Admin assistant in school

tyllwyd

I totally failed at an interview as an admin assistant at school, and I'm sure that part of the problem was that I messed up the school-related questions.

So that I know for next time (if ever!) what sort of thing are they looking for if they ask

- What would you say if a parent who you know socially asks you about an incident at school involving their child (say a fight at breaktime)?

- What would be considered as confidential information?

Any insight gratefully received so that at least I can be confident that I am thinking along the right lines!

McKneff

You say you are not allowed to say anything or it could cost you your job......

Mojisola

tyllwyd wrote: »

I totally failed at an interview as an admin assistant at school, and I'm sure that part of the problem was that I messed up the school-related questions.

So that I know for next time (if ever!) what sort of thing are they looking for if they ask

- What would you say if a parent who you know socially asks you about an incident at school involving their child (say a fight at breaktime)?

- What would be considered as confidential information?

Any insight gratefully received so that at least I can be confident that I am thinking along the right lines!

Out of interest (alright, nosiness) what answers did you give?

As an admin assistant, you would pick up all sorts of information, some of it very sensitive, about staff members, students and their families. It's an absolute must that you never talk about these things to people outside.

If a parent asks you about something that happened, refer them to the appropriate person in the school - headteacher, head of year, etc.

Start by thinking of everything you learn within the job as confidential. Even if something has become common knowledge and is being talked about in the community, don't join in if you want to keep your job.

tyllwyd

Well, I said the obvious things - if I was asked about an incident at school, I would say that it wouldn't be appropriate for me to discuss it (I should probably have added the bit about referring them to the pastoral manager etc.)

And for the confidential information, I said that any information about the pupil's home life would be confidential, and that their progress should only be discussed with the parents (thinking about it, as an admin assistant that wouldn't have been appropriate anyway I guess, they should be talking to their teacher). I couldn't think of anything else - maybe I should have been more definite and said that anything within the school that hadn't been announced publicly should be regarded as confidential, including information about other staff members, and future changes in school policy that hadn't been made public.

marisa

I have volunteered and worked in schools before and here is my 2 cents


- What would you say if a parent who you know socially asks you about an incident at school involving their child (say a fight at breaktime)?

Advise you can't tell them anything there and then if they want to know details they need to make an appointment to see the teacher of the children involved or staff member otherwise responsible. Offer to help put them in touch with the right teacher, so you are helpful but not breaking anything confidential.

- What would be considered as confidential information?
Everything is confidential and must be discussed in a proper meeting, if in doubt say nothing and check wit a senior staff member first.

Mojisola

tyllwyd wrote: »

And for the confidential information, I said that any information about the pupil's home life would be confidential, and that their progress should only be discussed with the parents (thinking about it, as an admin assistant that wouldn't have been appropriate anyway I guess, they should be talking to their teacher).

I couldn't think of anything else - maybe I should have been more definite and said that anything within the school that hadn't been announced publicly should be regarded as confidential, including information about other staff members, and future changes in school policy that hadn't been made public.

This might have suggested that you would go beyond your remit as admin staff.

It's quite normal in schools to ask for a debrief you if you don't get through an interview. You have to judge the value of what you're told.

Having interviewed for a lot of school staff, I would never again take it too personally if I failed at an interview (schools or other places). The final decision can be made on very small points, sometimes not things that you can do anything about, eg. A and B are both very good but B would fit in better with our current staff

tyllwyd

Oh, I'm not taking it personally that I didn't get the job - to be honest, having met the other candidates I would probably have hired one of them in preference to me! (especially the one who was an internal candidate already doing the same job but in a different department ...) And I had one of those days when everything went wrong - I broke the printer in the admin test, and I've got trouble with my ear and sinuses at the moment, so in group situations I was half deaf, and when we went outside the cold air made me breathless which made me have a mini panic attack so that I could hardly breathe let alone talk. I just hope I didn't come across as too much of a head-case!

Mojisola

tyllwyd wrote: »

And I had one of those days when everything went wrong - I broke the printer in the admin test, and I've got trouble with my ear and sinuses at the moment, so in group situations I was half deaf, and when we went outside the cold air made me breathless which made me have a mini panic attack so that I could hardly breathe let alone talk. I just hope I didn't come across as too much of a head-case!

Definitely not your day!

cr1mson

Another thing to add re the fight in school scenario is to warn the head or whoever that the parent is likely to approach so they can be prepared.

tyllwyd

Thanks everyone! I'll be much better prepared if this comes up again.

Another question ... I was a bit taken aback that for a low wage part time job they were interviewing six of us as a group, and we had to do a sample task, a tour of the campus and then individual interviews, which took four and a half hours in total. Is that perfectly normal for jobs in a school?

Yorkie1

From what I've heard, it's perfectly usual for teachers who are being interviewed, so I'm not surprised at it being used for other roles which are being filled.