I am the first to admit I am terrible when it comes to writing applications, and addressing key selection criteria. Generally I know what I want to say but I really struggle to get the message across when I have to write the answer (I am fine in the interview, just not on paper!)
I have found a position I very keen to apply for and being a government role, there are quite a few questions but the one I am struggling with the most is:
If faced with three urgent tasks, from three different managers, all of which were required to be finished by the end of the day, but which it is obviosu you could not complete, please ecplain what actions you would take to try and resolve the issue.
Basically I cant get across that I wouldnt have accepted the three tasks knowing that I could not complete them, as I would always ask when they needed the work done by. Also that as an admin person (not management) the end decision if any conflict arose would be in consultation my direct manager...
Maybe also look at incorporating something to do with liaising with all three peeps to try and develop a way around the problem. That makes you look proactive and shows initiative.
Use some buzzwords too. Gov't departments love them. They don't have to make sense either - just throw in 'sustainability', 'value-add', 'going forward', 'innovation' etc randomly whenever you get stuck in a sentence.
I agree with Slyder. Initiative is the key.
SO I would answer about prioritising, delegating and asking for help if I really could not manage on my own and they had to be done that day.But I would emphasise the last bit was only because they were urgent jobs (their words)
As somebody who regularly sits on interview panels and is a manager, who shares a pool of admin staff between myself and 3 other managers, putting down that you wouldn't have taken on the jobs would probably, if I was on the panel, get you put to the bottom of the pile.
I look for somebody who shows initiative, who can identify the steps needed for each of the jobs, be able to explain this and be able to talk and negotiate with the managers.
Some managers do not know what takes to do a job. I also have had subordinate staff who had no idea what went into doing a certain job.
If I had one of the admin officers come to me and say that she'd been given work by other managers, that job A had these components, job B had these components and job C had these components to complete the job and there was no way that all of these components could be done in the allotted time-frame, then I would probably say to her that if she could get X and Y done on my job, that she could do Z in the morning. But she needs to know what goes into each job and have a pretty good ball-park idea of how long each component would take.
This question is about knowing your own skills, your time management skills, your ability to negotiate with staff. If this is a low-level admin officer position, then I don't really expect you to be able to delegate, but be able to ask other staff for help in the task.
I know that this response will be way too late, but the other aspect of this criteria is about communicating back to those who required the tasks, that they could not be done in the timeframe, and negotiating new ones...consultation with the 'relevant' managers and with your ultimate supervisor (the one the does your performance reviews) is critical.
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Help - Stuck on an application question!
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