Job Interview with DWP

shobs4803 wrote: »

Spoke to someone at DWP Human Resources...apparently, if you haven't heard from them, its because they've frozen everything until the end of October to review staffing nationwide.

The freeze is already being lifted in some areas and people are slowly getting start dates again. Hang in there.

Danny,

I was told that I was a little way down the list on 60370 and that as a result they wouldn't be calling me for a couple of weeks, as they won't know which offices they can offer me until they've placed people ahead of me. I definitely had the impression I should expect the call before the end of October (but probably no earlier than late in the week starting 19th). Chances are that means an early Nov start date, though.

The number of positions available definitely seems to have been reduced in the local area. I'm in the Brighton / Worthing area, and I believe you're in Hastings? Might be a bit different in your area if so.

pKaTz wrote: »

got rejection letter from telford. eo position
they were so kind they sent my passport pic back.

Sorry to hear that. Chin up though

topkay wrote: »

I went for my interview for the EO position in london today, anyone wants to know how it went, i can help. Pls did any other person go for the irc 62668, were u told what happens next and how long to wait?

I went for IRC62668 on Friday and I asked "how long should I expect to wait to find out if I am successful or not" and the guy answered "People who are successful should be in post within 12 weeks". I'm not sure if that was a good sign but either way it didn't really answer my question!

As for whether I did well? Not entirely sure. I came out thinking I'd blown it.

First question, give a time you delivered good customer service. This was straightforward but a pretty strong answer, I felt.

Second question, give a time you motivated someone. I gave an example of when I had helped a colleague revise for an exam for a qualification I had already got - felt it was a good example at the time but not sure now.

Third question, give a time you put out a set of clear instructions. Fourth, name an example you took the lead. Fifth, give an example of a time you implemented a policy and ensured it was successful.

I had a couple of great examples for implementing a policy (IMO, my strongest area) but me being me thought on the third question probably best to include them both as they probably wouldn't ask such a question again. I thought the third question was one of those ones that are ambiguous. Imagine how stressed I was to discover the last question was exactly that!

My answers for the third and fourth questions were completely seperate but were linked chronlogically at that time in my career and my answer for the fifth one was basically cross referencing the outcome of the third question.

I'm not sure if that was a good thing. I was nervous at this point in the interview. I was taking prompts from my notes throughout (is this a good or bad thing?) but I was struggling for the last question and took a couple of minutes - I asked the guy to repeat the question. Is this a good or bad thing?!

For the fifth question the guy writing barely filled half a page and I was gutted then.

I had been confident all week leading upto it but got nervous in the interview, I know they take that into consideration and probably more so given the late question change but even so I hope that it didn't come across as being unprofessional. I would be gutted if that was the case.
Anyway the interview in total lasted 30-40 minutes, again not sure if this was a good sign.

I have a question given my situation - do you think that the "scores" given to you can be cross referenced - for example I felt I had proven that I had a really strong case of implementing a policy, and even though I gave that example for another question, do you think that they can score that you have demonstrated the ability even if it wasn't in answer to the specific question they asked? (if that makes sense)

I know these are all about demonstrating different capabilities but like life these things are rarely black and white and are often interlinked.
How did others interviews for this post go? Am I being over anxious?

I think we got asked different questions then, I'm not too confident about the interview though. But I had some good examples too, i don't think looking at your book is a disadavantage, although i didn't. I did not have that your number 5 question, it was something else. What region were you? Also do you know if they take into consideration scores from the numeracy and literacy tests.