DWP Work Coach vacancies July, Sept and Nov 2020

Original post by StriderHort

I can see that for general coaching...but specially for work coaching? I don't think those things can fully cover a lack of careers experience, not even a lot, ANY private sector exp.

When I was unemployed in the past the WC's who had obv never worked outside the public sector stuck out like sore thumbs, they were often the ones that came out with obviously impractical and impersonal solutions.

😊 Sorry but I really don’t see that, maybe in your Situation they were just not the right person for that job role. It takes influence, compassion and above all resilience to do that job. Just because someone goes into a job centre it doesn’t mean they are not highly educated and experienced.. my point is there will be situations where the customer is more educated than the work coach.. however that work coach has the tools& techniques to enable.

Reply 42

RJNJI

4

Hi every1. Im new here but rlly wanted to post about the dwp wc job recruitment. Im in london and i applied way back in july and havent heard anything. Interview is done too. I wonder y its taking ages. I think i haven't got a place as ppl sound like they are getting offers 😔

Reply 43

Original post by GloomyBear258

No I’ve not heard anything yet. The status on the application still says ‘interview slot booked.’ I had my interview on the 19th July.

Hey!

I have my interview next week. How did the interview go? what was the structure like and what sort of questions did they as if you remember? x

Reply 44

Original post by RJNJI

Hi every1. Im new here but rlly wanted to post about the dwp wc job recruitment. Im in london and i applied way back in july and havent heard anything. Interview is done too. I wonder y its taking ages. I think i haven't got a place as ppl sound like they are getting offers 😔

Hey, im sure you will be fine, they do take long to get back. im super nervous for my upcoming interview next week. How did yours go, what kind of questions did they ask you, if you remember? x

Reply 45

Original post by RJNJI

Hi every1. Im new here but rlly wanted to post about the dwp wc job recruitment. Im in london and i applied way back in july and havent heard anything. Interview is done too. I wonder y its taking ages. I think i haven't got a place as ppl sound like they are getting offers 😔

How did it go? what sort of questions did they ask?

Reply 46

Original post by GloomyBear258

No I’ve not heard anything yet. The status on the application still says ‘interview slot booked.’ I had my interview on the 19th July.

How was the interview? what did they ask?

Reply 47

No one has received offers yet don’t worry. Only the people who applied last year and were on the reserve list have. I applied as an internal candidate over a month ago and still have not heard back. It is going to take a while because of the number of vacancies they advertised and the number of applications.

Original post by RJNJI

Hi every1. Im new here but rlly wanted to post about the dwp wc job recruitment. Im in london and i applied way back in july and havent heard anything. Interview is done too. I wonder y its taking ages. I think i haven't got a place as ppl sound like they are getting offers 😔

Reply 48

Original post by Aysha98x

No one has received offers yet don’t worry. Only the people who applied last year and were on the reserve list have. I applied as an internal candidate over a month ago and still have not heard back. It is going to take a while because of the number of vacancies they advertised and the number of applications.

Hi, I saw that u seem quite knowledgeable with this job section. I wanted to ask, how do they mark our answers in the interview? I know that they give us a grade between 1-7 I believe, but how do you make sure your answer isnt a 1? Also, Is there ice breaker questions "why do you want this job" before the real 6 behaviour and strength questions? I hope you can reply x

Reply 49

RJNJI

4

Original post by Tania.

Hey, im sure you will be fine, they do take long to get back. im super nervous for my upcoming interview next week. How did yours go, what kind of questions did they ask you, if you remember? x

i cant remember the exact questions but you do have a mixture of behaviour and strenth questions and all are pre-recorded. As its not face-to-face its hard to describe how to prepare, as you have to mainly think on your feet. what area have you applied to?

Reply 50

StriderHort

21

Original post by Annhay

😊 Sorry but I really don’t see that, maybe in your Situation they were just not the right person for that job role. It takes influence, compassion and above all resilience to do that job. Just because someone goes into a job centre it doesn’t mean they are not highly educated and experienced.. my point is there will be situations where the customer is more educated than the work coach.. however that work coach has the tools& techniques to enable.

Like I get it needs Influence, Compassion & Resilience....but I'm still bemused 'Employment Experience' doesn't even make the top 3. A lot of the working class people coming in will not accept 'Uni' as comparable and will totally pick up on that weakness....you will often be dealing with canny claimants who know the rules and processes better than the WC does.

What actually is 'influence' here anyway? When I was younger it meant the WC knew the local job market & employers and had contacts with a lot of them and could genuinely give people a leg up and direct advice,...but this sounds a bit more like 'has a login for the DWP computer'? Again, just curious how this is supposed to work. (sad to say i've seen a few advisers get a bloody nose for talking down to the wrong people)

Reply 51

RJNJI

4

Original post by Aysha98x

No one has received offers yet don’t worry. Only the people who applied last year and were on the reserve list have. I applied as an internal candidate over a month ago and still have not heard back. It is going to take a while because of the number of vacancies they advertised and the number of applications.

thanks for letting me know. im internal to just like you. what area did you apply in? how did you find the process/interview? it says starts are supposed to be in sept, i thought there had to be a 4 week transfer gap before moving over.

Reply 52

Original post by Tania.

Hi, I saw that u seem quite knowledgeable with this job section. I wanted to ask, how do they mark our answers in the interview? I know that they give us a grade between 1-7 I believe, but how do you make sure your answer isnt a 1? Also, Is there ice breaker questions "why do you want this job" before the real 6 behaviour and strength questions? I hope you can reply x

I would advise you search on the behaviours and strengths before going for the interview. Behaviours are based on examples and you can follow the STAR approach to help you explain your example. If you click on the link below the PDF explains exactly what the interviewers want to hear in your example. The more criteria your example covers, the higher you score.
They will ask 3 behaviour based questions which means you need to have 3 situational examples around the 3 behaviours: Managing a quality service, communicating and influencing, and making effective decisions.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf
They’ll also ask you 3 strength based questions relating to these behaviours. It’s important you show your natural response to these questions as they put you on the spot. They want to hear your first reaction to the question they ask, or it can be a statement and they want to know how much you agree to it. They can tell if you have rehearsed a strength question so it’s best not to rehearse these. There’s no right or wrong answer they just want to see your true self. With these questions you do not give examples, just a few sentences explaining your way of working and why. Again if you check the Strengths PDF it explains a lot more in detail.
The two initial questions are to make you comfortable before the marked questions are asked so they are good for you.

Reply 53

Original post by RJNJI

thanks for letting me know. im internal to just like you. what area did you apply in? how did you find the process/interview? it says starts are supposed to be in sept, i thought there had to be a 4 week transfer gap before moving over.

I applied for the north. I found the interview okay apart from the fact it was fast paced. I currently work for DWP in the same field so I’m not too worried about the transferring process. But they will have more than 1 start date. They are recruiting till March next year so I wouldn’t worry about the dates as they will have multiple start dates. Also if you’re internal the departments can work with each other to release you at the right date.

Reply 54

Original post by StriderHort

Like I get it needs Influence, Compassion & Resilience....but I'm still bemused 'Employment Experience' doesn't even make the top 3. A lot of the working class people coming in will not accept 'Uni' as comparable and will totally pick up on that weakness....you will often be dealing with canny claimants who know the rules and processes better than the WC does.

What actually is 'influence' here anyway? When I was younger it meant the WC knew the local job market & employers and had contacts with a lot of them and could genuinely give people a leg up and direct advice,...but this sounds a bit more like 'has a login for the DWP computer'? Again, just curious how this is supposed to work. (sad to say i've seen a few advisers get a bloody nose for talking down to the wrong people)

Influence doesn’t necessarily have to be in the work field. It can be anything. How has your communication influenced someone to work they way you want them to, or in a way that benefits them? Remember Universal Credit is an online service so a lot of our claimants need influencing to use their online account as much as possible. As long as you example matches the behaviour criteria they have set, your behaviour is suitable.
Check the criteria on the below link under Level 2
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf

Reply 55

Original post by StriderHort

Like I get it needs Influence, Compassion & Resilience....but I'm still bemused 'Employment Experience' doesn't even make the top 3. A lot of the working class people coming in will not accept 'Uni' as comparable and will totally pick up on that weakness....you will often be dealing with canny claimants who know the rules and processes better than the WC does.

What actually is 'influence' here anyway? When I was younger it meant the WC knew the local job market & employers and had contacts with a lot of them and could genuinely give people a leg up and direct advice,...but this sounds a bit more like 'has a login for the DWP computer'? Again, just curious how this is supposed to work. (sad to say i've seen a few advisers get a bloody nose for talking down to the wrong people)

Look no offence... but I think your on the wrong thread here. You started off your your post as “I don’t mean to annoy anyone “, however you are in danger of judging a lot of people on here and demotivating them.
You say “like I get it needs influence“ and then ask “what is influence here anyway”. You state you’ve seen a few advisers With bloody noses, suggests you’ve either worked for the department or that your experience of dealing with dwp as a customer is out of date. Predominantly a work coach role is not always to get people straight into work. sometimes it’s a long process of dealing with weaknesses, lack of motivation and employment, then signpostIng to training or other support. Usually those that come in highly qualified or experienced are actively looking for work so need little guidance. Herby those that feel the need to attack a work coach must have been challenged. As they were not doing what they needed to do to claim the benefits in the first place.

Reply 56

StriderHort

21

Original post by Annhay

Look no offence... but I think your on the wrong thread here. You started off your your post as “I don’t mean to annoy anyone “, however you are in danger of judging a lot of people on here and demotivating them.
You say “like I get it needs influence“ and then ask “what is influence here anyway”. You state you’ve seen a few advisers With bloody noses, suggests you’ve either worked for the department or that your experience of dealing with dwp as a customer is out of date. Predominantly a work coach role is not always to get people straight into work. sometimes it’s a long process of dealing with weaknesses, lack of motivation and employment, then signpostIng to training or other support. Usually those that come in highly qualified or experienced are actively looking for work so need little guidance. Herby those that feel the need to attack a work coach must have been challenged. As they were not doing what they needed to do to claim the benefits in the first place.

I only asked. I mean I understand the DWP have a set of core values, policies or such, but I didn't quite understand the context of one of them, so I asked. It is entirely possible my experience is out of date, hence the questions and confusion..and you can't really accuse me of inappropriate judging when you just did the same in my example *shrug* I'm not talking about the ones that come in highly educated, I'm talking about the ones that come in v streetwise and intend to keep their benefits no matter what. I've seen the DSS/DWP go through various cycles where WC's either take a longer term approach, or it's a hard challenge 'straight into work, any work'....when they got particularly sanction slap happy things got really nasty for a few years.

Anyway I'll leave you to it :smile:

Reply 57

Original post by StriderHort

I only asked. I mean I understand the DWP have a set of core values, policies or such, but I didn't quite understand the context of one of them, so I asked. It is entirely possible my experience is out of date, hence the questions and confusion..and you can't really accuse me of inappropriate judging when you just did the same in my example *shrug* I'm not talking about the ones that come in highly educated, I'm talking about the ones that come in v streetwise and intend to keep their benefits no matter what. I've seen the DSS/DWP go through various cycles where WC's either take a longer term approach, or it's a hard challenge 'straight into work, any work'....when they got particularly sanction slap happy things got really nasty for a few years.

Anyway I'll leave you to it :smile:

Yes I get that 😊. But initially your example was not of that you just posted. I’m not a graduate Personally..so I’m not offended and I never said you was inappropriate, but I felt it was judging of students. I’m just saying your point could be demotivating to students on here who want to use dwp as an I initial stepping ladder... . If you are applying very good luck.

Reply 58

StriderHort

21

Original post by Annhay

Yes I get that 😊. But initially your example was not of that you just posted. I’m not a graduate Personally..so I’m not offended and I never said you was inappropriate, but I felt it was judging of students. I’m just saying your point could be demotivating to students on here who want to use dwp as an I initial stepping ladder... . If you are applying very good luck.

I've been a student, employed, unemployed ect. many times. I'm not intending to judge students...i just know the kind of people they're going to be often dealing with. But as you say I get the service is changing, more online ect, The times i'm talking about could hopefully be seen as almost the bad old days.

Reply 59