DWP Recruiting Again - 2012

tsimehC

Well done MakemBill on those excellent scores, I know I did the opposite of your concise interview notes and took in my entire notes so I'm expecting something on the other end of the spectrum.

Some lessons I learnt from this:

- Don't stress yourself out on memorising lines off your example
- Do NOT take in your original notes, I strongly recommend the note advice by MakemBill
- The interviewers are friendly and welcoming but do not lose focus that it's an interview. I felt I was a newcomer to a staff lunch rather than a formal interview.
- Take in examples from various parts of your life, interviewers gave me a raised smile when I used the work I did in one place for the fourth time...I think stargazer mentioned this point, which is why I'm glad I used a different example at the end
- Don't ask too many questions at the end, I think I overstepped the line on that. I won't say what I did say but it was a facepalm-worthy moment.
- Don't finish your water and ask for more, one cup is more than enough (although maybe I was really thirsty on that day, speaking of water...)
- If it's raining outside, make sure to dry your hands before giving a handshake to the person who greets you at reception
- If asked to sit and wait in one place, don't stand up and look outside the windows

33333s here I come.

Erazor

Can someone give me 1 simple important advice.

I have basically constructed my answers in the order I want to answer them regardless of the question asked. Do you think it is ok to carry out your competency without directly answering their question, but the question being answer within the 5 min over view of the competency.

I'm still finding it very awkward to skip the direct question (been doing practice interviews) but also find it impossible to answer the question without covering my whole compentency in the order I have visioned it.

As soon as I skip a part I get meddled up. My whole STAR doesn't flow.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

tsimehC

Erazor wrote: »

Can someone give me 1 simple important advice.

I have basically constructed my answers in the order I want to answer them regardless of the question asked. Do you think it is ok to carry out your competency without directly answering their question, but the question being answer within the 5 min over view of the competency.

I'm still find it very awkward to skip the direct question but also find it impossible to answer the question without covering the compentency in the order I have it in mind?

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

I was in the same position myself and I didn't answer the question directly (just like politicians these days) but at the end of the interview, I asked if I answered all the questions and one of the interviewers said I did.

If you take too long ('long' is quite subjective I suppose), they will try to get you back on track by giving you a prompt. This doesn't work against you in any way unless you go in a trance and read it out like a well-prepared speech and it breaks your momentum.

Sara_SkiBunny

For those of you still to interview remember:

Say 'I...' and NOT 'we did..'.

Be absolutely specific with your examples, it is not sufficient to say 'I motivated my team and...' it needs to be 'I motivated my team BY....'

Don't over-complicate your examples. They are not looking for examples where you saved the population from extinction by defusing a nuclear bomb! Keep it simple, be specific and don't forget to wrap up with a result. I closed my examples by saying 'The result being a 30% increase in sales and a 5% drop in returns...' and 'The changes I implemented enabled a member of staff to reduce her hours [as she had requested], boosted morale and increased performance throughout the team by over 10%'

Also, those of you asking what specific questions were asked - I must point out that although all of my questions were based on the competencies, I didn't have any of the questions posted on here, so make your example fit the competency as a whole but be prepared to adapt it slightly to fit the question 100%

Take in notes!

At first, I wrote out my full examples under each competency heading & then as I practiced (out loud in my bedroom), and became more confident, I wrote it out again with just bullet points. Then I typed it out in just 4 or 5 bullet points which I took into the interview.

I don't know if it will help, but the way I remembered which example went with which competency was to associate it to a word within the competency heading. For example 'Building Capability' - my example was about making a small office computerized and training the staff to use it, so I took the first word of the competency 'Building' and 'Office' and kept thinking 'Building an Office'. I did this for each of my competencies and I had no problems recalling each example.

At the end of my interview, I was asked if I would like to review my notes in case there was something crucial I wanted to add (I panicked a bit then because I thought it meant I hadn't met the competencies fully). I did pick out a couple of points for one of the questions which I had forgotten to add and they were completely happy with that.

Good luck to you all xxx

vindallou

Jones_64 wrote: »

hi
!
Can you please take a look as i only got 4.
Leading
!
My role as a security officer is based in a local jobcentre where I act as Team Leader for six other officers, guiding them in their daily duties and ensurin
I conduct performance reviews with my staff to give feedback which they can then incorporate into their daily roles in order to improve. This also gives me an opportunity to articulate to them any changes in our duties or development opportunities that will make us more conducive to success in our jobs

There is no specific example of what you did, its very general. This is more of a job description.

Eg pick out a scenario waiting your job that you dealt with a specific challenge other than talk about them all.

vindallou

Erazor wrote: »

Can someone give me 1 simple important advice.

I have basically constructed my answers in the order I want to answer them regardless of the question asked. Do you think it is ok to carry out your competency without directly answering their question, but the question being answer within the 5 min over view of the competency.

I'm still finding it very awkward to skip the direct question (been doing practice interviews) but also find it impossible to answer the question without covering my whole compentency in the order I have visioned it.

As soon as I skip a part I get meddled up. My whole STAR doesn't flow.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

I answered the question at the end. I gave my competence following STAR, but my Result (sta R) incorporated the answer they were looking for. Does that make sense?

Daedelus

I had my interview last Friday (2nd March) and still no feedback -is this a record? Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.

Lorac05

Sara_SkiBunny wrote: »

I've finally had my interview feedback....and I am in SHOCK! 8,9,9,8,8

Building Capability - Behavioural Rating 8 Strong evidence. Many positive behavious displayed in the good example used.

Delivering a Customer Focused Service - Behavioural Rating 9 Strong evidence. All elements of the competency were clearly disaplayed in the example used.

Leading - Behavioural Rating 9 Strong evidence. All elements of the competency clearly displayed.

Managing People and Performance - Behavioural Rating 8 Good example used at the interview with most of the competency elements discussed.

Operational Delivery - Delivering a Professional Service Rating 8 Good example used. Most of the tested competency elements clearly demonstrated.

I can't believe it! Just hope it's enough to land me an offer. Though at the bottom of my feedback it says.. 'Please note. This feedback does not mean that you will or will not be offered a position/place on a waiting list. Once all interviews for the vacancies have been conducted you will receive a further notification to confirm the outcome of the interview'.

Fingers crossed xxxxx

Congrats - those are amazing scores and if that doesn't put you at the top of the list to get a job offer I will be very surprised. It also threw my theory that I doubted they would hand out 9's as that implies perfection - but I guess if your examples hit all the bullet points why not give the 9.

Still well done - you must also be a fantastic communicator which is something needed for the job in question.

Congrats again :beer:.

thunderplex

KeyserSoze888 wrote: »

Would it be accurate to say that it appears a fair few people are doing better with their interview scores than their written competency scores? Just a general observation. May be way off the mark.

It's probrably because you can put yourself across better when you are not restricted to 200 words. I know I had to do a lot of editing when I originally applied.

MrsMac101

Daedelus wrote: »

I had my interview last Friday (2nd March) and still no feedback -is this a record? Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.

NO, mine was last Wednesday in Glasgow and still nothing