Preparing For Interview

• Take note of the date and time of the interview and put it in your calendar
• Look up your interview venue online and plan your journey. Take note of where your interview is being held, how to get there and how long it might take.
• If possible, try and do a trial journey to your interview location before the day.
• Research the council before you attend. Look at our website, our council plan and our social media profiles. If you can, try to speak to anyone you know who works with us too.
• Take some time to read up on the job description and your application again and prepare some answers to questions you think you could be asked. Try to base your answers on your skills and knowledge and use them to showcase your capability to do the job. If you can, practice your questions aloud before the day as well.
• Plan to wear an outfit that's appropriate for the role and that you feel confident in
• Lay out your attire the night before so its one less thing to worry about
• Plan to leave early on the day of your interview so you've got plenty of time to get there
• When you arrive, don't come in too early. Wait until its around 10-15 minutes before your scheduled interview time before you come in.
• During your interview, be sure to take every opportunity to demonstrate the research you've done and show us your understanding of the council.
• When asked whether you've got any questions at the end, it's always best to ask us something about the job, the team or the council itself.

• Take note of the date and time of the interview and put it in your calendar
• Take note of the software your interview is to be held over too. Download it to your computer, make sure you have a user account (if necessary) and test that it works.
• Research the council before you attend. Look at our website, our council plan and our social media profiles. If you can, try to speak to anyone you know who works with us too.
• Take some time to read up on the job description and your application again and prepare some answers to questions you think you could be asked. Try to base your answers on your skills and knowledge and use them to showcase your capability to do the job. If you can, practice your questions aloud before the day as well.
• Plan to wear an outfit that's appropriate for the role and that you feel confident in
• Lay out your attire the night before so its one less thing to worry about
• Plan to have your interview in a private, quiet space that's free from distractions and has plenty of light. Make sure you've also got a reliable wifi or mobile data connection too.
• Don't join your interview link too early. Wait until it's around 5 minutes before your scheduled interview time before you join.
• During your interview, be sure to take every opportunity to demonstrate the research you've done and show us your understanding of the council.
• When asked whether you've got any questions at the end, it's always best to ask us something about the job, the team or the council itself.

• Take note of your presentation question and make sure you understand the task. If you're unsure, reach out to your hiring manager for clarification.
• Do your research to inform what you'll present. Look up the topic and the council and try to relate your answers to our needs.
• Prepare a short set of presentation slides that answers the question. Try to make them look good and well put together with a logical order.
• Practice delivering your presentation in advance so you can fine tune anything you need to and can check how long it takes to deliver.
• If your interview is online - test your presentation software before your interview and make sure you know how to share your screen.
• If your interview is in-person - send a copy of your presentation to your hiring manager before you attend. It's also worth bringing a printout or two along with you on the day.

Technical questions would be specific to the role you're being interviewed for to assess your skill, knowledge and understanding for the job. Here are some helpful tips to help you prepare.

• Refer to the post specification (job description) for the job you're being interviewed for. It was available on the advert when you applied.
• Take a look at the essential criteria for the job and identify what key skills and knowledge it's looking for
• Brush up on your career history and identify some examples to talk about that highlight how you can offer these skills or demonstrate the relevant knowledge and understanding.
• Come up with 3 or 4 example questions for each and 3 or 4 example answers to prepare you for the moment.
• Practice giving your answers and refine where you don't think anything might come across as you intend it.

Values-based questions are designed to assess your fit with our organisational culture. We have 5 cultural values we typically assess against:

• Ambitious
• Innovative
• Collaborative
• Compassion
• Empowering

To help you understand these values and fully prepare for your interview, we've included links to our Values questions sets below. You could be asked up to 5 values questions in your interview - one question per value.

• Values Questions for roles that will have responsibility to line manage other staff
• Values Questions for roles that will not have responsibility to line manage other staff

Your recruiting manager will email you the values questions you will be asked the working day before your interview. Once you get these, we would recommend you spend some time practicing your answers.

• Think about what the value is and what it means as this will influence what we're looking for from you.
• Brush up on your career history and identify some examples to talk about that highlights where you've done something well and demonstrated how that aligns to our particular values.
• Come up with an example for each of the questions you'll be asked to prepare you for the moment.
• Practice giving your answers and refine where you don't think anything might come across as you intend it.

Briefly explain the context or scenario that made you take a particular action or make a specific decision. Provide relevant background information to set the stage for your response.

Clearly outline what you were required to do. Explain the purpose of the task or project and any specific objectives or goals you needed to achieve.

Detail the specific activities you performed and the steps you took to complete the task. Highlight your role and responsibilities in the process, including any challenges you faced and how you overcame them.

Share the outcome(s) of your effort. Describe what you achieved and how it benefited the company or project. Quantify your results whenever possible to demonstrate the impact of your actions.