Interview for Council -At last - Now worried :-(

laurar3

I have been trying on and off for years to get a job at the council. I have now got through the short listing ...yeah.:j

Interview is on friday which means I have a few days to prepare.. I have not had an interview for about 9 years...

Thanks for all your help guys xxxxx

di3004

laurar3 wrote: »

I have been trying on and off for years to get a job at the council. I have now got through the short listing ...yeah.:j

Interview is on friday which means I have a few days to prepare.. I have not had an interview for about 9 years...

I work in the banking sector and things have got really tough and I want this job soooo badly that I really would appreciate as tips or advice anyone can give me. I see this as my big chance to escape the world of banking and be able to really make a difference.

Its working in the Adult Community Services Team they have sent me a interview question already to prepare, but if anyone could help me with any ideas of what else they are likely to ask etc, etc.

I will post the question on in a moment.

Thanks

WOW, well done to you Congratulations and all the best at the interview.

As a full time carer for my son with special needs I am unable to give you any tips here, and have not worked in a long while, and sure many will post up to give you some support in this, but here below is a link with some interview tips, hope you find it helps, and again the very best of luck.:beer:
http://www.alljobsuk.com/ivtips.shtml

laurar3

Thanks I will have a look now xx

Savvy_Sue

laurar3 wrote: »

"We would like you to tell us what you consider to be the key elements of supervising staff, managing a team and dealing with conflict. How would you put these into practice and what experience have you had in these areas?” "

So, what DO you consider to be the key elements of supervising staff, managing a team and dealing with conflict? And how WOULD you put these into practice? And what experience have YOU had in these areas?

I can tell you what I think, but I'm not sure how much that would help you if they start asking probing questions ...

One thing you should most definitely do is have a good look around the council's website, you may find that there are details of the council's line management and review procedures (although these are possibly on an intranet rather than freely available). However, I'd be gobsmacked if you weren't expected to hold monthly line management meetings with those you manage (and to have similar meetings yourself) and to do / have an annual appraisal where goals are set and reviewed. (I've tried checking my own local council's website but it's broken right now.)

Another thing to 'expect' is a question on equal ops, so make sure you know what's covered, and give some thought to how a council's policy could be applied in the context of your line of work.

laurar3

Thanks Sue, I have 5 years management experience and have successfully managed 4 different teams so I do have the experience. I wanted to make sure that I come across right in the interview and that I cover off what they want to hear. I have been on to the website and picked up a lot of information and I definately look at the equally opportunties policy.

I am just quite nervous and its only Monday. Ahhhhhhhhhh

juliecallum

Another thing to 'expect' is a question on equal ops, so make sure you know what's covered, and give some thought to how a council's policy could be applied in the context of your line of work.


:beer:
Remember not all people need to be treated the same, They all need to be treated due to their individual needs, A common mistake in interviews....
Good Luck, Like others have said have a good look at the council website,
be confident and remeber to say I not WE, when detailing the way you have dealt with situations in the past.......

viktory

Be honest. When I had an interview for a secondment post at my local council I was asked if I had ever carried out certain tasks. I answered no and still got the job. In fact, I was offered the post within 4 hours of interview!

Be friendly and stay calm. Ask the interviewer to repeat a question if necessary, have a good handshake and maintain eye contact.

Turn your phone off!

Good luck.

Floss

Within our LA staff have monthly 1-to-1 meetings with their line manager and an annual appraisal ("individual performance assessment") followed by a 6-month review of that.

We also have a mediation system to resolve any serious conflict within the workplace.

pandora205

I work for a local authority and we have a very structured set of questions we ask each candidate during interview. When we are selecting we use the Person Specification and assess each of the criteria. Some of these can be ascertained from the application form, e.g. whether the candidate has the specified qualifications and experience. Others are assessed during the interview. If you have a Person Specification that lists a range of aspects required, give these some thought. For example, if it says 'knowledge of IT systems desirable or essential' make sure you can give examples of these.
We always ask an equal opportunities question too (and look for this at the short listing stage). And do be prepared for the inevitable 'why do you want the job?' or 'why do you want to work in X office'.

The other thing to bear in mind it isn't just about what is said it is also an opportunity to explore how someone communicates (assuming this is part of the job). Factors such as smiling, making eye contact and a (relatively) relaxed tone of voice are also important. If you haven't had an interview for a while, perhaps you could ask a friend to role play this with you?

Good luck

Savvy_Sue

Re-reading the question they have asked you to prepare, I would make sure I used examples, which I'd expect to include how you raised issues promptly and appropriately and worked with team members to overcome them - especially things which don't need to lead to outright conflict if they ARE dealt with promptly and appropriately!

Although there are always those who just don't hit it off - either with us or with another colleague, and it's how you handle that too.

You may well be asked a 'scenario' question too - with that, don't be afraid to take a deep breath and think about what you want to say, or if it's something you can't reasonably be expected to know, to say that you would expect to follow the council's procedures. Not the kind of thing you will get, but I had a 'scenario' when applying for a job with a housing association which involved water flooding from a tenant's flat. I had no idea whether we had 'emergency right of access' or not, but wasn't afraid to say so.

ali-t

Like most of the others who have offered you advice I would say to go through the person spec and find examples from your own experience to match up with each item on the person spec. When I have interviewed people in local authority posts we have had to take the questions from the person spec.

Some person specs have a column that states where they would get the evidence you could do something e.g. application form, interview or reference. this would give you a clue where to start

I would also echo what another poster said about owning your information. Always use 'I' rather than we or one. It is important that the interview is all about you promoting yourself rather than sounding like a textbook.

I would also expect you to highlight your transferable skills to keep it in the minds of the interviewers that you can adapt your skills to suit different contexts and are flexible in your approach. You don't want them picking someone with experience in the sector who isn't as good as you over you because you appear cognitively rigid with your perception of your skills i.e. everything is bank related.

Good luck