About our Interview Panel training

This course will help you understand and fulfil your role as an interviewer working on a Public Sector Interview Board (or Interview Panel). Whether you chair the Interview Board or be a member of the interview board, this course will provide you with the essential skills to fulfil you role thoroughly and in adherence with the relevant guidelines and legislation. It will help you develop your abilities to question and evaluate candidates in a fair and consistent way. It will help you It will help you find the best candidate(s) and feel confident about your role in shortlisting, interviewing and providing feedback for candidates.
Alternatively, if you are looking for training or coaching as a public sector candidate or applicant, you will find information about our Interview Skills for Interviewees here.
The course ensures that participants have a clear understanding of their responsibilities as interviewers or interview board members in the Public Sector.  The course content is based on the Code of Practice for Appointments to Positions in the Civil Service & Public Service and the training content and advice adheres to the code.  Participants will also understand the implications of the current legislation that governs good recruitment and interview practice (the Employment Equality Acts, Freedom of Information Acts and Data Protection Acts) and includes practical advice to ensure that interviewers are in adherence with this legislation.
Notably, our interview skills expert, Tina Kinirons, is a business psychologist with a wealth of experience on both sides of public sector interview tables. She has trained hundreds of public sector interviewers and has extensive experience working as an external interview board member. She has also coached candidates to success in the civil service, local authorities and public sector agencies. You can find out more about Tina here.

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The main topics addressed in this programme are:
  • Understanding the structure of the interview and the role and responsibilities of the Chair and of the Board Members
  • Drafting appropriate interview questions with reference to the job description and/or competencies – focussing on competency questions, while situational and other questions are also discussed.  Questions that should be avoided are also considered.
  • How best to question and probe candidates during the interview, with a focus on finding the evidence of required skills, knowledge and competencies to support the scoring and decision-making process.
  • Techniques and approaches to ensure candidates are given the best chance, while ensuring fairness and consistency.
  • Advice on completing appropriate and complete interview notes
  • Gathering relevant and appropriate feedback for candidates
  • Ensuring legislative requirements and CPSA guidelines are adhered to throughout the interview process
  • How to shortlist and considerations for the shortlisting process
  • How to ensure that scoring decisions are well informed, fair and documented appropriately
  • What unconscious bias is and how to overcome that in the interview process.

This course is highly interactive and practical and will give you the skills and confidence needed to interview in the Public Sector. It is relevant for interviewers working in HR or management roles in any part of the Public Sector, including Civil Service departments, Local Authorities or Public Sector agencies  It is suitable for those who have not interviewed previously in the Public Sector as well as for those looking to refresh their interviewing skills. The course works particularly well when all the members of an interview panel attend this course at the same time.

More from Tina…

Read Tina’s article, Advice for Public Sector Interviewers – From One Interviewer to Another, on our blog, by clicking here.

Did you know?

PAI offer all of our courses as In-House programmes. For more information, see our page on In-House Training.