Job interviews can be unreliable when it comes to hiring for a particular job role. in-tray exercise are designed in order to understand how a potential employee will handle a set of tasks that they’re likely to encounter on a typical work day.
An in-tray exercise is a simple simulation of tasks and responsibilities that an employee has to handle on a day to day basis. The person doing the exercise plays the role of the employee and deals with the tasks assigned.
The person playing the role finds a set of emails, reports, letters, memos etc in their ‘in-tray’ as they’re likely to find on a busy working day. What action they decide to take for every individual email, report or message, and how they prioritise these tasks can provide invaluable knowledge about their future performance.
The in tray exercise can include different scenarios. For example, the employee might have returned from a short holiday and has to deal with pending tasks, some of which may require just a yes or no answer while some may require more extensive action.
The performance in the in-tray exercise is usually discussed later with the job applicant; as employers try to understand the rationale behind the applicant's decisions. This provides an insight into the applicant’s way of thinking and handling pressure; as well as their attitude towards responsibility and work in general.
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