DWP Recruiting Again - 2012

Newbee_wales

Hi all, i have been a long time lurker on here. Just had my shrops/staffs results. They were really awfull, didn't have the best experiance to be honest. My sift results were 88889, my interview was 33344! Just goes to show it can really go the other way.

This was my feedback Far too much emphasis on process, no evidence of own specific role as competency behaviours. Needed significant prompting. Few positive behaviours displayed. Evidence unclear and not at appropriate level. Ouch!!!! Pretty much said word for word on application but did taylor it for the question.

Anyway good luck to everyone and i hope people are not waiting too long x

Amby12

quo-vadis wrote: »

I think it's gonna be a long wait for "EastEnders". I had my interview a couple of days ago and from what I gathered from the the admin staff and my interviewers they'll finish the interviews in the middle of next week and then...wait some more. They invited 1200 people to the interviews so I think it's gonna be some time till we'll even have our scores back let alone an outcome.
Even though I'd like to be successful I'm already applying for other jobs. I can't afford to wait 3 more months till the first DWP pay check (if only)...

My friend who interviewed for E.London on the 9th, received feedback on the 15th - all 9's. Good luck to us all!

melpg

poker21 wrote: »

Back from my interview in East London.
Interviewers were really friendly.
They didn't ask me to elaborate on any of my competencies, so I don't know whether that is good or that they weren't interested. I did a lot of waffling. The whole experience seems to be a blur. Another waiting game now for the results/scores.

Sounds like you did really well!

I had the same - only asked one question throughout, and I felt the same as you but I ended up with pretty good scores

Lorac05

Well my interview results are up from Staffs/Shrops and they are actually worse than I expected and all the feedback I got was 'Applicant did not provide evidence to demonstrate the competencies to an acceptable level.' for the first one and 'as above' for the rest.

Disappointed - a little - but I am really not sure that is the path I wanted to follow anyways so it is probably a blessing in disguise. I do know the issue I had was the entire competency based interview technique - I am so used to normal interviews regarding my knowledge and experience and what I did and trying to fit that into this format was not easy for me. And I will add the interviewers were not that friendly and did not make me feel at ease at all.

Well good luck to those of you who have scored well and those still to interview. I hope the job offers do materialise and that the entire process wasn't a huge waste of time and money.

I am now going to go off and and make a cup of tea and a hot cross bun and then contemplate life moving on from here.

melpg

Erazor wrote: »

I have to Agree with MakemBill here.

Using the forum backfired on me big time, If it wasn't for the forum I would have just used the DWP guidances and prepare for a normal interview situation.

However I got the impression that I was suppose to talk about my whole competency from most user's comments here which bite me in the !!!!, I probably looked like a right mug probably talking about the overall competencies.

I feel really bad for you. I think you got the short straw with your area (can't remember which one now)

But the majority of areas used the more general questions (according to comments here) In mine, I was asked a specific question which came from a bullet point, and though it took a moment for me to put it into context, I was then able to relay the whole competency making sure I focussed slightly more on the area that they'd asked me about. I didn't get penalised for speaking about the whole competency or stopped and cut short.

This system is supposed to be FAIR and consistent and I think you would have good cause to show that wasn't the case in your experience if you decided to take it further. Though sometimes, complaining can be just as frustrating and time consuming and maybe offers false hope for a time only to be put down again.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

Lorac05

Newbee_wales wrote: »

Hi all, i have been a long time lurker on here. Just had my shrops/staffs results. They were really awfull, didn't have the best experiance to be honest. My sift results were 88889, my interview was 33344! Just goes to show it can really go the other way.

This was my feedback Far too much emphasis on process, no evidence of own specific role as competency behaviours. Needed significant prompting. Few positive behaviours displayed. Evidence unclear and not at appropriate level. Ouch!!!! Pretty much said word for word on application but did taylor it for the question.

Anyway good luck to everyone and i hope people are not waiting too long x

Which office did you interview in? Mine was Stafford. I feel I also stated what I had written down for my competencies - but the trying to tailor them to the specific question may have thrown me. Both interviewers were making lots of notes - which people seem to say is good but obviously wasn't in my case.

Newbee_wales

Lorac05 wrote: »

Well my interview results are up from Staffs/Shrops and they are actually worse than I expected and all the feedback I got was 'Applicant did not provide evidence to demonstrate the competencies to an acceptable level.' for the first one and 'as above' for the rest.

Disappointed - a little - but I am really not sure that is the path I wanted to follow anyways so it is probably a blessing in disguise. I do know the issue I had was the entire competency based interview technique - I am so used to normal interviews regarding my knowledge and experience and what I did and trying to fit that into this format was not easy for me. And I will add the interviewers were not that friendly and did not make me feel at ease at all.

Well good luck to those of you who have scored well and those still to interview. I hope the job offers do materialise and that the entire process wasn't a huge waste of time and money.

I am now going to go off and and make a cup of tea and a hot cross bun and then contemplate life moving on from here.

Did you have your interview in telford by any chance? I felt they same way about the interview. Enjoy your hot cross bun!

melpg

Lorac05 wrote: »

Well my interview results are up from Staffs/Shrops and they are actually worse than I expected and all the feedback I got was 'Applicant did not provide evidence to demonstrate the competencies to an acceptable level.' for the first one and 'as above' for the rest.

Disappointed - a little - but I am really not sure that is the path I wanted to follow anyways so it is probably a blessing in disguise. I do know the issue I had was the entire competency based interview technique - I am so used to normal interviews regarding my knowledge and experience and what I did and trying to fit that into this format was not easy for me. And I will add the interviewers were not that friendly and did not make me feel at ease at all.

Well good luck to those of you who have scored well and those still to interview. I hope the job offers do materialise and that the entire process wasn't a huge waste of time and money.

I am now going to go off and and make a cup of tea and a hot cross bun and then contemplate life moving on from here.

So sorry - what a farce competency interviews are :mad:

You sound pretty intelligent and also a kind and caring person and I bet you could do the job as well if not better than some who have got the competency thing down to a fine art.

My first competency interview was for DWP in May 2009 and I had no idea what I was doing - no time to prepare, just a sheet of paper thrust into my hand half an hour before I went into interview. The interviewers helped me A LOT and asked the right questions and I managed to scrape through and got the job.

But since then, I have applied for maybe 6 other jobs based on competencies and it has taken me this long to be able to feel that I can do it justice.

Having worked as an EO in a jobcentre, I have seen people get the job who are completely unsuited, but then they can write a good competency!!

Until the recruitment procedure is changed, we will still see advisors who aren't good enough and people like you being overlooked.

A real shame.

Good luck for the future and thanks for your help and support - your job is still out there somewhere!!!

clemintine876

Dunno, this thread can go either way. I was feeling really confident with my 77898 score, but since coming here I'm starting to brick it! The only thing that puts my mind at ease is that the people posting in these threads are probably a little bit more active in their applications than others, and hopefully the people most likely to achieve high score. Least, that's what I tell myself to keep the doubt at bay.

I have a good few friends etc who interviewed and unfortunately scored quite poorly, so perhaps the supports my theory that in the real world not everyone is scoring straight 9's across the board.

melpg

clemintine876 wrote: »

Dunno, this thread can go either way. I was feeling really confident with my 77898 score, but since coming here I'm starting to brick it! The only thing that puts my mind at ease is that the people posting in these threads are probably a little bit more active in their applications than others, and hopefully the people most likely to achieve high score. Least, that's what I tell myself to keep the doubt at bay.

I have a good few friends etc who interviewed and unfortunately scored quite poorly, so perhaps the supports my theory that in the real world not everyone is scoring straight 9's across the board.

I agree completely.

I scored 68% on the test and although I knew it wasn't great, I then found this thread and saw people with 90% plus and thought I was out of the running!

But I wasn't, I had my interview and did well.

I'm sure you're right, and this is such a tiny proportion of the numbers interviewed. Keep your chin up! You've got a fantastic score :j