Education & Work How to impress in an interview?

I've just applied for a relief supervisor position at my work. I've been working at this place for 4 years now.

It's a not for profit organisation that does telephone counselling. The supervisor position involves supporting counsellors through calls which involve duty of care, and then making appropriate notifications such as ringing police communications, etc...

The position also involves giving feedback around counsellors work (pulling them into line where needed) and ongoing case management duties and other paperwork "stuff".

I've heard that previous interview questions were things such as:

"what are some of your ideas for our organisation"

And doing a presentation on why you would be right for the job.

The centre manager who pretty much has the final decision on who gets the job has a law background. So is very business management minded rather than a more laid back understanding empathic counsellor sort of vibe that you might expect from a counselling centre manager.

The last person that got a supervisor promotion said that the centre manager responded really well to her business focussed ideas.

I'm wondering, with all of this in mind, how would you tackle the interview.

With my application I presented myself as very pragmatic and answered questions around leadership style as being approachable however not wavering from the core principals of management, to provide feedback and accountability.

In terms of demonstrating experience with management qualities I gave examples of managing tenants as I self manage my rental properties.

Is there anything I should be keeping in mind?

Is there anything you would like to see from a potential candidate for a supervisory position such as this?

Even just general guidelines on what to do in an interview or mistakes to avoid would be really useful.

Thanks

 

How well do you know the centre manager? Or any other people who are the people making the hiring decision. Or more importantly, how well do they know you?

 

I'm fairly certain that I once won a position because I took control of the interview, it was for a senior programmer role.

The interview was in a small room, two senior project managers, a desk, a whiteboard and myself. They decided to invite a few team leaders into the tiny room, there was standing room only for these guys, it was fairly intimidating from where I was sitting.

Someone asked a technical question. Rather than sitting there and simply answering it, I stood up, and gave an illustrated answer on the whiteboard. I didn't sit back down for the rest of the interview.

In many cases you'll find that they've already technically qualified you for the job before the interview. The purpose of the interview is to establish a cultural fit to the position and organisation. You're applying for a supervisory role, you need to establish leadership ability that's relevant to the job.

I imagine from your investing you've got great skills in project coordination (the building side) and conflict resolution (herding cats/managing tenants). You'll do well if you can link these skills to the job requirement.

 

I know them a little. I've had one on one meetings with them or talks with them previously where they would have gotten a feel for the sort of worker I am.

One of the people that have been on the panel previously is a fellow property investor so we are pretty like minded in that regard, so that would go in my favour when relating property management to business management.

With the centre manager I think he is the sort of guy that values being approachable, he seems to put in a lot of effort to understand where others are coming from even when they are being critical, but I also think he is pretty assertive when it comes to sticking by organisational demands and what is expected of employees.

 

Yeah I was going to push that experience as much as I can.

We self manage 14 tenants all up, so there's been plenty of experience with managing people.

And I like your tip about being assertive.

 

I would think that if your Centre Manager is worth half their Salt they should have already determined who is the best candidate for the job as he/she should have their finger on the pulse.
Totally different if you were applying for a job and hadn't already been working in the industry.

 

Thing is there are over 100 counsellors at my workplace. So it would be hard to know each individuals' capabilities.

 

Ok, so what do they actually manage?

 

I don't know much about interviews, but my opinion would be to give them your ideas on how the business can make more money, because if it's not a charity , that's the aim of the game.
You been there 4 years now, so should be able to give some good advice on where gains can be made and structure improved.
Who knows, some ideas might hit the mark and will impress the decision makers.
In addition, let them know what value you bring to the business and your future plans on bringing more value to the business in future.

 

My general tips on interviews.
Be honest. Be confident.
Look up Amy Cuddy on Ted Talks, reagrding body language.
Visualize.

Best of luck!

 

Its a not for profit so focussing on money probably wouldnt go down well. If I was in the fundraising department thing might be different.

The aim of the game in counsellong service would be meeting client demand and increasing demand.

 

Not so sure about using the words "increase demand". That to me would indicate you want to figure how to make people mentally ill so they seek help.

Rather, I believe you are trying to say establish/refine communication messages so people are more inclined to seek assistance rather than bottling it up

 

Increase demand is what a for profit organization would say

 

At the interview I'd be breaking the ice with a quick lawyer joke eg what's the difference between driving over a pot hole and driving over a lawyer? Answer : you don't reverse back over a pot hole. lol.

It's never worked for me but geez it get's the party rolling.

Apart from that, make sure your fly is fully zipped up.

 

The counselling centre manager deals with all sorts of stuff. I think right now they are managing a new website for the organisation, they manage service demand and report to the board re how they are functioning and whether or not the centre is meeting performance goals.

There are lots of levels of management at my workplace. Counselling centre supervisors who monitor calls. Counselling practise supervisors who are practise focussed rather than risk management focussed. And then there is the counselling centre manager who oversees the whole centre and then there are heaps of other departments etc... etc... etc...

 

Increase demand doesnt mean creating the need, it means making those in need aware of your service. At least in this context

 

My standard interview mistake is feeling the need to keep talking... in an attempt to avoid awkward silence! Bad idea!

 

So like, advertising and marketing?

 

Exactly. Or developing our service in such a way that we continue to appeal to the target market. So right now there is a push for tech ideas because we counsel kids. So we do telephone, web, and email counselling. But is the next step app counselling, or something along those lines.

 

Thanks for pointing that out.

The people you tend to really listen to are the people that take their time and choose their words wisely. But I'm kind of like you, I fill all the silences. Should keep that in mind.