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- Group Dynamic Simulations At Ie – Two Students Share Their Perspectives From The Workshop
Group Dynamic Simulations at IE – two students share their perspectives from the workshop
As companies seek to minimize the costs of hiring mistakes and select employees who fit their company culture, participating in group dynamic simulations emerges as a strategic way for students to gain a competitive edge in the job hunt process. Julio Michelen and Dany Bouris have shared with us their experiences with the mock round organized by IE Talent & Careers and what the biggest learning has been for them.
Group dynamic simulations have been a focal point for students over the past two academic years, with the aim of “giving students the chance to practice as if it were a real one and receiving feedback about their performance, so they can ace the real Group Dynamics they face during recruitment processes.” – Victoria Tornos, Senior Associate Director at Talent & Careers.
The workshop has welcomed more than 100 students in 2023 and aims to increase its reach even further this year, to prepare even more students. With an array of engaging activities, students are tested in terms of attention, communication, teamwork skills, and leadership abilities: it’s essentially a 360-degree assessment and practice simulation that goes beyond interview preparation. It is used to evaluate candidates’ behavior as an indicator of their potential at the company in a series of group and individual exercises.
“IEU students in general do well during these sort of activities… after attending group simulations, they are no longer just good, but great! It’s the small tips and feedback provided which makes the difference in the real setting.”
The Talent & Careers department focuses greatly on student satisfaction, sending a survey to all participants to assess the workshop, which garners an outstanding rating of 4.78 / 5. Subsequently, students discuss among their peers and career coaches, sharing insights, recommending the simulation, and providing valuable feedback.
“This simulation was initially created for our master students, but we realized our undergrads could also benefit greatly from it and made some adaptations for this younger age group.”
While this version of the workshop is open to all undergraduates at IE, it is recommended for third- and fourth-year students. During recruitment processes, group interviews usually happen with minimal time in advance, which means there is often insufficient time to prepare. Third year, Bachelor in International Relations, student Julio Michelen chose to partake in a group dynamic simulation because of his desire to familiarize himself with recruitment processes.
Julio is currently looking to intern in the international business sector, so he turned to his career coach, who suggested the workshop.
Prior to the workshop, Julio said that he was nervous. “I didn’t know what kind of activities we were going to do. What was I going to be tested on?”
Terminating the workshop, though, the student expressed he received feedback on how to improve his body language and the phrases he says in professional settings. He says that he left the room having gained valuable insights about himself.
“There are many facial expressions and actions that people do daily, they simply don’t realize. This taught me to show the best version of myself during recruitment processes.”
Julio improved his ability to showcase his soft skills and recommends that students should take advantage of this workshop.
Similarly, fourth year, Bachelor in Business Administration, student Dany Bouris is actively seeking jobs in the consumer goods and sales sectors. As it is quite common for companies in those sectors to have group interviews as part of their recruitment processes, he chose to participate in a group dynamic simulation.
“I didn’t really know what to expect, as I had never heard of the workshop before.”
Dany states that throughout the workshop, he “was trying to think about what they were testing for. Sometimes it is not clear. That threw me out of focus.” Additionally, he said that his biggest learning is that he should better prepare for surprise questions, as there were a few activities in the workshop that made him realize he should be more attentive. “Something that caught me very off guard was the time where I had two minutes to prepare the text to pitch a random object.”
Dany’s key takeaway was to be more attentive, as many activities in the workshop are connected to attentiveness and their ability to listen to the instructions and to one another.
Both undergraduate students attended the Group Dynamic Simulation without knowing what to expect and left feeling prepared for a real group interview. Their testimonials serve as a reminder that it does not matter where in their career students find themselves in. Partaking in the simulation raises self-awareness and it is great practice for future endeavors.