Common Asked Housing Officer Questions

A housing officer will often be employed for housing associations or the local authority, supporting clients with the assessment of needs in terms of housing applications.

The housing officer may also specialise in working with homeless people and/or service users with additional needs.

How competitive is a Housing Officer job Interview?

Interview Specifics

This article will list the commonly asked job interview questions for a housing officer.

By understanding the job interview structure and by knowing the commonly asked housing officer interview questions, applicants can prepare answers that highlight their level of competencies within this industry.

Common Asked Housing Officer Interview Questions

Can you tell me about your housing officer experience?

This housing officer interview question is asked for two reasons; 1 it is an open question to get you talking/feeling relax at the job interview start. 2, to gain a general overview of your experience (generic because the follow-up questions will go into more detail)

To answer this job interview question, start by summarising your experience as a housing officer, your relevant qualifications and a key unique skill relevant to the industry – something that makes you stand out, this could be a specialism you have IE working to house homeless service users.

How do you assess the needs of a client?

This interview question is key because this is the crux of the job role.

Split this answer into two sections. Section one is your people skills; explain how you build rapport, how you use effective listening skills, how open and closed questions have a powerful impact, and how you remain calm in stressful situations. Give a short example to highlight your level of expertise and competencies.

Section two should explain the interview structure; the questions you should ask, the information you need to collate, and how you follow GDPR, data protection and confidentiality legislation.

What does customer service mean to you?

You may be asked several customer services-related interview questions.

In the housing association sector often the service users can be stressed or angry. Some service users may have alcohol or drug addiction. In some cases, you will be speaking to clients who are struggling with finances and have been turned down for financial support.

When answering interview questions relating to customer service and communication, explain how you can handle these situations;

What was the situation – why was the service user angry or upset?

How did you handle the situation – what did you say or do to help calm down the client?

What was the positive outcome – how did the client respond to you?

What do you look for during a housing inspection?

Competency-based job interview questions require you to fall back on your experience.

Give an example of when you have carried out an inspection that had issues (you need to pick an inspection with issues to show that you can deal with this in a professional way)

In the example explain what you look for during a general inspection, the inspection process you follow and quote safeguarding regulations, and how you, when required, challenge a service user.

Follow this up with the example “one time during an inspection I saw…” Give details of what you found, the potential safeguarding issue, and what you did to address this

How would you have a positive effect on your colleagues and team?

A big part of the housing officers’ job criteria is to have the ability to work as part of a close-knit team. You will be asked one way or another about your ability to work within a team.

Open the teamwork answer by simply explaining how you enjoy working as part of a team and how in all previous housing roles teamwork has been an important aspect of the role. This opening confirmation statement shows how you have this required skill.

Now you have ticked the ‘teamwork’ box, you need to give a real-life example. A good frame for this job interview answer is to give a ‘helper’ perspective.

Describe how a colleague was having a problem with a housing issue and how this problem affected the output of the whole team.

Go on to describe how you took action and explain the action you took. Follow this up with the positive outcome focusing on how the whole team benefited from your quick actions.

You can also talk about the larger team – in this role, you will need to work with a range of agencies and stakeholders, including social services, jobcentre plus, citizens’ advice service.

Which other agencies would you refer a service user to?

Part of a housing officer’s job role is to work with the tenants to help them to be successful.

To be effective in this job duty you will need to work with, signpost or refer to a large number of partner agencies from social services to the local job center, from doctor surgeries to career advice officers.

In your answer list the relevant agencies you would partner with and give an example of when you would make a referral compared to signposting.

The example has to be specific. First, explain the service users situation and the key block that was holding them back. Explain the limitations of your roles and how the service user required expert advice.

Go on to explain how the service user had attempted to get support but had failed. End the interview answer by stating what you did to ensure the client got the support and advice they required.

Do you have any questions for me?

A guaranteed question is the “do you have any questions for me?” question. And your answer should be YES! Always ask a question.

Good questions to ask in a housing officer job interview are;

What is your approach to supporting service users with their many barriers?
What development opportunities do you have to help upskill a housing officer?
How many hostels/houses do the organisations look after?
What is the best part of your day?

November 6, 2017December 5, 2020

Aristotles Teaches How To Persuasion in a Job Interview

Aristotle’s Persuasion Technique

Persuasion is the goal of the job interview.

In the job interview, you need to influence, persuade and motivate through the answers of your job interview answers. You naturally persuade all the time, through the words you say and how you say these words. The problem is you may persuade people not to recruit rather than persuade them to offer you the desired job position.

Aristotle was a master of the persuasive language. We have taken the leanings of Aristotle’s rhetoric and made it relevant to the job interview.

Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Ethos is your character, how you come across to the interviewer. In a job interview, you need to be seen as credible, an authority. If the job interviewer believes in you, they will listen to you, if they listen to you, they will want to buy you (offer you the position) Aristotle said “We believe good men more fully and more readily than others.”

An example of an ethical appeal: “What I have learned from working in this industry for over 28 years is…” Your duration of experience has a direct path to your Ethos.

Pathos creates an emotional response from the interview panel. In the job interview situation, you need to appeal directly to the interviewer’s emotions. The great interviewee controllers the employer’s emotions throughout the job interview, taking them on an emotional roller coaster.

An example of an emotional interview answer is “have you ever been in a situation when a multi-pound deal was just about to be lost….what I did to turn things around was…” By getting an employer to imagine/remember a negative situation stirs up their negative emotions, before you create a positive emotional pull, by explaining your positive outcome.

Logos is a way to use logic; reasoning, data, statistics and even debates and arguments. Imagery creates an emotional pull, logos allows you to give the facts to back up the story. “This technique increased profit by 35%..” “9 out of 10 people benefited from X”

August 19, 2017

Job Interview Questions for a Job at Rise in Manchester

Rise Manchester offers a tailor-made space for the FinTech community, drawing together the city’s vibrant startup culture and its rich industrial past. In staff they are looking for friendly and fun staff who know there coffee and who can improve their customers experience.

If you want a job at rise, here is some questions you will need to answer

Below you can also access 101 Interview Questions and techniques to Influence the Job Interview. Good luck with your next job interview.

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Job Interview Questions for a Job at Rise in Manchester

Job Interview Question 1:

“Tell me about your customer service experience?”

The opening question at Rise, will be a generic interview question to gain an insight into your customer service and barista experience. Summarise your experience and have a focus on the key skills required for this position; how you welcome customers, how you promote the rise philosophy and how you go above and beyond

Ensure you mention

customer service skills
strong written and spoken communication skills
the ability to solve problems
the ability to deal tactfully with customers
your friendliness and rapport building skills

Job Interview Question 2:

“How do you handle difficult customers?”

For situational job interview questions, answer using a real life story or example

state the situation – why the customer was angry/difficult
explain how you remain calm and how this calmed down the customer
discuss what you did to support the customer while following processes and procedure
explain the outcome of the situation ***ensure this is positive

Job Interview Question 3:

“When have you gone and beyond to help a customer?”

Rise isn’t just a coffee shop, its an experience. In an employee Rise are looking for staff members who go that extra mile. Answer this interview question by first stating your work ethic and your temperament. Second give a real life example of when you went above and beyond to help a customer. Remember at Rise the customer base isn’t just shoppers, in fact the percentage of customer are entrepreneurs who spend their day at Rise working

Job Interview Question 4:

“What questions do you need when booking a room for a customer?”

Many customers book rooms and the stage area. This task requires a level of organisation. When answering this questions explain your strategy for keeping the administration side of things on point. How do you ensure that you have the correct details; customer detailsl, booking details

Job Interview Question 5:

“Why do you want to work at Rise?”

Be honest when answering this question – Rise has to be the right fit for you, and you need to be the right fit for Rise. What made you apply for this role? Why do you like the environment? To answer this question, start with “The three reasons I want to work at Rise are…” and then give 3 real reasons.

Job Interview Question 6:

“Do you have any questions for me?”

Good interview questions to ask interviewers at the end of the job interview include questions on the company growth or expansion, questions on personal development and training and questions on company values, staff retention and company achievements.

Conclusion

Many people are afraid of job interviews. The truth is if you prepare for your job interview, by predicting the job interview questions, you can easily prepare your job interview answers. If your job interview answers highlight your unique selling point, are stated in the positive and are said in a confident manner, then you can influence the job interview to increase job offer.

Interview Preparation Resources

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September 25, 2016November 21, 2020

Out Of The Box Interview Tips

Think Out Of The Box To Pass a Job Interview

Run of the mill interviewing techniques are becoming talk of the past.

“Tell me about yourself”?, A question that has been out there for so long that candidates tend to just learn the answer to it by heart with minor tweaks here and there.

If the questions aren’t going to change so will the same patented responses will be given during interviews. There is no advancement in the interviewing procedures and no learning for graduates coming fresh out of the universities.

career

Let’s consider a situation where a candidate (you) gets the call from HR representative of the company you applied to.

A unique feature about this call would be (we’ll get into that) but how normally a candidate would respond to one such call:

HR: “Hi, is this Mr. X I’m speaking to?”

Mr. X: “Yes, who’s this?”

HR: “This Ms. Y from ABC Co., you applied for the position of XYZ. Have you got a minute, I have to ask a couple of questions?”

Mr. X: “Please go on”

HR: “Ok, so have been you working somewhere?”

Mr. X: “Both yes and no, actually I resigned from my previous employment and am currently serving my notice period”

HR: “Ok, it says here you’ve been with the firm for last 5 years, what makes you want to switch?”

Mr. X: “Although, I have had no issues here during the tenure of my employment, all I feel is a bit stagnant where I’m and want to challenge myself in pursuit of new and better opportunities”

HR: “Alright, let me schedule an interview with you tomorrow say at 11am?”

Mr. X: “Sounds good to me, will be there.”

HR: “The directions to our office will be emailed to you shortly.”

Mr. X: “Sure thanks. Bye.”

That is how a normal telephonic interview appears as. But if we could improvise and candidate can earn the seat in front row? Startling? We pick it up from point no. 10 above and see how it changes.

Mr. X: “Can I suggest a date, as I have some things to take care of in the days to follow? Hence I won’t be able to squeeze time for the meet.”

HR (based on the availability): “When it would be possible for you to visit, then?”

Mr. X: “On so and so date (suggest a date for 2-3 days ahead)

The idea is to buy time so you can thoroughly search about the company, its stakeholders, review their profile on LinkedIn and prepare yourself well.

HR: “How does day after tomorrow sound?”

Mr. X: “Great!”

Now if the counter argument is not up to your liking, best lock in the day as it maybe that the organization is interviewing other candidates or the interviewing authority may not be available in those days.

At least by making a request you have made your presence felt and that you are not typical instead expressive. Just that is the purpose of asking to schedule at a later date. This gives you leverage in negotiations at the time of offer.

You don’t need to insist on scheduling for the day/date you have in mind or you’ll lose the opportunity, altogether. An attempt suffices and generally employer allows for a day or two in scheduling meets for candidates.

Secondly, the questions needs to be revisited to allow candidates to speak open-endedly and when someone is provided the platform to speak, their frame mind is reflected and the person interviewing can gauge whether or not the person would be a suitable fit for the organization.

Questions could be:

“How much element of fun is part of your life?”

“Do you cater to sarcasm?”

“What if I were to ring up a close friend of yours, will he/she be able to tell me your weaknesses?”

Author Bio

Rayanne Dany is an HR consultant and can be reached for assignment writing service via her twitter handle. She has tons of experience in different organizations amounting to a total of 10 years. Her insight over the years as an HR professional has paved way for writing improvement techniques.

June 21, 2016November 24, 2020

3 Skills You Can Learn That Will Help You To Manipulate the Interviewer

3 Job Interview Maniplutaion Technqiues

Manipulation is the art of getting other people to do what you want them to do.

In the job interview, all interviewees, attempt to manipulate the interviewer (even if this is subconscious).

This doesnt mean you need to lie.

Manipulation can be positive when used to help you sell your real skills, qualities and experiences.

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Acting Classes

Master manipulators control their emotions.

This is a key skill in a job interview.

First, for many fear and anxiety take over. As well as requiring the skills to reduce this negative associated response to an interview, you need to take this one step further and act like a confident, charismatic and enthusiastic career professional.

Actors are skilled in controlling their emotions.

They can cry on cue, take on the persona of a confident business billionaire or if the part requires it, come across as lovable, charming and friendly.

By being able to create a character in the job interview you can manipulate the interviewer so they believe that this is your natural state.

If your nervousness and fear, are letting you down, join an acting class.

Debate Clubs

Successful career professionals manipulate the job interview with their ability to think on their feet, to reframe negative comments and to passionately fight their own corner.

Manipulators as well as interviewees need to be compelling in their argument to convince others.

Many interviewees fall into the trap of being defensive – this natural strategy will only end in no job offers. Instead learn to debate, persuade and influence with your communication skills.

Code Reading

Have you ever been surprised after, what you presumed was a successful job interview, that you weren’t offered the desire position?

In the job interview, it is easy to get caught up in ourselves, especially as our energy is spent finding examples to the interview question.

It is this internal focus that creates only one perspective.

Code readers, on the other hand, have the ability to focus on their audience, responding to little cues and tells.

People give away so much when you know what to look for. As we said in the 73 rules for influencing the interview, once you understand what simple gestures, body language and the words people use, you can use these “tells” to change your story to influence and manipulate what the employer thinks about you.

June 18, 2016November 24, 2020

How to Con the Interveiwer and Get Away With It

The Interview Con

To con the job interviewer (well anyone really) you need to promise them something of great benefit.

In the job interview this is how you will double there profit, decrease overheads or gain them millions of pounds in new business.

The bigger the benefit the better.

In the job interview stress how easy it is for you, the star employee, to achieve this. Explain how this system is something you successful implemented in your last organisation. Explain how the cost for this system is low or none at all, it’s about the knowledge or contacts that you have, that you are happy to share with them.

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Sweep aside the Skeptics

Depending on how you frame the “Great Bennett” some employers will be skeptic.

You need to get the interviewer to commit to you. When someone commits to you, even if this commitment is only a small commitment they are psychologically more likely to commit to something bigger.

In the interview you ask the skeptic interviewer that if were able to double their profits would they recruit you? Every interviewer will answer yes to this.

Sweeten the pot.

Share a piece of advice, a contact or something that shows that you have something that would benefit the organisation. This will create interest and desire.

Create Positive Visualizations

Ask how if you were to be successful in the job interview and if you were to implement your success strategy how would this benefit the company?

Get the interviewer to imagine you both collaborating together and get them to imagine how your strategy/contacts along with what the organisation is currently doing would together take their profits to the next level.

The more you influence the interviewer to imagine you and them being successful the more they will buy into you.

At this stage you may want to return to the commitment stage, offering a few more sweeteners.

Create Desire

The interviewer now, will be imagining how they will benefit from you being hired. Not only will they want to recruit you they will want you on their team.

You will hear the language the interviewer subconsciously uses go from the language of a skeptic to the language of desire.

They will want to offer you the job on the spot, but employment law won’t allow this.

To keep the flame burning once you leave the interview, explain that you have already been offer another job that you are highly interested in.

Scarcity is a massive motivational pull, as people always want what they cant have.

If the employer see’s massive value in you but then realises that a competitor make snatch you up, their desire for you will triple.

Not only will you be offered the position, you will now be in a strong position to negotiate a high salary.