Posted By Phil Rose
Dean, I don't think that there is such a thing! I am not sure if a 'Council' interview will vary a great deal from most others to be honest. I would say the usual, strengths, weakness, examples of what you have done to resolve problems and conflict, examples of ability to influence change and behavior, understanding of risk management principles, sensible risk management etc. Good luck

Posted By S W
Good Luck

When I attended mine a few years ago I was interviewed by 4 or 5 Managers. I first had to give a 5 - 10 min presentation then they each asked me about 3 questions.

I was very nervous, annoyed because they kept me waiting 40 mins and then I got into an argument about asbestos!! (I didn't get the job!!)

Hope yours goes better - really swot up on the Dept. you will be working - I didn't which was a school boy error.

Posted By John P
Many Councils now have 'competency based' interviews. If this is the case, then check out what competencies are required and prepare examples of how you have met these in the past. The idea behind these types of interviews is that you can give examples of how you have performed previously, not how you might perform when presented with some sort of made-up scenario.

If it's not competency based, then previous posting info is as good as any.

Best of luck!

Posted By Colin Reeves
Dean

There was another thread here a while back and I copied this bit - cannot recall who wrote it so I apologise to whoever!

"When all the talking is done and they ask you if you have any questions I have always found it useful to ask them if there was anything about what you have said or done in the interview that gave them cause for concern. If they say no then fair enough, you will have impressed them, if they say yes then you should be able to address their concerns there and then and turn a negative into a positive."

Tried this at my last interview - did not get the job, but I do not think it did any harm and may have helped!

Colin

Posted By Jean
Big issues in our council at the moment are:

Stress
Security
Driving - particularly accidents,insurance
Lone Working etc
Violence in the workplace
Fire
Manual Handling
First Aid- no one wants to volunteer
Opening up the Health & Safety Training to other organisations
Risk Assessments
Data protection
Freedom of information
Equality & Diversity/disability access
Accident statistics, their collation and value
Risk Management- risks in each service area and how they impact on the objectives of the council

Questions you can pull out any interview book from the library. The above are the key issues in the organisation that I am in at the moment. Think of where you are going, they will almost certainly ask you what you consider the risks are in this area, and what experience you have in addressing them/would address them

If they don't ask you about any campaigns you have been involved in promoting h & s, then don't forget to ask them, what current campaigns have been held, and advising them that this is an area you are particularly interested, come up with at least one, what was it, why did you run it, who did you involve, how did you evaluate its success. Any follow through.

All the best, I am going to be looking for another post soon.

Jean

Posted By Graham Bullough
Dean

You’ve had some good responses already. Take the fact that you’ve been shortlisted for interview as being a good sign. Here’s a suggestion for you, and anybody else in your position, about meeting and chatting informally with people who already work in similar roles. If you haven’t already done so, try looking up your nearest IOSH branch on the IOSH website and going along to its meetings if you can. If you are being interviewed before the end of this month, sadly this advice may be of little use because few if any branches have meetings during August. However, most or all will resume their meetings in September. Some branches have public services sections whose members include advisers with local authorities. If you go along to a branch or section meeting, just ask to speak to a committee member and explain your position so that they can introduce you to relevant people.

If you live in or near North West England, I can certainly tell you that you would be very welcome as a visitor to the Manchester & North West Districts Branch. The branch itself usually has evening meetings each month in the Manchester area and has geographical sections which meet in other parts of the North West. It also has an excellent (totally unbiased opinion on my part!) Public Services Section which usually has afternoon meetings each month in the Manchester area.

Hope the interview goes well for you. Even if you don’t get the job, it’s always useful experience for the next one, especially if you can get some feedback from the interviewers about it afterwards. Another aspect about Branch and Section meetings is that the speaker presentations at them about various topics will help to expand your knowledge generally. Even if some topics don’t seem relevant to your particular line of work, they can contain transferable principles and practices.