Shell sends its Virtual Job Tryout within 24 hours and ends with a live 5-minute presentation

Shell's final assessment asks you to read a case study and present on it, so careful reading of figures and evidence under time pressure helps. Our reasoning test practises that kind of quick reading of tables and short passages, which is the only overlap we can honestly claim.

Shell's first online stage, the Virtual Job Tryout, is a set of workplace simulations rather than a reasoning paper, and our test does not resemble it. An older Shell page described game-based cognitive assessments instead. Shell does not publish scoring, cut-offs or question types on the pages we read.

Shell calls its first online stage a Virtual Job Tryout. Its newer pages describe simulations that look at how you handle workplace situations, and say the invitation arrives within 24 hours of applying, with seven days to finish. That is a simulation of the job, not an exam with right answers you can memorise.

An older Shell page described something different: four game-based assessments measuring cognitive ability and working style, to be finished in 5 days. Formats change, so read your invitation carefully and follow whatever it says, not what last year's candidates remember.

Shell assesses graduates against three criteria it calls CAR: Capacity, Achievement and Relationships. Every stage, from the tryout to the final presentation, is looking for evidence of those three things.

Use CAR to prepare. List two examples of each: a problem you analysed well, something you delivered against the odds, and a time you worked across a difference with someone. Those six stories cover most of what the video interview and the final assessment will ask.

The on-demand video interview is self-recorded. Shell's pages disagree on its length: an older one says five questions, a newer one says three and puts the tryout and video together at about 40 minutes. Prepare for five and you will not be caught short.

Shell publishes its own tips for online video interviews. Look at the camera, keep answers to about two minutes, and end each one with what you learned. Our video interview guide compares formats across employers.

The final assessment is a live online session with two Shell employees. You can review the case study 48 hours beforehand. On the day you get 20 minutes to prepare a 5-minute presentation, or 30 minutes if English is not your first language, followed by up to 40 minutes of questions and new scenarios.

Use the 48 hours to understand the case, not to script the talk, because the assessors will add scenarios you cannot predict. Pull out the three numbers that matter most and check them twice; reading figures accurately is where our reasoning test helps.

Shell says it aims to schedule the final assessment within three weeks, though timing can vary. The Assessed Internship ends with a similar case-study session, and doing well can lead to an internship offer.

If you are unsuccessful, Shell says you can reapply to the programme after 10 months. That makes each attempt valuable: take the tryout in a quiet hour, not between lectures.