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Original poster

Interview at council today

8 replies

Littlebird09 · 03/02/2023 16:48

Hi everyone, i just failed for the interview at council today. The role I applied for is admin role. They explained that because my answer of dealing with petty cash missed something while the role involves with a lot of petty cash so they couldn’t accept me. At first, i was surprised when they asked that question because based on the job description, it wasn’t included or was described vaguely like : maintaining financial system. But i worked as admin before and of course I know how to deal with petty cash like keeping the records of transactions and keeping the receipts. I admit that my answer was not fully detailed but i was white shocked when i failed because of that while the other questions focused heavily on customer service skills. I would like to know what else i can say about petty cash. Thanks in advance

OP posts:
snowflakeinastorm · 03/02/2023 17:13

If you didn’t mention, I would think they wanted you to talk about keeping the petty cash securely locked away, and ensuring only you or whoever else is authorised to access it, and checking every week it tallies for the month end reporting.

Joliv123 · 03/02/2023 17:14

Hi there , I think the way to look at it is that this time it didn’t work out, if when you are interviewed again for a role you know you are keen on getting and a curve ball question comes at you unexpectedly , ask if you could come back to the question at the end of the interview to give you a bit more thinking time , you already know how to deal with petty cash but perhaps you didn’t give the answers they were expecting, don’t be too hard on yourself next time you will smash it and this will be all a distant memory , I have recently been for an interview at my local council run place and haven’t had any feedback from my interview which I thought went really well, I really wanted the job, it’s been over three weeks and I’ve chased them asking for an update and still nothing.

Snoopystick · 03/02/2023 17:18

I have asked in an interview if they thought any of my answers did not reach their expected level, they seemed a bit taken aback but did say which one and I answered more fully. You could try this in future.

HazardaGuest · 03/02/2023 17:46

Most interviewers decide quite quickly whether the person on front of them will fit into the team or not. When asked for a reason they have to pick something more acceptable. I wouldn’t worry too much about it, keep applying for suitable roles and I’m sure you will be successful in future.

Original poster
Littlebird09 · 03/02/2023 18:22

snowflakeinastorm · 03/02/2023 17:13

If you didn’t mention, I would think they wanted you to talk about keeping the petty cash securely locked away, and ensuring only you or whoever else is authorised to access it, and checking every week it tallies for the month end reporting.

Maybe you are right. I am sure i will include this next time

OP posts:
Original poster
Littlebird09 · 03/02/2023 18:24

Joliv123 · 03/02/2023 17:14

Hi there , I think the way to look at it is that this time it didn’t work out, if when you are interviewed again for a role you know you are keen on getting and a curve ball question comes at you unexpectedly , ask if you could come back to the question at the end of the interview to give you a bit more thinking time , you already know how to deal with petty cash but perhaps you didn’t give the answers they were expecting, don’t be too hard on yourself next time you will smash it and this will be all a distant memory , I have recently been for an interview at my local council run place and haven’t had any feedback from my interview which I thought went really well, I really wanted the job, it’s been over three weeks and I’ve chased them asking for an update and still nothing.

Sorry that you have to wait for so long. Luckily that I received the result on the same day so I can move on now. I hope you will receive your result soon. By the way thanks for your advice

OP posts:
Original poster
Littlebird09 · 03/02/2023 18:25

Snoopystick · 03/02/2023 17:18

I have asked in an interview if they thought any of my answers did not reach their expected level, they seemed a bit taken aback but did say which one and I answered more fully. You could try this in future.

It’s such a great idea. I will try this next time. Thanks for your advice

OP posts:
Original poster
Littlebird09 · 03/02/2023 18:26

HazardaGuest · 03/02/2023 17:46

Most interviewers decide quite quickly whether the person on front of them will fit into the team or not. When asked for a reason they have to pick something more acceptable. I wouldn’t worry too much about it, keep applying for suitable roles and I’m sure you will be successful in future.

Thanks for your encouragement. It makes me feel much better

OP posts:
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