Using Assessment Centres to Facilitate Collaborative, Quasi-Standardized, Industry-Wide Selection: Lessons Learned from Medical Specialty Placement in England and Wales

The creation of an assessment center (AC) in Gothenburg started with a discussion in 2000 about what kind of leaders the city has. When American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) started their Assessment Center in the 1950s it eventually influenced the Swedish telephone utility company. At that time the company was state-owned but there was a strong desire for modernization. They started their assessment center around 1980. This was the first assessment center in Sweden. The city of Gothenburg is the second largest city in Sweden. Most assessors are managers on different levels at the city of Gothenburg. The number of assessors has grown and today there are some 30 who regularly participate in the assessments. The use of internal assessors guarantees the continuous involvement of different parts of the organization. The level of general mental ability (GMA) was measured with the BasIQ test developed for the Swedish market.