Posted By steve jones
Morning all,

I wondered if i could call upon the experience of people who have have been interviewed by a local authority for a position. I have got an interview with a local authority in London tomorrow (Friday) and wondered what to expect? Any advice / tips would be gratefully appreciated.

Many thanks.

Steve

Posted By FJ
Most (all?) Local Authorities are very rigid in what they can and cannot do ref. interviews/the whole recruitment process. The process is designed to "give as level a playing field as possible".
1)They draw up a written jd/person spec with essential and preferred criteria.
2) They will write an advert based on these- trying to ensure that all responding will provide evidence of how they meet as many of the above as possible.
3) They will shortlist on the basis of these.- this may just be not interviewing people who fail to meet one of the essential criteria, it may not.
4)On the day you may well start with a short "test"- which they should have pre-warned you about- this may be showing you can use a pc/interpret statistics (if this is required in the job)
5) They will write questions in advance that they will ask everyone interviewed- based on the above- so take all the info provided and ensure you can (and do) give examples of when you have met their requirements ("I can do it" is not acceptable without an example)Many will not ask other questions- except for clarification purposes
6)They will score you against each question- often based solely on your answers to that question (so don't assume that they will include your previous answers)
7)It may come down to whoever scores the most points overall!
8)You can ask what you like- and should do so
9)Good luck- believe it or not people do get jobs from it!!!!