Job-seeker strategies

I am aware that this forum is mainly benefit related, but job-seeking is so closely related (for those of us able to work), that I thought I would start a thread about general job seeking experiences and how people manage different situations.

I seem to get as far as the interview stage but then I get no further. I went to an interview recently and was asked to recall and describe a situation in which I demonstrated leadership. I found this quite difficult to answer actually. Previously I worked in an autonomous role and I could ask for practical assistance if I needed it, or advice from a senior colleague, if I was not sure of something. In general, I just turned up, I did my job, wrote my notes and left. There is nothing which I would describe as 'leadership' in any part of my work, and nothing in my application which demonstrated it, but I was still chosen to invite to an interview. The answer that I gave (rather lamely, I thought) was that I was always in a leadership role in my previous job; there was no one there to tell me what do do or how to do it. My senior was not in my department and not always available, so I had rely on my own judgement all the time. I had no problem with that.

In my sector, the interviewers tend to have a set of standard questions which they take turns to read out. This ensures that all candidates are asked the same questions. These questions vary from one trust to the next. Sometimes the same question comes up in different trusts. There is always a 'what would you do in this situation?' scenario.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks

Good idea for a thread.

I need advice on what to say to an employer when they break the law prior to or during an interview.

Employers don't like being told that they are breaking the law and it's hard to find a tactful way to do it.

id also like to add that most employers would rather have casual workers from the agency than to have proper staff on the payroll

what used to be full time work has now changed to a dog fight to find a job and then keep the job is a whole different matter

also the change in the age for pension has had an effect as some are doing half hrs until retirement

I view it as game of musical chairs where there is only one chair. The chair is rickety, broken, it smells bad and can collapse at any time. There's also the risk of the chair damaging you physically or mentally if you do manage to sit on it. If you don't manage to fight off the 100 other people who also want to sit on the germy worm-riddled chair the DWP will accuse you of simply "not trying hard enough" and sanction you for not thinking of murdering all the other chair needers you are competing with.

.....also, the JC workers think that it is easier for some people to find a chair, as if there are more chairs available, even if there are not.

Ah yes. "But haven't you heard?" says the JC worker. "We expect you to sit on multiple chairs that are only there half the time"

......oh yes, those zero chairs that are not even a stool.