Recruitment and selection toolkits

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Introduction

These toolkits are to be used in conjunction with the Government of Jersey's recruitment and selection policy.

Title	Recruitment and selection toolkits
Author	Employee Experience
Document type	Toolkit
Issue date	31 March 2025
Effective date	31 March 2025
Review date	31 March 2028
Version	1.0

Toolkit for interview questions

Interviews are a 2 way process. As well as testing whether a potential candidate is suitable for a role, the candidate will also be assessing whether Jersey Public Services is somewhere they would like to work.

In general, the interview structure will have a minimum of 4 key components:

introductions and welcome
questions from the interview panel based on the job descriptions
responding to questions from the candidate
thanking candidate and confirming next steps

Introductions and welcome

Thank the candidate for attending the interview and for the time they have invested so far in the interview process.

Introduce the candidate to members of the interview panel and their roles.

Give a brief overview of the role you are recruiting to, including job title, contracted hours, nature of the contract and management responsibilities if applicable.

Explain how the interview will work, including how long you have together, how many questions you will be asking, why you are taking notes, when they will be able to ask questions.

Ask if they are clear about the process and make sure they have everything they need to participate.

Reassure the candidate that this is a 2 way process, and you want them to do well.

Designing your interview questions

Traditional interviews should be viewed as a conversation, rather than an interrogation.

The hiring manager and their panel should have agreed a set of pre-determined themes which they want to explore with their short-listed candidates. These themes should be linked strongly to the job description and be framed in an open question.

An experienced candidate will usually use the question to demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and experience in the prescribed area. However, the panel may also use follow-up probing question to help the candidate fully respond to the question and to make sure the panel understands the candidate's values and transferable skills.

For example, if planning and organising was the theme:

Question you can ask

Can you tell me about a time when you had to plan your work to meet an agreed deadline?

Exploring the candidate's response

These questions will help you understand the candidate's knowledge, skills and behaviours:

what worked well when you adopted this approach?
how would you apply those skills to this role?
why was that approach important to you?

The Jersey Public Service Recruitment and Selection training explores this subject in more detail. A bank of interview questions is also available and may be adapted to help the panel explore their chosen themes.

Interview questions to avoid

In general, the themes you wish to explore during the interview should be agreed in advance with the interview panel and should link strongly to your job description. You should stick to these key themes during your conversation with the candidate.

At least one member of the panel must have undertaken Government of Jersey recruitment and selection training, but all panel members must avoid questions which may show bias or a pre-determined outcome.

Examples of questions to avoid:

are you planning to have children soon?
does caring for your elderly relatives affect your ability to do overtime?
does your disability mean you need time off for hospital appointments?

This type of questioning is not aligned with the values of Jersey Public Services. They may make the candidate uncomfortable and can expose the panel to a complaint from a candidate.

Responding to questions from the candidate

Because interviewing is a 2 way process, you should build in some time to respond to questions from the candidate. The panel should be prepared to answer questions which relate to logistics, their ambition for the role, training, and development.

At the end of the interview, the chair of the panel should confirm next steps and the offer of feedback and thank the candidate for attending the interview.

Recruitment and selection toolkits

​Introduction

​​​Toolkit for interview questions