Local Authority Interview. Acceptable or not?

[hayal]

I currently work for Local Authority A. I have an interview next week for LA B for a service lead role.
I'm such a confident person in my current role and deal with work stress really well, Im comfortable presenting to Directors and Cabinet members, but when it comes to interviews, I crumble.
I have had 2 interviews this year for promotions within my current LA, interviewed by management that I know, and I messed them both up.
I'm hoping that I will perform better being interviewed by strangers. However, I would like to try to do things differently this time.

My questions to those in the know are.

1. Is it acceptable to refer to the job description during the interview?

Eg when asked the question of what skills or qualities you bring to the role, is it acceptable to refer to the job description when answering.

1. Is it acceptable to take copies of my published work into the interview and refer to it?

I have written several cabinet reports, strategies, and market position statements that are available on the LA website, so nothing that isn't available to the general public.

If you've managed to finish reading, thank you so much ❤️

There's no harm with taking evidence in but don't think you have to shoehorn it in and I'd probably ask before you refer to them. I might also not take the full JD but a few key lines.

In my experience it is much, much harder to be interviewed by people you know than people you don't.

When you say 'refer' to the job description, I wasn't quite sure what you meant. You certainly don't want to be getting it out and looking at it. However, you're answers should focus on what is required in the person specification.

As far as your work is concerned, you could certainly say I've brought a portfolio of some of my work to leave with you. I've been on panels where people brought stuff to show us and it was a bit of pain if they tried to do it during the interview. The panel only have a set length of time and will have their set list of questions to ask to ensure everyone shortlisted gets a fair experience. You could, if relevant, say something like 'when I led the project to develop the x strategy I did x, y and x. There's a copy of he final document in my portfolio if you'd like to look at it later'.

Good luck.

For our interviews (local council) we refer to the star technique - uk.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/star-technique so the questions will be around things like dealing with a complex situation, managing a difficult customer/ service/ team member, managing budgets etc and asking you to detail a time when you've had to deal with the situation, what you did, how you resolved it etc.

So while it'd be helpful to have a good knowledge of the job description, it would only relate to how you could apply each of the situations to the relevant part if that makes sense?

They'll also be particular keen on awareness of local authority issues, issues facing your sector!