Public Sector Interview Questions & Answers

Asked about my main motivations for wanting to join the metropolitan police. This was also evident in a telephone interview I had had prior to being invited to the assessment centre. During the phone interview they also questioned my understanding of the scheme, what I thought it entailed and what qualities and strengths I thought I could bring to the role.

Following basic competency questions they then asked my opinion of the salary that was being offered for the job and my suitability to the obvious flexibility that would be required to work as police constable, mainly involving shift work. The phone interview lasted about 25 minutes with a member of an external agency who was taking notes throughout.

Describe a time where you have dealt with members of different ethnicities, genders and different age groups where you had to collate to work on a group project. What was the project and how did you cope working with others?

Really research the service in great detail, it's not about knowing who's who but more of what they do and how they operate. It really is about commitment and this is not like any other organisation and you have to demonstrate that will and desire to join. Ultimately it is about making a difference to society and that is what is required.

Know the ins and outs of the job, the specification and what you can add to it. Also research the police mission statement and know what you are saying can be related back to this important statement. All of these will be valued and show that you are dedicated, committed and have a burning desire to join.

During the assessment centre we were all assessed on an individual basis. The first part was an in-tray exercise whereby we were positioned in a room with a laptop for 75 minutes. During these 75 minutes we had to prioritise a number of different issues and write a report regarding the prioritisation.

The next exercise was a role play, we were given 10 minutes to prepare for the role play it was centered around the previous exercise and was based on issues within a fictional town but did represent real life situations. The role play was in front of two officers who were acting as assessors.

From the role play, the next exercise was to present my findings from my in-tray exercise to a fictional Councillor who was having issues that were mentioned. I had to prove to this individual that i had chosen to prioritise the right issues and achieve co-operation from them moving forward.

The penultimate exercise was testing that involved a laptop 2 x 10 minute tests. One numerical and one verbal reasoning, both were relatively straightforward and similar to those that had been completed before reaching this stage.

Finally there was an interview that followed suit to the telephone interview, reiterating my motivations for wanting to join, why I valued this unique programme and what I thought I could bring to the role. Again it was about my fit to the job and how they felt I would be able to handle different situations.

After submitting an initial application form and undertaking the online assessments, I was then called by a member of e recruitment team from a telephone interview this was based around competency questions and to see if you were suited to the role. Before the assesement day you also had to complete a personality questionnaire which was based around workplace behaviours.

The assesment day itself was impressive as there were several high ranking people within e organisation present and it really gave you a chance to get a feel of the organisation and what kind of work you would be doing if successful.

On the assesment day there was a presentation and an ice breaker activity and we then launched into a group activity/one on one interview/ and then a presentation.

In regards to feedback DHL was great as they informed you of the decision within two days and an offer was given.

Because the role was procurement based a deep knowledge is needed of the NHS supply chain that DHL operate as there were several questions regarding this. Eg " how does this model work"

I think it's refreshing and will give other candidates confidence in the fact that DHL employ people based upon how you are as a person. Their graduates all come from several differing backgrounds and discipline so they look for candidates that seemingly offer more as people. Furthermore being prepared is always helpful as in the one on one interviews if you are able to show knowledge that goes that little bit further than other candidates then this will certainly benefit you.

1. Group task-given a fictional scenario and as a group we had to reason with each other in order to make an informed decision.
2. One on one interview- as with most jobs of this kind this was based around competent based questions
3. Presentation- we were given 15 minutes to read over a procurement strategy and then come up with an evaluation and asked to make improvements. We then had 5 minutes to present this to senior members of the procurement team.