The interview process is often the most important part of applying for a job. It’s an opportunity for the employer to find out more about you and for you to ask your questions to ensure the company (and role) is the right fit for you. This article covers how to prepare for a support worker interview.
Preparing for an interview revolves a lot around writing up your experiences. If you have qualifications, know the organisation that awarded them with dates and grades. Read the job description thoroughly and research the organisation. Consider why you want to be a support worker and why you are a good fit for this role.
Although we can’t guarantee which interview questions will come up in an interview, as a recruitment company we know these come up frequently.
Tell us a bit about yourself?: The interviewer will want to hear what you’re doing now, a summary of your education and work experience and what your interests are outside of work. This sounds like a lot to fit into one answer. And you’ll need to be succinct in answering it. Make a bullet point list to practise delivering this answer in a few minutes. It will display how prepared you are and that you are using your and their time efficiently.
Tell us about when you’ve faced a challenge?: You’ll want to have an example ready and talk about the success of your decision-making. It might be about working with a difficult person and how you navigated that, or overcoming a sudden emergency situation and how you made informed decisions to manage a crisis.
Form your answer around understanding the challenge, your approach to resolving the issue and what learnings were taken from it.
Why do you want to be a support worker?: This is an important question. You need to know what it is about this job that makes you want to do this for a living. Think about your skills and how they transfer to this role. Think about your values and how they link to this role of helping others. Think about things like job satisfaction, the schedule and working as part of a team when you form your answer.
What are your strengths?: You’ll want to review the job specifications and take something high on that list to talk about, alongside why you’re good at it. If the job ad starts with ‘the role will need a highly organised individual’ or ‘a good communicator’, then think about a time when you used these skills. This answer needs to be more than ‘I’m a good people person’, it needs to be a short story about when you’ve made a true connection and how it’s relevant to care. Talk about building relationships as your superpower, but without being too arrogant.
What is your greatest weakness?: Don’t select something that could disqualify you from getting the job. As being a support worker is about people, you might want to think of something that isn’t on the job spec, like your maths skills. It is always good to have a plan for how you’re planning to tackle that weakness.
If you are amazing with people, but sometimes get caught up in conversions and lose track of time, you’re showing you care about people. However, it’s good to follow up with how you try to set alarms and are working on time management to ensure that it doesn't negatively impact work schedules.
Why do you want to work here?: Make it about them first. Structure your answer around why they seem like a great workplace and then talk about your skills and how you can support them. Be genuine and speak from the heart.
Why should we hire you?: Include any relevant experience, how your personal values align with the hiring company. Make sure you know what they stand for. Relay any feedback you’ve had from people you’ve worked with on your past performances. Work words like dedicated, passionate, hard-working into your answer.
If you don’t have much work experience, list experiences gained throughout your life. When you’ve stepped up and solved a problem, helped others, put in effort above what was expected of you. Think through times you’re proud of and link them to the responsibilities and requirements of the job you’re applying for.
When you’re sharing successes, be yourself and they’ll see you’ll be a great fit.
Being a good support worker is based on communication skills, being a good listener and problem solver. You need to make sure you have examples ready, to demonstrate why you are right for this work.
A scenario question is structured like ‘Can you tell us about a time when you…?’ These are to find out more about you and your personality. They will want a short story about an experience you’ve had. Try to keep answers positive and structured. Tell them the situation, task, actions taken and results.
This might come in the form of ‘Why do you want to be a support worker?’ and will provide the employer with an insight into your understanding of the role. Know what a support worker does and why it appeals to you.
Research the Role – Knowing what this role requires will help you focus your answers on what the hiring manager wants to hear.
Practise Your Answers – In the mirror or with a friend/family member can help. Treat it like a performance. Make sure you take some deep breaths before the interview starts and repeat to yourself that you are capable and this organisation would be lucky to have you!
Dress Appropriately – An interview will be in person, on the phone or on a video call. To prepare for any of these formats, getting dressed for the role you want will psychologically boost your confidence.
Be Punctual – This displays respect and shows you care about this role. Know your route if you're travelling to the interview and log onto the video chat a few minutes early if online. Make sure you have the software needed for an online interview. If the invite is through Microsoft Teams or Zoom you may need to download the appropriate software to enter the interview.
Follow-Up After the Interview – Email the hiring manager and thank them for their time. Let them know that you are looking forward to hearing back from them and are even more excited about this opportunity having learned more about the role and organisation.
This can make you a more memorable candidate.
This can come through body language and eye contact. As well as basing your answers on truth.
Be ready with your stories, so you’re not trying to recall something you’ve not thought about in a long time, and confidently talk about your experience.
The organisation will be impressed by you asking questions, it shows you’re engaged. It’s your opportunity to learn more about them too. Take notes during the interview and ask questions about things that have been touched on, maybe upcoming challenges or their plans for the team.
Here at Social Care People our whole organisation is set up to get people like you into the care sector. Take a look at our recruitment pages for current Support worker roles and register with us for upcoming roles. We want you to get the opportunities you deserve. Good luck!
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