Whenever we deliver certification training for Assessment Center assessors, we know participants are beginning a transformative journey—one that often enriches their career path and gives them a clearer understanding of both themselves and human potential.
During the program, participants gain in-depth knowledge and experience in assessing and identifying the distinctive abilities, skills, and behaviors that drive individual and organizational success. Assessors use this capability to help people and businesses thrive. Put simply, they hold a key to recognizing the talent within each person.
Today, we introduce two women who now hold that key and recently completed Ninety Nine’s Certification Program for Assessment Center Assessors. Kamelia and Radina are HR managers at a large financial institution. Both are passionate about developing people and agreed to answer several questions about the training, the challenges they faced, and the benefits of becoming an assessor. Read on to discover why the experience is demanding, developmental, and dynamic.
Tell us briefly about yourselves and your professional experience.
Kamelia: Human resources is a field that continually inspires me to develop and broaden my experience. I believe that people are at the heart of every organization’s ability to work effectively and grow. My interests focus on personality, the values that drive people forward, and the ways they acquire and develop knowledge and skills. All these elements also support the development of the organization as a whole.
Radina: I recently became the leader of a team responsible for developing employees’ sales and people-management skills and competencies. My career has always been connected to people in one way or another—whether by increasing motivation and engagement to achieve better results or by improving sales performance, efficiency, and customer service quality. Over the past few years, my growing interest in every aspect of personal and professional development gradually brought me to this point, this place, and the people with whom I now work and drive excellent results. I believe we will continue delivering many meaningful projects together. My energy and effort are now focused on finding new opportunities and methods for developing the skills, knowledge, and competencies of the people who are the driving force of our business.
What are the benefits of being a certified SHL assessor—for you, for the people, and for the company where you work?
Kamelia: Becoming a certified SHL assessor is an exceptionally responsible professional challenge, but also an exciting and energizing one. It allows me to go beyond my established skills as an HR professional—both in how I communicate with people and in my ability to support their development reliably and with care.
I believe the knowledge and skills I have gained, and now have the opportunity and pleasure to apply, help my colleagues receive objective information about the potential that distinguishes them and contributes to their success. This can motivate them and open new horizons for future development.
Radina: For me, this was an opportunity to enter a somewhat different and specialized area within human resources and people development. Becoming a certified SHL assessor creates a broad range of new opportunities to apply the methodology and skills in practice. It is a toolkit that, on the one hand, ensures an individual approach by identifying each participant’s strengths and development areas and, on the other, creates a comprehensive and complete approach to people-development initiatives. It gave me a different perspective and a clearer understanding of the relationship between the behaviors we demonstrate, the behaviors required for success in a role, and the extent to which they appear—or can be elicited—in different situations.
I have the opportunity to apply the SHL methodology and everything I learned in practice. Even more rewarding is being involved in the process from the very beginning and then seeing its impact through changes in people behaviour and attitudes.
How would you describe the certification training?
Kamelia: The program was highly dynamic. It gave me the information I needed to understand the specifics of potential assessment and made me want to learn more, challenge myself, and build additional knowledge and skills in areas such as report writing and the delivery of feedback.
Radina: The training is intensive, thought-provoking, and demanding—in the best possible sense. 😊 It is entirely practice-oriented and pays close attention to the specifics of the method. It allows you to experiment in a safe environment and experience the process from several roles: assessor, participant, and role player.
What was most challenging during the training, and what surprised you the most?
Kamelia: Becoming fully aware of the responsibility you assume as an assessor was certainly a challenge for me. An assessor must remember that the person sitting opposite them may be vulnerable and that decisions based on observations and factual ratings can influence not only that person’s professional development, but their personal development as well.
I was surprised by how comprehensive and important the assessor’s role is. The assessor does not simply assign ratings. They enter a role to help the participant demonstrate specific behaviors, prepare an individual report, and need the skill to deliver appropriate, clear, and valuable feedback on both the observed behavior and potential.
Radina: The greatest challenge was realizing that, to ensure the necessary quality, you must switch off all the subtle emotional adjustments through which you normally interpret people. You need to remain completely objective and impartial, avoiding interpretations that could influence the assessment. The expectation that you record everything you observe almost verbatim initially worried me as well. Once you immerse yourself in the process, however, you realize that it is possible—and not as difficult as it first appears.
What are the three most important qualities an assessor should possess?
Kamelia: An assessor should be sensitive, interested in relationships with people, and open to differences and new experiences.
Radina: Only three? 😊 First and most fundamentally, you need a genuine interest in people development. Second, you need a clear understanding of your own potential and the personal qualities that affect your ability to perform successfully as a Development Center expert. Third, you need flexibility: the ability to adapt to the process, leave your comfort zone, and step convincingly into different roles in order to elicit the behaviors that need to be observed.
How do you apply what you learned in your work?
Kamelia: The organization where I work allows me to apply my skills as an SHL assessor through a comprehensive, professionally designed Management Potential Development Program. I believe the experience I am gaining will help me develop knowledge and skills that will also be extremely useful in other areas of HR management, learning, and employee development.
Radina: As an expert working on complex people-development programs, I apply the full SHL methodology—from coordinating and aligning the design and organization to participating in Development Centers. I see directly how the process is implemented in real conditions and understand the experience not only from the assessor’s perspective, but also from that of participants, who share their reactions after completing a Development Center.
