Interview_Executive Engineer

grangegorman

Hi,

I have an interview coming up for an Executive Engineering position with Kildare County Council. Any info on type of questions would be much appreciated.

cyclocross!

It will be a competency based interview. You need to understand the competencies and use examples from your application form to align the two while demonstrating that you have the necessary knowledge, skills and experience to fulfil the role. Practice telling brief stories from your application form and past work experiences that demonstrate you have the previously advised competencies. You should also be able to elaborate when required. Know your application form and practice practice practice.

Zipppy

Here's a reply I have to another post on SSO role in county council...applies to your query too..not so much the leadership bit obviously but as an Exec Engineer you'll be expected to have a range of engineering experience..be able to give examples of this experience....aldo know about county council responsibilities in site health and safety..




hi Have you been given details of specific competencies that you will be interviewed on? usually either in role advertisement or with offer of interview. Usual ones are Planning and Organisation. interpersonal understanding and communications. For senior staff officer role Leadership may be included as an SSO is a middle management / supervisor role. The interview will be a competency based interview whereby the premise is that evidence of past work related behaviour is an indicator of future performance. ie you need to give examples from your past employment showing how you possess the requisite competencies and how you put these skills to good effect. Look up STAR interview process online. You will only be asked specific questions on what you wrote on your application form (e.g. I see you worked at ? role..can you detail the process involved there? ) You should compile an example or 2 from past experience for each competency. Then when asked 'can you tell me how you organise your day' or 'Have you experience of leading a team' you should have a prepared example ready to rattle off. As for county council you should know role of councillors (reserved functions) and role of executive (manager and staff) plus have knowledge of how local government is funded and recent local happenings at local govt level. Maybe get familiar with what services are provided too and issues facing local authorities ( housing being the biggest but also funding, traffic, etc) All this can be found online. Don't forget your examples and know them inside out..best if examples have a positive outcome.(where what you did was effective in solving some issue) And don't forget the old 'Dealing with a problem stsff member question' .. as a manager you should have an example that demonstrates you have skills to combat a disruptive staff or team member.. When's your interview?

grangegorman

cyclocross! wrote: »

It will be a competency based interview. You need to understand the competencies and use examples from your application form to align the two while demonstrating that you have the necessary knowledge, skills and experience to fulfil the role. Practice telling brief stories from your application form and past work experiences that demonstrate you have the previously advised competencies. You should also be able to elaborate when required. Know your application form and practice practice practice.

Cheers thanks for response, plenty of work to do over the next two weeks.

grangegorman

Zipppy wrote: »

Here's a reply I have to another post on SSO role in county council...applies to your query too..not so much the leadership bit obviously but as an Exec Engineer you'll be expected to have a range of engineering experience..be able to give examples of this experience....aldo know about county council responsibilities in site health and safety..




hi Have you been given details of specific competencies that you will be interviewed on? usually either in role advertisement or with offer of interview. Usual ones are Planning and Organisation. interpersonal understanding and communications. For senior staff officer role Leadership may be included as an SSO is a middle management / supervisor role. The interview will be a competency based interview whereby the premise is that evidence of past work related behaviour is an indicator of future performance. ie you need to give examples from your past employment showing how you possess the requisite competencies and how you put these skills to good effect. Look up STAR interview process online. You will only be asked specific questions on what you wrote on your application form (e.g. I see you worked at ? role..can you detail the process involved there? ) You should compile an example or 2 from past experience for each competency. Then when asked 'can you tell me how you organise your day' or 'Have you experience of leading a team' you should have a prepared example ready to rattle off. As for county council you should know role of councillors (reserved functions) and role of executive (manager and staff) plus have knowledge of how local government is funded and recent local happenings at local govt level. Maybe get familiar with what services are provided too and issues facing local authorities ( housing being the biggest but also funding, traffic, etc) All this can be found online. Don't forget your examples and know them inside out..best if examples have a positive outcome.(where what you did was effective in solving some issue) And don't forget the old 'Dealing with a problem stsff member question' .. as a manager you should have an example that demonstrates you have skills to combat a disruptive staff or team member.. When's your interview?

My interview is on the 27th of Feb. Some great tips there thanks. There's two Senior Engineers and a Senior Executive on the panel.