Assessment Centers are sometimes frowned upon because of the time and money a company has to put forth for their hiring practices.

Instead of standard questions with key phrases each applicant is expected to say in response (if those buzz phrases aren’t said the applicant is usually rejected), these are largely not standardized scenarios.

And because each group evaluated is made up of different members, often the process could be said to imply a bias toward one group’s dynamic over another’s.

An individual who gets run over in a group exercise might shine in a one-on one or smaller group interview.  It is also given to a large amount of play acting.

Someone who plays confident during the interview might not actually be confident as an employee; they might just be good at the games put forth during the assessment center.

Group Discussions are often leaderless.

In this situation, a group of potential employees meet and discuss issues related to the job for which they are applying.  As they talk, they are observed and evaluated by behavioral experts.

They are evaluated in terms of inter personal communication and whether or not they display any leadership skills.

Sitting back during a group discussion is usually not evaluated well.

During Role Playing, job applicants act out scenarios they might encounter if hired as an employee of the company.

There is one person who is a trained scene player and they interact with employees in an improvised scene.

The potential employees are evaluated on how they react during these improvised sessions and what kind of skills they project.