Hi there, my name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company, PassMyInterview.com.
And in this tutorial, I am going to teach you how to pass a PROBATION OFFICER interview.
So, if you are applying to become a probation officer, you will need to undertake an interview,
and within this tutorial, I will teach you how to be the STANDOUT CANDIDATE! To achieve
that goal, this is what I will cover. I will give you a LIST of probation officer interview
questions that you really need to prepare for. I will also give you SUGGESTED ANSWERS
to those probation officer interview questions to help you succeed. I will tell you the QUALITIES
that you have to demonstrate in order to be successful. And then I will also tell you
about further training RESOURCES you can get access to, to help you pass your probation
officer interview! Four strong reasons why you should stay tuned and watch this tutorial
fully from beginning to end. Now, just very quickly, before I get into the questions and
answers, a very warm welcome to this probation officer interview training tutorial. My name
is Richard McMunn. That is me there in the centre of the screen. I am a former Fire Officer
of 17 years. And since then, I've been helping people like you to successfully PASS their
interviews. I always do that by giving you TOP-SCORING ANSWERS you can't find anywhere
else. On that basis, please do make sure you SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHANNEL by clicking the red
button below the video. Then you won't miss out on any of the weekly training videos I
upload. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn. My LinkedIn.com link is in the description
below the video, and it is always great to connect with like-minded professionals such
as yourself. Please also make sure you GIVE THE VIDEO A LIKE. Please hit the like button,
because that tells me you enjoy the content and I will, therefore, spend more time creating
it for you. Thank you very much! Okay, let's get into those probation officer interview
questions and the top-scoring answers. The first question is, why do you want to be a
probation officer now? It is very important that you explain in your answer how your skills,
your qualities and your experience are a match for the role of a probation officer. Here
is a brilliant answer to help you prepare. “Prior to applying to become a Probation
Officer, I studied the role in detail to make sure it was a job I would enjoy, and also
one which I already had the necessary skills, qualities and attributes to succeed in. I
am naturally someone who works to high standards, I have critical analysis capabilities and
my communication skills, both written and verbal, are strong. Over the years I have
built up lots of experience dealing with difficult and challenging situations where there is
a need for a calm and focused decision-making process. Although I have no doubt there comes
a huge amount of responsibility with the role of a Probation Officer, I am confident I have
the necessary competence levels, the desire to continually improve and also the ability
to follow rules, procedures and protocol.” That is a VERY STRONG ANSWER to that first
interview question: Why do you want to be a probation officer? Now, you can either pause
the video if you want to and take a note of the questions and answers as I go through
them. However, if you want to wait, I will tell you why you can download my full set
of 23 Probation Officer interview questions and top-scoring answers, including the ones
we are working through right now. So, the next probation officer interview question
I want you to prepare for is: What do you expect to be doing on a daily basis as a Probation
Officer? Now, this interview question is solely designed to assess whether or not you have
studied the job description. Here's a great, in-depth answer to assist you. “Probation
Officers manage offenders to help protect the public and reduce re-offending. I will
have many responsibilities, including managing high-risk offenders, creating and compiling
pre-sentencing reports for courts, working with other agencies that make up the Criminal
Justice System so that suitable risk assessments can be conducted, and also assisting and motivating
offenders to change their pattern of behavior. Other duties include assessing offenders in
prison to prepare them for release from custody, helping offenders serve community orders,
and also assist in the managing of premises that provide accommodation for people who
are on bail, or offenders that are on parole. I will also work with offenders to help them
reintegrate in the community and work with victims of certain crimes to make sure their
voices are heard. Sometimes, I will be required to attend court to provide written recommendations
and testify if needed. There will, of course, be many other duties that go to make up the
role of a Probation Officer; however, those are the ones that I will be mainly responsible
for.” Now, that answer needs to be in-depth because there's lots of different responsibilities
as a probation officer. You need to give the interviewer a wide array of different things
that you will have responsibility for. So that's a great answer! Next question. In your
opinion, what are the most important skills and qualities needed to be a probation officer
now to become a competent probation officer? You need a different set of skills and qualities
to the majority of jobs that are out there. This is a challenging role, but it is also
highly rewarding! Now, within your answer to this question, focus on the TOP 8 skills
needed, because this will make your answer much easier to remember. Here's my suggested
response. “Having studied the role in detail prior to applying, there are 8 essential skills
and qualities you must have to reach a suitable level of competence as a Probation Officer.
One of the most important skills is that of COMMUNICATION. This is in reference to how
you communicate with others, your body language, your written report writing skills, and also
how you build long-term professional relationships with other stakeholders that form part of
the Criminal Justice System. You also need sound CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS, as you are
required to analyze information, facts, and evidence before MAKING EFFECTIVE DECISIONS
and WRITING REPORTS. You need to REMAIN CALM at all times, otherwise you will not be able
to make effective decisions, and you also need a level of EMOTIONAL STABILITY, too.
Other important skills include ORGANIZATIONAL and PLANNING CAPABILITIES, and an ability
to MEET STRICT DEADLINES.” That is a very good answer! And I like the way that you are
focusing on a set number of skills and qualities, because, as I say, that will make it easier
for you to remember. Now, don't go anywhere because I still have more questions to work
through with you. But when you're ready, if you want to CLICK THAT LINK in the top right-hand
corner of the video, it takes you through to my website, PassMyInterview.com, where
you can download my full set of 23 probation officer interview questions and top-scoring
answers, including the ones that we are working through together, right here on this video.
Let's move on to the next question. Please don't forget to GIVE THE VIDEO A LIKE… thank
you very much. Here we go. Tell me a time when you had to work at a pace and how you
approached it? This is a competency-based probation officer interview question, and
it is important you structure your answer in the format of situation, task, action and
result. This is called the STAR technique. Let me show you how effective the STAR technique
is for answering competency-based interview questions in the following response. “In
a previous job, I often had to meet strict deadlines and I built up an effective system
for doing so. One particular time comes to mind when a colleague of mine was off sick
and I agreed to take on their work during a busy 7-day period. In addition to having
to prepare my own written report for my manager, I also had to finish off one they had started,
too. I started off assessing HOW MUCH TIME I had available to complete both reports.
I then ASSESSED THE OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES I had for that week and FORMULATED A PLAN
for getting everything finished on time. I then APPLIED MYSELF IN AN ORGANIZED AND DISCIPLINED
MANNER and made sure there were no distractions. By following a set process for completing
my work thoroughly, I was able to get both reports finished and submitted to my manager
on time and to the necessary standards.” You can see there, by using Situation, Task,
Action and Result, I'm able to provide an evidence-based answer that follows a set process
for working at pace. The next question is another tough probation officer interview
question. Give me an example of a challenging situation you had to deal with at work? Probation
Officers have to deal with challenging situations on a daily basis. Again, my advice is to use
the STAR technique to structure your own answer, and show how you remained calm and gathered
all information available to you at the time. This is important. Here's my suggested response
that utilises the STAR technique. “Recently, at work, I had to deal with a customer who
was understandably dissatisfied with the service they had received from our company. A colleague
of mine, who had since left, had failed to provide a satisfactory level of service and
the customer wanted to make a complaint. It was my responsibility to listen to their complaint,
resolve it satisfactorily and then try to prevent it from happening again in the future.
I started out by listening to the customer. They were clearly upset and angry. I used
effective communication and listening techniques to show empathy and understanding for their
situation. When the time was right during the conversation, I apologized unreservedly,
made no excuses before starting to offer a resolution to their complaint that they were
happy with. Throughout my dealings with them, I remained calm, I listened, and I gathered
facts and information which enabled me to make a sound decision in the best interests
of the customer and the organization. Once I had resolved the complaint and put things
right, I made an assessment of the circumstances that led to the complaint. I created a short
written report for my manager detailing what steps could be taken to prevent the same situation
from happening again.” Once again, you can see how effective the STAR technique is for
creating strong, evidence-based answers to situational-type probation officer interview
questions. So, what's the next thing for you to do? Please now CLICK THAT LINK in the top-right
hand corner of the video. It will take you through to my website, PassMyInterview.com.
You can download my full set of 23 Probation Officer interview questions and top-scoring
answers, including the ones I've worked through with you today, right here on the presentation.
It's a really strong guide that will help you prepare fully for your probation officer
interview. I hope you enjoyed that! Please don't forget to SUBSCRIBE. Connect with me
on LinkedIn.com and also GIVE THE VIDEO A LIKE. I would appreciate your support. Thank
you very much. All that's left me to say is I wish you all the best for passing your probation
officer interview and have a brilliant day. Thank you very much!