Census Jobs

lvm

I just got an email inviting me to an interview on 29th Jan - the interview being a group exercise which will be 1 1/2 hrs long.

This is for the Scotland Census.

Anyone know what the group exercise is??? I'm not the most confident and talkative but realise I'll need to make a bit more of an effort if I want the job!

Help!

beckythemadcow

poppet wrote: »

I wonder if they are holding back to see how many they lose after or during the classroom training and then quickly getting replacements from people who are still waiting?

That's what Capita told me on the phone!

facingthefuture

I am in Northern Ireland and telephoned them last week to see what's happening since I have heard nothing since the id checks at the local hotel. The really nice fellow on the phone said I was currently going through security clearance but I should get an email about it in the next week....here's hoping! He did warn me that some people's email were going to their junk mail so he suggested I should watch out for this too.

Rich44_2

Well there were at least 2 people that didn't turn up on our course so I expect that Capita are holding people in reserve for that very reason. I found it hilarious that as a co-ordinator we got a 2 day course (IMHO should have been at LEAST 3 very rushed) and the poor collectors get one half day training.

zebramolli

lisamckinney wrote: »

I just got an email inviting me to an interview on 29th Jan - the interview being a group exercise which will be 1 1/2 hrs long.

This is for the Scotland Census.

Anyone know what the group exercise is??? I'm not the most confident and talkative but realise I'll need to make a bit more of an effort if I want the job!

Help!

I'm the same, I don't like group sessions as I feel I always come across as false as I'm normally very shy with strangers but feel compelled to be chatty for the sake of getting the job.

Mine is on the 29th too in Moray, good luck!

Rich44_2

poppet wrote: »

It is interesting to hear other opinions on the classroom training, ours was really good, the hotel was fabulous and recently refurbished, we had frequent breaks and the meals were lovely but our trainer was telling us that there had been complaints about poor rooms and catering at other venues around the country - so I think we must have got lucky.

As a tip for anyone else getting ready for the classroom training I would say that it really helps to read and understand the training manual before you go, and to take it with you to refer back to. having said that I think there have been problems in some people not getting their manuals in time for classroom training.

We had a brilliant trainer who covered everything thoroughly and we even finished early on the last day - personally I didnt feel rushed but I could imagine I might have done if I hadnt already had chance to study the manual.

Myself and the others had studied but the real problem is when you start getting questions, our trainer couldnt tell us for sure what you're typing up when you're scanning the barcodes on the paperwork your collectors return. If you didn't get questions I can see it going better, also thought the scenario exercises towards the end were a waste of time where you pretend to be a collector and role play with a "householder"

froggy27_2

The training was interesting.. great hotel and food but the trainer didn't really have a clue... she couldn't answer half of the questions... I didn't come out of there knowing much more than the manual!!!
BTW have you had your contract through now that you've completed the classroom training?

Seymour100

I did the Census Scotland group interview this week and got the job.

You are placed in a team of 4ish and asked to draw scotland, then place cities on the map, then match quotes to the cities. I dont think it really matters what you get right more hoe you interact with the team.

You are then placed in a bigger team and asked to fill out a abcd questionare regarding what you would put in a time capsule, again there are no right or wrong answers but its improtant that you comunicate well within the team as they are looking for you to convince others that your suggestions are better than theirs.

A nice tip is to suggest that since you only get 30mins to do it that you will keep track of the time. State that you will set your alarm to go of every 10mins as if your team does not finish in time you get 0 points.

Good Luck

chaotic_j

I just had my telephone interview for the Census Collector job. It was pretty much the same as previous posters have described it, a rudimentary 5 minute affair with the initial stage mostly asking you to confirm questions that were asked within your initial application.

The two questions mentioned were asked as one i.e. "Can you give an example of how you worked in a team with members of the public".

I think that I gave a good example but I'm not sure exactly how well I did in this part. There wasn't really any prompting by the interviewer or additional questions, I just said my part and that was that..

Apparently I'll hear in 2-3 weeks whether I've been successful or not. Fingers crossed! :rotfl:

firsttimebuyer_99

Hi all,

I was offered the census coordinator post back in November. I did my classroom training on 11th and 12th January and still not a peep from Capita since! Our trainer gave us the impression during the training that unless we did something catastrophic during the sessions, our contracts would be automatically generated at the click of a button, and he promised to click that button on the train on his way home!

Has anyone received anything from Capita since attending the classroom training? Not even sure if the contract is coming through the post or whether it is another online thing - anyone have any ideas? Some of the comments on this thread refer to the fact that potentially the ONS might have hedged their bets and over-recruited - I hope I am not one of the unlucky ones after taking 2 days out to attend the classroom training!