Atkins Graduate Scheme Assessment Day
Updated 13 March 2021
In this article Skip to section
Please note that a more recent article of this article has been published, with much fuller detail. To read it, check out Atkins Graduate Recruitment Process: Tips For Success.
Assessment Day
The Atkins assessment day consists of:
- Personality questionnaire
- Perception test
- Technical interview
- Communication test
Personality questionnaire
This questionnaire lasts for 30 minutes. Candidates should expect open ended questions like:
- What sort of people do you enjoy working with?
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
Perception test
This test lasts for 60 minutes. Candidates must read lots of information about an imaginary bridge being built. This information pack will include:
- Letters from the council
- Letters from contractors
- Maps
Candidates are asked to write short answers to approximately eight questions such as: "Which date is best to undertake the works"?
There will be too much information to take on board at once and candidates are more or less forced to skim read most of the information.
Technical interview
This interview lasts for 60 minutes. Although called a "technical interview", most of this interview will be very general, with only a few specific technical questions.
A member of the department you are applying to will ask questions about you, your CV and why you want to be an engineer, as well as a couple of specific technical questions.
Communication test
This will last for approximately 40 minutes. First, you will be asked to read an article (almost certainly a text book extract about corporate social responsibility (CSR)). Next, without the original article, you will be asked to explain to the interviewer what you have read. Candidates should remember that they can use diagrams to explain themselves, as well as just talking.
Finally, you interviewer will begin an argument/discussion about the subject of the original article. You will be asked to take one side of the argument, whilst they will take the other, and it will be your job to convince them that your opinion is the right one.
