Interview Crisis

Fireflyaway

I've been to a few interviews recently and in every one they have asked for examples of how I achieved x or y or how I handled x situation. My advice would be to try and have a few examples up your sleeve. In a care home they will want to know you have an understanding of safeguarding. I'd imagine team work and ensuring you maintain good records would be important too. Maintaining the residents dignity, good cleanliness and knowing when to report concerns etc would be important.
As for generic skills: dress smartly, be on time, turn your phone off, eye contact , smiles etc. Don't be too familiar. Try to be positive. If you don't know the answer then be honest but offer something up. Also appear interested. Think of a question or two. Ask if there are development opportunities or ask about what enrichment activities they have for residents. Good luck.

Leedsboi86

Bought some today.
Not sure if they work or just my head telling me they work lol
They seem to have helped a little though.
Not overly keen on the taste it’s like super strong brandy

Leedsboi86

Been given a book today called The Golden Key To Happiness
It’s sort of a spiritual guide book on how to change negative to positive and I must admit it’s really helping!!

rocketqueen

I work in a care home and am regularly the 2nd interviewer. My advice would be:

*look up a bit about the company/home online such as number of beds, type of residents etc

* be prepared to be flexible, you will almost definitely be working some weekends, on the other hand if there are certain days of the week you can't work be honest at the interview

* refresh your memory on subjects like safeguarding, dignity, whistle blowing, dementia (if applicable) etc, we always ask the "what would you do if you suspect abuse" question...

* Maybe think of some examples along the lines of - something you've achieved that you are proud of, how you work well in a team, how you would deal with challenging behavior, how you would encourage independence...

* Above all show an interest and try to think of a couple of questions to ask (not always easy I know!)

Try not to be nervous - the interviewers are just normal people (like me and I'm not scary in the slightest!) They won't be trying to catch you out etc, all we look for is someone who we feel will look after the residents we work with and sometimes go that extra mile to ensure they have as good a quality of life as possible.

One last thing if you get the job (as I'm sure you will) when you are called in for DBS paperwork (criminal record check) make sure you have 5 years of address history, as you would not believe the amount of people that come in and cannot remember where they lived and when!

Good luck :-)

Leedsboi86

Thank you Rocket.

I was planning to ask what the shift patterns are, what activities do the residents do during the day, if there are regular extra shifts available, do they do fund raising events etc

As for if I suspected abuse, where I worked before it would be to report it to my senior on shift straight away unless it’s regarding them then it’s reportted to the main manager straight away, is this still accurate?

elsien

It would be ok to say that was the situation in your last job as long as you add that you would obviously check and follow the new organisations policy.
You might also want to think about how you would respond to the person disclosing abuse if it's about themselves - what if they ask you not to tell anyone, how what and when you would record, what if they want to phone the police. What else you need to think about as well as the direct reporting procedure.

Leedsboi86

Must have done well at the interview
An hour after getting out of the interview I got a call offering me the job, just have to have a DBS check and I’m ready to go YAY

svain

Leedsboi86 wrote: »

Must have done well at the interview
An hour after getting out of the interview I got a call offering me the job, just have to have a DBS check and I’m ready to go YAY

Well done :beer:

rocketqueen

Well done :-)

Sorry I didn't answer your question, as haven't been on here since I posted my reply - sounds like you did great so congratulations!