Working for Centrelink

Hi all!

I have applied for a Customer Service Advisor position with Centrelink a week ago and at the moment waiting for someone to call me back for a phone interview. I called the agency on friday and they said that I should be expecting a phone call some time next week....

I am very nervous as I haven't had a phone interview for a very long time. I used to work for the Commonwealth Bank and then took 3 years off to be at home with my children (who are now 4 and 3) and in the past year I have been working at the childcare centre in the office. I am looking for something a little more challenging (lol) and a place which is a little bit more "family" friendly.

I would like to know please if someone out there does work for centrelink and what is it like? What is the phone interview like? The assessment centre? I remember doing this 7 years ago (when I got the CBA job)... but like I said its been a while and I am afraid I won't be able to remember that far back when it comes to giving examples. So any ideas on what kind of things they would ask so that I can prepare myself;). Also, from what I've read on the internet, working with Centrelink is pretty stressful... you get abused on the phones and even recieve death threats... I can imagine people getting abusive (they did when I worked with the CBA as well).... but is it really something that happens on a daily basis? Does it depend on which department you work with?

Sorry for all the questions. Hoping someone can help me out.:pray:

Thanks in advance!:D

Best of luck hun....hopefully BG will see this and be able to help...she works for Centrelink but is on Maternity leave ATM.......

Is it with the call centre or customer service centre? If it's with the call centre, then it'll be something along this lines:
The phone interview takes about 15 minutes. They'll ask you 3 or 4 questions. Once you get started it's not too daunting.
The next step is a group assessment which takes between 3 and 4 hours. There, they assess how you work as a team member and as an individual. You'll be required to do a phone role play for about 5 minutes, 5 minute typing test, and a small group activity.
The 3rd stage is an interview with the managers which can take anywhere between 15 and an hour.
Once you've passed those 3 stages, you'll be required to have a medical and eye examination.

Good luck and keep us updated with your progress.

the work environment, in the call centres at least, is only as stressful as you allow it to be. i have worked for centrelink call for about 4.5 years (and as Mel mentioned, am on mat leave now) and prior to that, worked for one of the big Telco's. the expectations are high in regard to privacy and accuracy but the job itself isn't that stressful. i can count on one hand the number of times i've been abused in 4.5 years at C'link - i would need two hands a day (minimum) for the Telco! there is a high turnover of staff as it's a job that isn't for everyone (lots to remember, a fairly complex system to navigate) but once you learn the job, it isn't scary at all! i promise!

in the contact centres, the stress levels of staff are significantly higher - basically because the "queue" of people waiting is a physical queue that you can see while in the call network, they're just a number on the phones. some people in the contact centres do feel it's appropriate to take out their frustrations on staff, and make threats, but there are protocols in place for dealing with these individuals. i have many friends who have gotten bored in the call network and chosen to move to our local contact centres for the challenge.

interview wise, the types of questions you'll be asked on the phone will be situation/action/outcome based. basically, you'll be asked a question, asked to describe a situation in which you had to deal with X scenario, HOW you dealt with it, and what the outcome was. this may be along the lines of a "difficult customer", a "team of work colleagues" or similar. don't be afraid to take a moment to think it through, and make sure you answer with detail. so, having worked at the bank in the past (and by the sounds of it, copped some nasty customers!), a difficult customer might be someone that has called in regard to what they believe to be excessive fees - how did you handle the situation, what resolution did you offer, and what was the ultimate outcome (customer was still upset, but accepted the terms of their account that they were charged x per month or whatever) - the team scenario may be a question in regard to how have you dealth with a non team player work wise. i'm guessing you were probably a member of a team. in that case, if person X wasn't supportive of the team and you intervened, how did you do it, what did you say, what was the outcome (may have simply been that you noticed behaviours that weren't conducive to team environment and encouraged them to change that aspect, or mentioned it to team leader to follow up etc).

if you get past the phone interview - the group interview is pretty straight forward. they will get you to do some sort of team activity (for us, it was building with lego!) - basically what they are looking for is how you work as a member of a team - do you let someone else take the league, do you lead. what they are looking for are team players. in our situation, we had on person building, two looking at a model and directing the builder what pieces to put where. one of our "team" started out by saying "we'll do it this way" - the othr two of us said "how do we do this to work together" - person 1 wasn't seen again, the other two of us started together a couple of weeks later.

we then had basic skills assessment on the computers (typing, grammar, maths - very basic), a mock phone call (to see how we interacted with people on the phones and translated that to the mock program on the computer.

we didn't have a one on one interview at ours but i think it was structured very differently due to the fact it was a fairly new centre and doing mass recruiting. we were given the questions they'd ask and given the opportunity to answer in writing. i believe more recently there has been a one on one interview for each position.

if you get past this point, you may be offered a position at which point you'll be sent for a medical and eye examination and then your official job offer extended once you've passed these

hope that helps - good luck!

BG

Try an get as much info about centrelink and the role you are applying for as possible, they are likely to ask you about this. Centrelink can be a good employer, some roles are stressful, others not so much. But there is aways room for movement from one role to another once you are employed by them. Good luck :)

Hi ladies, I am back to let you know that I made it to the assessment centre. That went ok (i think!). I didn't really "talk" as much as others during the group task but I can't help that. I am pretty shy at the start and when I get to know people, i talk much more. I hope they don't judge me just on that exercise. I did the computer tests afterward and my results were: 7788 keystrokes per hour (is that good btw???) with 0% error rate. The 2nd test I got 93% (testing my basic, intermediate and advanced WORD level). So I am pretty happy about that.

I have yet to hear about the 1-on-1 interviews. They were supposed to call everyone by friday (yesterday) and because I didn't hear anything, I called them myself and the lady who picked up said that they are still going through all the results and that they have girls working in the office on the weekend (going through all the apps) and that I should have my phone on me on the weekend just in case. So now I am stuck to my mobile... sometimes just looking at it and praying it calls!

I quit my job on friday :(. My boss was a really nasty piece of work. So after a year of total abuse, I had enough and gave her my resignation letter. So now I am even more desperate to hear from them :pray:. I am really anxious cause after a week we'll be down to 1 wage and we have just bought a block of land to build on. I am really scared!

I'll let you guys know if I get called. The interview will be 1 hour and they will give us real life centrelink scenarios. So if I do make it that far, i would love to brain storm and think of what they could possibly ask me.

:D

Good luck laylamum, hope you get offered a position! Sorry to hear you had to quit your current job. Centrelink are a good employer, they definitely try to be supportive of staff with family commitments. I've worked for them for 6 years, but in a support role and not at the counter or in the call centres, but what the other ladies said is pretty much how I've experienced it. Every office is different of course and like all big organisations you will come across people you won't work well with, but from what I've heard it's still a better organisation to work for than the big banks.

All the best :)

just thought i would stick my head in and ask something, for maybe jodi and laylamum...i had my phone interveiw yesterday, not sure how i went, but if i get to the next satge, im very paraniod how i will go with the computer task..i told them i was intermediate at the pc,which could be a little white lie, never worked with computers, but i do know my way around them, but i dont know everything, iykwim, so what do they actually do so maybe i can practice and learn more just in case

It's just a typing test Chrissy. 2 people who got jobs only had typing speeds of around 30WPM, and they still got through. You don't have to be a whizz on the computer, just know how to navigate one.

well i better get practising then, i type pretty quick i think, but i did a online test today, and it my result was 24WPM...so you just type a passage out? i know how to type, but i dont really know what all the keys mean..especially all those F keys up top

It's something like a 5 minute typing test typing out some silly story that usually doesn't make sense.
Good luck! Did they say when you'd hear by if you get through to the next round?

Hi girls... I got a call yesterday (1 month later) advising me that I got accepted :dance:.

I am so relieved!!! I got my 1st preference (the location) but the position is a non-ongoing for 12 months in the Family Processing Team. Basically I won't have direct customer contact (from what I understood) and it will be more like over the phone contact if I need to get in touch with a customer. Anyone know about this role?

Do you think it means anything that I was not offered a permanent role. Does this mean that I am on a contract and I won't be eligible for the sick / holiday leave, etc... Also after the 12 months is over, do I have to apply for another role again? Sorry for all the questions. I am really happy that I got a job in the first place. Our land is about to settle in 2 weeks and we have to start paying the mortgage and we're planning to build straight away on it... but I am just concerned about the stability.... does non ongoing mean that they can kick me out as they please?

Cougar - how are you going? After the computer tests were done, I was called in for a one to one interview and then another 2 weeks later (just last saturday), they got me to come in for yet another interview but this time with a Centrelink Manager! So all up I went through 4 interviews and a computer test.

congrats on the job hun!

with the 12 month non-ongoing - basically they've got funding for positions for the next 12 months, and not beyond that, based on what needs are seen to be within the network when they were budgeting - at the end of the 12 months, there may be additional funding to offer you a longer term contract or even permanent work. you will have a minimum of 12 months work though


the families processing team will be the group that process baby bonus and family tax benefit new claims, ftb lump sum claims etc. you'll have minimal customer contact unless something is missing from their claim etc...

Congratulations!!
BG has summed it up good enough :D
I started off on a non-ongoing role which was for 5 months, and was offered a permanent job 3 months in. I was required to re-apply, but didn't have to do the whole interview process again.
When do you start?

Thanks BG and Jodi. I am not sure of the exact start date. I have yet to receive a call from them advising me of the date. I still need to do a medical though...but I really don't think I will have any problems there, lol

Jodi, thats what worries me a little.... having to go through the whole ordeal again to get a permament role. But I've spoken to another friend of mine (who works for the ATO) and she said her husband started off as a non-ongoing and then they made him perm after a short time.

I am just thrilled that I got a position. I am trying to get a whole stack of things done and spend some time with the kids before I go back to work.

Thank you for all your advise and support :)