interview and test with local council

bee78

Hi,

I have just been invited for an interview with the county council in my area. This is my first time going for interview with them. I am needing help

The job is for a customer service office in a social care team.There is going to be a test and a interview.The test would comprises of the following areas
· Research Exercise
· Keyboard Aptitude Exercise
· Spelling Exercise
· Telephone Exercise
But that's all the information i have from the e-mail. has anyone done these test b4.I am assuming it is written test as well as hands on. It has been two good months since i gave up my previous job,and i feel so out of touch already. The council job is something which i would enjoy and I am genuinely quite passionate about customer service(pls don't laugh at me). So it would be nice if i can get this job.I would have to travel a good 45 mins but it seems like a dream job.

could someone help me.What sort questions might they ask during the interview. Does anyone work as CSO for the council.what does scale 2-5 mean paywise.

Thanks
Bee78

bee78

pls help.i am not so sure what to do and how to prepare.

pandora205

Hi. I don't work in social care but I do work in a Local Authority department. When we interview for office based posts we usually set a typing test (the equivalent of a keyboard aptitude test) which would include typing from an audio tape, with figures/tables included. We would tend to judge spelling from that, although I expect you are going to asked to do a spelling test (either single words or dictated prose). I wonder if the research exercise would be using the internet to find out information about services, or using reference materials (such as handbooks). It would be a good idea to have a look at any forms or documents that are relevant to social care on your council's website. What is the function of that particular team - is it adult or child services? Perhaps get a feel for what they do by reading up anything on the local site or investigating further. (For example, in children's services departments there are usually a number of teams, such as child protection, fostering and adoption, looked after children, family support and children with disabilities teams).
The telephone exercise is likely to be a role play, answering some typical enquiries to the department. Think about how you would address someone when you pick up the phone, such as saying the name of the department and good morning, then how can I help you?
Sorry that I can't be more precise but I don't for social care. Scale 2-5 is probably local authority pay scale . I'm not on those scales but you may find them on the Unison website.

sammyjammy

Bee

Have you look on the councils website? I know DWP give info about their recruitment procedures and practice tests on their website.

They have an example literacy test which would probably be similar to your spelling test if you take a look, I doubt it would be like the kind of spelling tests we had at primary school. The DWP one give s apiece of written info e.g. letter and you have t ocircle the mistakes in it like spelling punctuation etc.

Keyboard aptitude is probably a typing test, don't rush it, accuracy is likely to be more important than speed, if you've got a PC practice typing out something from a book or similar.

Research test could be being given a manual or something and being asked to find out information/answer questions on what is included within it....

Telephone test is probably a role play to see how you deal with custoemrs on the phone, sounds like that'll be easy for you if you're keen on Good Customer Service (me too!).

The interview will probably be jsut a general interview rather than anything competency based like DWP.

Good luck, you'll be fine.

Sam
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