Possible promotion

[ForensicFlossy]

I am applying for a promotion at work, I am up against one other candidate. It is going to be a close competition. It is a department head role.

How do people prepare for interviews? I have to do a presentation which I am happy with but I always dread the question stage of an interview. Can anyone offer any advice?

Why do you dread the question stage?

@Blueskyredcloud it's the unknown, I seem to get mind blanks. The presentation is easy because I can be fully prepared in advance for that.

I would anticipate a few questions and prepare what you're going to say. Even if the question isn't what you thought it was going to be, you can steer it round to say what you want them to hear.

When you've written down a few questions, get someone else to ask them to you as a practice.

This was how I helped my DD and it worked both times.

I think trying to see an interview as an exploratory chat rather an interrogation. See it as a two way thing where you both explore whether the job is right for you? And agree with ItsReallyOnlyMe if you get a question you are unsure about - ask further about the question itself, ask about what they are looking for, examples etc. Don't be afraid to take control.

In a department head role i'd make some guesses at types of questions you are likely to be asked based on Job Description/key duties and prep some examples you could use to illustrate your answers.

I'd assume you'd be asked about:

• how you stay up to date with company and industry changes/regulations
• how you would manage your own and your departments continuous professional development/career progression
• how you deal with difficult staffing scenarios and manage under performance
• how you prioritise work to ensure objectives are met
• experience analysing and improving processes to bring about efficiency and address improvement areas identified in customer/staff feedback
• what would you do in first 3/6/12 months in role to identify needs and build your strategy for the department

If there are safeguarding/governance/audit elements to your role or industry I would ensure you're familiar with the framework and any upcoming changes to the framework or audit requirements that may impact your first 12 months in role.

Thanks all, that is really helpful, it gives me a focus on how to plan, especially the idea of taking control - that would definitely be seen as a positive.

In our workplace all interviews are competency based using examples from your past. So how you handled conflict, dealt with a difficult situation, managed priorities etc. So reflecting on your work history and examples of times when you've demonstrated these things and being able to talk about them and what you learned from the situation will be helpful.

Have a look on the system to see if they have saved the interview questions somewhere centrally, I stumbled across the ones for the role I was applying for a few years ago ha.

Slightly tongue in cheek, not much else to add but just to say good luck!

Thanks all, this has definitely helped me get a bit of direction with my prep. I'll keep you informed!

Good luck! Review the job spec and think what you would ask if you were recruiting for it