Somerset Council Interview Questions
& Process

The women interviewing were cold and unwelcoming. One of them only answered a couple of my questions. I wish they'd given me a chance! It's no surprise the job has come up twice since. I'm glad I'm leaving grotty county hall.

I sent in my CV, application form, and a statement for Children's Services. After two weeks past the deadline, and with no word back despite their promise to reply to everyone, I chased it up. HR said Children's Services tried to contact me but had no my details, which is strange as it was on my CV and application form. I asked HR how this was possible and never heard back. Months later, I applied for a corporate job there. I was offered it, but HR rejected my last employer as a reference and took a few weeks to process everything. I had already accepted another offer elsewhere, so I declined. Glad I did. This Council is totally incompetent; avoid them!

First, there was an intro chat with another member of the admin team. Then, the main interview was with a panel consisting of an HR Representative, the Line Manager for the position, and a Social Worker who I would be working with. Each panel member asked me questions three times. It was a really friendly and encouraging atmosphere. They asked the typical questions like my strengths and weaknesses, what I'd change about my current job, and some specific things about safeguarding, handling difficult clients, and confidentiality. There was also an admin skills test where I had to write a letter with specific info, save it to the computer (to see if I could follow their format and transfer info right), and find/record info from different places quickly and accurately.

I interviewed in June 2025. It was a panel interview with two people, the team leader and another colleague. They asked typical questions related to the role and essential criteria. It was a decent experience overall, but I didn't see any development opportunities mentioned.