School Finance Manager Interview

[Handsoffmyhamster]

I have been invited to interview for a School Finance Manager role at a local secondary school. It involves managing a small team of clerical staff and managing budgets.
I didn’t actually feel qualified to apply, but I was encouraged by friends who felt I me the skills required. I did not expect to get an interview, but here we are!
i have never worked in a school or for a local authority. Can anyone give me any idea about the type of interview questions that would be asked for this type of role?
It’s been a long time since I interviewed for anything, so I’m feeling out of my depth.

You haven’t had any replies so here’s my 2p worth. I have no in depth information but some links.

It depends who is interviewing you. IMO they will say something along the lines of ‘can you handle the finance? Oh good!’ :) Many in schools tend not to want to know a lot about it, but want to feel confident that you are capable with finance and can handle the job effectively.

If you have experience managing budgets and a team of people that should help. It’s more about your ability to deal with finance and liaise with whoever the funding body is. In other words your finance skills and experience should count for more than your school or local authority experience. Sorry I can’t come up with any likely questions though.

Best of luck. If they are interviewing you they like what they see, so you have the required skills - go for it. It is not always easy for schools to find knowledgeable finance staff.

Thank you 😊
That has made me feel a bit more confident.

I work in a school office but not as a finance manager. The only thing i can think of is a question around how you would reporting / explain financial stuff to people like governors
They might ask about gdpr abd safeguarding even if they dont seem directly relevant to your role

Am a business manager and it will be dependent on the job description and what other areas they want you to cover. Knowledge of sources of school funding (SEN, pay grants, top up funding, GAG), income generation, debt management (parental debt) etc are all good areas to brush up on. Safeguarding is an absolute must - basically identify the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) before you go and read their policy.

I'd imagine they primarily want to know about your finance and people management skills. Our finance officers don't have a lot to do with the school itself so I don't think the lack of school experience is an issue as such.

As others have said though, you should ensure that you are familiar with the safeguarding policies and who the safeguarding lead is. Have a look at their website and make yourself familiar with the school and their ethos. Although you will likely be working in an office away from the children you cannot escape them especially if the office is next to the front office like ours is! So you do need to be aware of what's going on around you. As long as you make that clear then that will help.