writing and documentation

Soft competencies:

• Communication (written and verbal)

• Time management and prioritisation

• Problem-solving and decision-making

• Organisation and delegation

• Crisis management

Five Strategies for Success

1. Prioritise ruthlessly Use frameworks like the Eisenhower Matrix to categorise tasks by urgency and importance. Not everything requires immediate attention.

2. Read everything first Before taking action, review all materials. Understanding the full context prevents wasted effort on wrong priorities.

3. Show your working Document decisions and reasoning. Assessors want to see your thought process, not just final outputs.

4. Embrace delegation Good managers know when to involve others. Delegating appropriately demonstrates leadership, not weakness.

5. Maintain professionalism Your emails, reports, and communications should be error-free and appropriately formatted. Proofread everything.

Virtual Exercise Considerations

Online assessments add technical complexity. Master the platform beforehand, understand submission requirements precisely, and recognise that deadlines are absolute—there's no asking for "just one more minute."

The Bottom Line

Intray exercises are opportunities to prove yourself through action rather than words. They're where preparation meets performance. Research the company, understand the role's requirements, practise professional communication, and approach the exercise with confidence.

Assessment centres can feel intimidating, but remember: employers use intray exercises because they want to see you succeed in realistic conditions. Show them you're ready.

For comprehensive guidance and sample exercises: Explore our complete intray exercises resource