I went through 1) phone interview, 2) Group Assessment 3) Final Interview.
None of it was scary or horrible, at the time they were looking for "people persons" lol so if you had half a brain and can handle people you should be ok.
The Group Assessment involved checking you can read and write (!), speed and accuracy, some computer tasks and it was all done at a recruitment agency in a friendly environment.
I'd go back to a call centre (not CSC) in a heartbeat, as you dont have cases dragging on, you can leave your work there at the end of the day etc etc. Moorabbin is just too far from Boronia across some of the worst roads EVER. ggrrrr
come work out at my call centre then Lulu!!! probably take the same amount of travel time each day! hehehe
for me (and i started about 2.5 years ago), the interview wa similar to Lulu - phone interview - where they ask you situational questions, group assessment (typing, basic maths, team work) and then individual interview - which wasn't really individual at all! we were handed the questions, given a while to answer the questions ourselves (so no pressure to "perform" as such) and then each person was asked to give their answer for one of the questions to the group and "elaborate" as it was. it was very relaxed, very calm, and didn't seem to be any pressure at all (and we had our assessment at the call centre, with the site manager dropping in!)
couple of little hints for you - with the phone interview, make sure you answer in the format of "situation, response, outcome" - so, they ask a question, you say WHAT the situation was, HOW you dealt with it, and the outcome. group interview - if they ask you to do a "team" building exercise (for us it was two people looking at a lego model, and going back to tell third how to build it) - make sure you work as a member of a team. in the scenario we had, i asked the builder what info she wanted, the other girl giving info was talking at her, not working with her - she didn't get a job - the other two of us did...
Don't forget that's its ok to think about your response first. You are not expected to have the perfect answer straight off the bat.
In the group scenario BG described - watch out for those that will totally take over the entire thing and can't seem to let the group solve it. I sat back and waited until this silly tart stopped to draw breath and pointed out that someone else had a good point.....didn't see her again!
I worked for Centrelink (orDSSas it was back then) for 8 years straight out of school. I worked at a CSC in the North of Adelaide and was pretty full on - abusive etc from customers. I was promoted to Head office and worked off the counters for the last couple of years but actually had a nervous breakdown, in became alot more stressfull when it became Centrelink so I quit, travelled the world and sold shoes and ended up working for Freedom!
But having said that, the money is good and flex time so I'm considering applying for the alumni program. I'm a bit older and wiser now.
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