Let’s get practical – bringing the selection process to life AGR Workshop 2013

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Sky 2012/2013 Graduate Process

• 90 Graduate opportunities across range of areas

• Challenge of recruiting for other roles not within this area - 24 Software

Engineering roles

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Graduate Selection

The issues

Development of any selection process

• What knowledge, skills, abilities are we looking

for?

• How will we assess these?

Further areas for consideration

• Recognising the audience

• Allowing candidates to be fully informed during

the process

• How do we engage candidates to see us as a

recruiter of choice in this area?

Source: Sky text regular 10pt

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What comes to mind when you hear of Sky?

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What is the Software Engineering Academy? • Designed for people who want to start a Software Engineering career with us

• Candidates will learn fundamental skills to be a Software Engineering professional

• Accelerated 7 month program (includes 4 week intensive boot-camp training and

educational projects)

• Opportunities to work on current Sky projects

• Business need to get candidates up to speed and working quickly

• Graduates start their career early

• Scheme is in its 3rd year

• 24 candidates this year, expanding to 30 next year

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Challenges To Overcome

• Development of any selection process

• What knowledge, skills, abilities are we looking for?

– Enthusiasm

– Passion for technology

– Ability to write software

• How will we assess these?

– Recognise the market - technology people respond better to

practical things

– Remove ‘fear-factor’ roadblocks

– Give candidates a practical experience, reflective of the role

– Different, fun, engaging, challenging

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What we do and how we assess

• Assessment Day is the final stage of a rigorous 4 stage process after online

application, unattended coding test and telephone interview

• Designed to build a candidate profile of technical and “soft skills”

• Day is structured and run like a mini project over 4 hours

• Reflects all the different aspects of software delivery

– Work in pairs, absorb a brief, gather requirements, estimate tasks, develop code,

showcasing their work

• Assessors are our own Software Engineers

• Ask competency based questions throughout the day - eliminate need for

face to face interview

• Replicates the working environment

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What we do and how we assess

• Encourage candidates to work with each other and not see it as a competition

• 8-10 candidates invited for each Assessment day

• By the end of the process, we’re confident that successful candidates will do well

at Sky

• Candidates learn valuable skills at the Assessment day

Message:

• Practical approach is key

• Assessments should be role-reflective

Space hop to Mars

• Sky has won the rights to broadcast

footage from Mars from 2015 on glorious

Sky Universe HD.

• As a result, Sky needs to launch its own

Mars Rover next year.

• Software Engineering has built a

prototype Guidance System capable of

navigating the Rover

• We want you to be involved in our user

trial.

Taking part in the user trial

• Drive the Sky Rover around the assault

course

• Use the laptop to control the Rover.

• You can to move the Rover forwards,

backwards, side to side and stop

• You can also control your speed using

three settings – slow, medium and fast.

• Assistance from our Sky Rover Boffin

How our user trial will work?

Discussion & try (2 mins) Estimate (Must be under

5 mins)

Drive and have fun! Compare actual v estimate

3 times

How our user trial will work

• 3 teams

• One of us will be working with each team

• When you hear the siren stop working

• Enjoy and have some fun with it

• After the trial we will discuss your experiences

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How can you apply what you’ve learned in your industry?

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Summary

“Friday's assessment centre was truly unique. I would like to thank you for the amazing

experience. I found the development task challenging but interesting and the pair programming

was a fresh change of pace where we could bounce, or even challenge, ideas off of one another

as well as find errors much earlier as well and learn from each other. It is definitely a concept I will

research further.”

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Conclusions

Assessment center's can be fun, engaging and do more than assess

Steps to succeed:

• Identify capabilities required from role

• Pull apart the role into its core behaviors, ask what elements of it can

be bought to life and made practical

• Don’t lose sight of your goals, be practical and ensure role is actually

being assessed! Remember the same approach won’t be suitable

for all roles

Contact us:

amandeep.jaspal@bskyb.com – Future Talent Senior Consultant

conrad.langworthy@bskyb.com- Head of Software Engineering Academy

katherine.newton@bskyb.com – Deputy Head of Software Engineering Ted