I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at North Kesteven District Council (Sleaford, England) in Aug 2019
Interview
They will request that you come to a casual open day where you will do some team building tasks and see where you shine, these included a debate and hot seat interview questions. Then invited to a classic formal interview, where they interviewed me with questions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell us about a time where you had good customer service.
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at North Kesteven District Council (Sleaford, England) in Apr 2017
Interview
The interview was held at the main NKDC offices on Kesteven Street in Sleaford. Although visitor's parking was noted as being available, upon arrival it was all coned off, so I parked in the (very cheap) pay and display car park two streets to the west. I arrived at reception early to make a good impression - reception staff were friend, and a toilet was available but had no mirrors! The HR rep came to fetch me 6-7 minutes past my requested arrival time; notably there was no acknowledgement of the delay.
The interview was held in an upstairs office - three persons were present on the panel, including the HR rep previously mentioned. I was taken into the room by the HR rep, the other two panel members were already seated on the opposite side of a very large table, which made shaking hands and introductions quite awkward. Water was available on the table.
The interview was conducted in welcoming, relaxed but professional environment. I was asked approximately 10 questions - one introductory question ("tell us about yourself") and three from each respective panel member. These were a mixture of evidentially based questions (e.g. "tell us when you've...") and assessment questions (e.g. "which of these would you prioritise...?") along with the one obligatory diversity-based question.
Their questions were pre-prepared and each panel member had a couple of stapled, horizontal A4 sheets with the printed questions to the left, and spaces for answers to the right. Notably, when I answered questions I noticed the panel were struggling with the available space on the forms, which appeared to have been made too small, so they were writing outside of margins and potentially getting my answers mixed up with one another.
The interview lasted approximately one hour, and upon conclusion I was given the opportunity to ask questions. After this, the other two panel members remained in their places (but again we reached across the table to shake hands) and the HR rep showed me to reception, where I handed in my pass and then left.
Overall it seemed a pleasant, welcoming experience - certainly nothing to stress about!