How to cope better with local authority 'equal ops' interviews

[hettysdrawers]

I have had two interviews recently for a local authority and have another tomorrow. I have 15 years experience in my sector, always worked for LA and done things like present in court, write reports at a high level etc. Point being, I am competent and professional, with lots of experience and always get a lot of interviews based on my applications. However.. this local authority operate an 'equal opportunities' interview policy which means they will read the questions to you but say nothing else. They will not explain or clarify a question if you ask, they will not speak to you other than reading the question. I know this is the case in many LAs and it is something I have always struggled with, but have never experienced this level of non-interaction.
I am always really nervous before job interviews which doesn't help but I just cannot seem to get to grips with talking at length about myself with zero feedback from the people I am talking to! My main error is not saying enough- feedback is always that I came across as nervous and that I could have expanded my examples/given 'more'. I tend to start answering a question then look for some sort of response or encouragement automatically then when I'm met with blank faces it makes me shrivel and worry I'm saying the wrong thing or that it isn't well received and I dribble to a halt. I have pages and pages of prep with really good examples but I know once I get in there I will be totally put off and won't say most of it, even though its all there in my head.
Does anyone have any tips for me? Its so frustrating as I get so many interview invites then feel like I've just chucked the opportunity away because of the way that I am.

Practice your examples talking out loud at a mirror, or any other object e.g. teddy. The important bit is talking out loud so you are used to just hearing your voice.

Thank you, this is what I have been trying to do. I may as well just send in a recording of me answering the questions as that's basically what the interview amounts to!

Take your paperwork/prep/notes in with you and look at them. I interviewed 4 candidates last week, all had notes and not one of them looked at them! Have your examples ready and marked so you can find them if you feel yourself go dry.

Go over the person spec again and have great examples of how you meet it.

I haven't been allowed to take notes in, I asked and was told 'we don't really do that'.

That's not a flat no. That also means "I have not been aware of a candidate who needed to before." Make them say a direct no. Which coming from an equal opps team would be odd...?

I think you need to feedback that this style of interviewing isn't equal opportunity. I would be hugely put off by interviewers doing this. It's also counter productive as they aren't getting the information they need either.

In the mean time. Prep out a full answer and try to think STAR in your head.

I was a bit confused by that- unless I already knew the questions which of course I didn't, I don't see how having some examples written on a piece of paper could be giving me an unfair advantage. I get why they operate like this but personally feel the process has been made so universal that it actually disadvantages people who get really nervous, or who don't like the sound of their voice, or who are more visual learners etc. Interestingly in one interview they had written the questions down for all the candidates and I did probably my best interview ever.

@Twizbe yes I agree, I find it ludicrous to be honest, my partner works in the private sector and for him job interviews are more of a two way conversation where they ask him follow on questions to find out more about his experience etc and how he might fit the role. The jobs I am applying for are also heavily centred around having excellent engagement and personal skills which I am totally unable to showcase because there is no conversation.

That sounds like such a bizarre interview set up and I’m struggling to see how it equates to ‘equal opportunities’ to create such an unnatural communication style. I can think of many ways that it would disadvantage people, whether through nerves (like yourself), neurodiversity, language barriers or other reasons.

I think examples and bullet pointed notes are your way forward here. Be prepared to fake confidence and go through the job/person spec to match your STAR examples to.

Good luck

I always just take notes in- I don't ask!

This. You seem to think it is common in local authorities but I have never, ever come across it! It seems totally pointless and would trigger a number of inequalities!

@TheSausageKingofChicago thank you! I think the idea is that no one is given an advantage and the only way they can make absolutely sure of that is by saying nothing but the question. But then I don't see how a prompt such as 'and then what happened?' is giving someone an advantage because they are still only going to be able to answer based on their knowledge and experience. I have had feedback before that I needed 'too much prompting' but the responses I gave were still my own, why should it matter if I needed a poke to get them out. I know someone who is frankly shit at their job but is always getting new roles (local authority) because she interviews well, ie, she can withstand talking for ten minutes about herself with no feedback.

@Quveas that really surprises me. I have interviewed for two, maybe 3 LAs in my time around the country and have always had very limited interaction allowed with the interviewers, but never to this extent where they won't even clarify what a question means. Would love to find one that doesn't operate like this, I would feedback that I don't find it actually does adhere to equal ops but feel it might just look like sour grapes because I haven't been given the job.

That seems completely ridiculous and if I was an interviewing manager I would be very unimpressed at having to run things like that. It actively discriminates against people with neurodiversities or where there may be a language barrier. I cant keep my face blank anyway, so I would be pushing back strongly against such a stupid idea.

You just have to practice, practice, practise. Once you have prepped and prepared answers, get people to give you mock interviews (ideally more than one) using the job spec and your application. Write out all the questions you would ask candidates and your colleagues / network should be able to add more. There is no point complaining it’s not like the private sector, being taken to lunch and agreeing terms, it’s not like that. Personally I am a fan of the killer follow up question as it often exposes the candidate who treats the interview like an Oscar performance with little substance, but sometimes it is not permitted.

That’s an awful way to interview people. I’ve carried out many interviews when I worked for an LA and always thought my role as interviewer was to coax as much as I could out of a candidate to find out how much they knew and what they were like. I always tried to make it more like a conversation and get people to relax and prompt where I thought they knew more than they were saying due to nerves. They might as well give you a written exam to complete.

When shortlisting we were never given any personal details such as name sex address age etc. We were just given a list of names after once interview invites had been sent
Ii can’t think of any advice to give you apart from the normal stuff. Do as much research as possible about the role, try to anticipate the question. Prepare a good response to the ‘tell us about youself’ or ‘why do you want this job’ first question
Good Luck!