Our recruitment process

In the Adults and Integrated Care team at South Tyneside Council, we're using Values Based Recruitment (VBR).

We want to attract and select employees whose personal values align with the values of the Council.

We're developing our recruitment processes to make sure that we don't just recruit people for their skills and competence, but also look at how their own values align with our values.

Evidence suggests that values-based recruitment is good recruitment practice and employees with the right values are more likely to:

• Work efficiently in teams
• Experience greater job satisfaction

Values are the things that matter to us: our judgements of what is important in life.

As a result, they can mean different things to different people, although organisational values describe the culture of an organisation.

They are linked to the Council's vision, priorities and strategic actions.

In the workplace this translates into:

• What people think should be done
• How people think things are done
• How people think things ought to be done
• What is important in the Council

You may be used to a traditional competency-based interview, where you are asked questions related to your work-based skills.

In your Adults and Integrated Care interview, we'll ask you questions relating to our values, as well as those competency-based questions you would expect in an interview.

When we ask you about a value:

• You should talk about a time when you displayed the value or behaviour, and what the outcome of the situation was.
• Think about a time when you may have displayed that value. Your focus should be on the outcome. You should spend most of your time discussing the learning or changes you took rather than just a description of what happened.

After the initial question about a time when you displayed a value or behaviour, we'll ask you some probing questions which are designed to elicit evidence in relation to learning and reflection. You should give examples and describe evidence of past behaviour, which will give your interviewer insight into how you are likely to behave in the future and if this is in-line with our values and behaviours.

You should also think of your behaviour and how you come across in an interview situation, and if you're reflecting our values in the way you present yourself.

In preparation for your interview, think about how you would evidence each of these values:

• Professional
• Respectful
• Open & honest
• Understanding and engaging
• Deliver what we say we will

View Our Council Values and Behaviours.