Interview Flashcards
Are you comfortable giving presentations
Yes
I regularly gave presentations to professors at university and while I was initially nervous when giving these I soon gained confidence with my speaking skills and was able to consistently give effective presentations
Currently I have to consistently talk with members of the public to help them carry out COVID tests including those who may have little understanding of English for example and adapt to different situations quickly based on their needs showing I have obtained improved people skills
Are you good at learning new software
Yes, while undertaking my masters degree I had to learn to use a variety of software before I could carry out research projects including spss and STATA and would be able to quickly learn to use any systems which the GSS may use to analyse data, such as Python
Why do you want to work for the GSS
Working for the GSS in this capacity would allow me the possibility of working across a variety of departments in government, a truly unique experience that would allow me to help make real changes across a variety of different areas
Allows me to help make real innovations and change through helping design research or analyse results that could one day help influence policy decisions
I have previously studied a wide variety of research involving areas such as education and gender inequalities in society and would love to be able to continue to work non a wide breath of areas through the role as a statistics officer
Since I first started studying statistics during my undergraduate degree I have gained a strong enjoyment of using data as a method of gaining an understanding of the influences variables and aspects of society can have on each other and enjoy both designing a research studying and crafting a hypothesis and seeing how results can show findings that I hadn’t considered or were different than I expected
Do you have any questions for me
What would day to day responsibilities be for the role
Can you tell me any more about the people I would be working with in this role
What do you thing is the best part about working for the GSS
Can you manage multiple projects at once
I have had to consistently carry out multiple projects at once whilst studying at university, showing my ability to multitask. For example, whilst doing my masters I simultaneously worked on a group project concerning types of science new stories that were talked about most in leading newspapers, while also carrying out my own research for a long research apprenticeship project on the lifelong influence of attending independent schools
I was able to successfully carry out both these projects at the same time
When have you had to work with a challenging co worker
Whilst undertaking a project that involved studying how frequently different types of science articles appeared in the news, one of my teammates was regularly late to meetings and often had not completed his independent work necessary for the project in time, consistently delaying the project
We were fortunately able to have a discussion with him about how his perceived lack of effort was impacting everyone else and the project and he was able to improve his time management skills so the project was not strongly negatively influenced and everyone pulled their weight
In a workplace role if this occurred again I would first talk to the other members of my team about it and we would talk with him/her about it and if this did not work we would then have to speak to the supervisor or whosever was in charge of us and tell them of the situation
How would you help and underperforming colleague
If they are struggling I would first speak to them and find what area they are having trouble with so that I can understand what the problem is and assuming it is an area I have knowledge in do my best to help them improve in this area
Why do you want this job
Working for the GSS in this capacity would allow me the possibility of working across a variety of departments in government, a truly unique experience that would allow me to help make real changes across a variety of different areas
Allows me to help make real innovations and change through helping design research or analyse results that could one day help influence policy decisions
I have previously studied a wide variety of research involving areas such as education and gender inequalities in society and would love to be able to continue to work non a wide breath of areas through the role as a statistics officer
Since I first started studying statistics during my undergraduate degree I have gained a strong enjoyment of using data as a method of gaining an understanding of the influences variables and aspects of society can have on each other and enjoy both designing a research studying and crafting a hypothesis and seeing how results can show findings that I hadn’t considered or were different than I expected
What would be the most challenging aspect of working with the GSS
With such a wide variety of departments the GSS is working with there are areas I will have a lack of information about that I would likely have to work with and therefore would initially not understand all policy areas, however I would work to quickly gain a strong understanding of any area i would be working with to support any research in the best way possible or create the most appropriate research designs
