Secondary receptionist job interview

[carryme]

Hello :)

I have an interview at my local secondary school on Friday as a receptionist and wondered if anybody in a similar role and any advice?

I applied for a job last year at the same school for a slightly different role and came second - had a zoom interview today and got through to the second stage.

Last time I think I failed at the excel test part so will have another practice on excel but any other tips would be great :)

Just a hopeful bump :)

No idea.
But I have seen people on similar threads before talking about 'inbox' tasks or something similar, basic prioritisation.

You have an email about X, an irate parent in reception and a phone call about Y, and a pupil turns up about Z.
What do you do for each task and in which order?
(Safeguarding is always top I think).

Excel practice is good as is the prioritisation exercise mentioned above.

Have a good look at their website, make sure you know the school's ethos and can incorporate examples of how you fit into your interview (e.g. at the school where I work resilience is a huge deal).

Also little details (I'm a secondary school administrator). When I was asked to do a task for my interview a few years ago, I used their standard font so if you can suss out things like that ahead of time I think it can give you an edge. Subliminal stuff like subtly incorporating school colours into your interview outfit (I realise that sounds batshit but there's quite a strict dress code where I work and I'm sure it helped in my case!)

It sounds like you tick a lot of boxes if you came really close last time, so little details may just make the difference.

I think you will get asked about safeguarding (top tip, in the reception area that safeguarding lead should be clearly displayed so you can find out who they are )

you might get asked about confidentiality in a reception role (or even GDPR)

I had prioritisation questions - so in one school I had to explain what i would do if the photo copier is broken, there is a dead rat in the playground and then some other disaster around transport.

And i had a task that was writing a letter to parents about something, in another school i was asked to download photos from a camera (obviously something that particular school found difficult)

There's actually a receptionist vacancy where I work atm...would be funny if it's the same one

Consider how you will deal with challenging situations, hostile parents/child etc. I used to be a receptionist/first aider for the student side and our office saw allsorts! Discretion and thinking on your feet are very good skills to have.

Thank you so much..
Minty I will wear a flower in my hair just in case 😂

Thank you for your advice I'd like to think I am pretty good at prioritising but please tell me which order you did the tasks with the dead rat?

Definitely look up Safeguarding, their policy should be on their website, there might be question around that or a scenario. Prioritising as well will be key.

Scenerios like an angry parent demanding to see the head, what would you do?

Prioritisation task.

Photocopier to bottom of the list.

Depending on the nature of transport disaster...rat in the playground would be priority...looks awful, students will be freaking out but mostly because it's a massive health and safety issue.

The most frequent transport disaster we have to deal with is dozens of parents calling in because their daughters have texted them about some kind of train related cock up...it's late or has bypassed the stop. Causes absolute hysterics especially in early part of the school year when all the new Year 7s are terrified of being late for registration.