News
Interview Experience
At the CYCLe Executive meeting in March, we had a small presentation from Martin Satchwell, on what his job entails and what he thought of the interview process he went though.
Martin Satchwell was appointed 7 months ago as the Service Commissioning Manager for Children & Young People’s Service. During the interview process he was interviewed by a panel of young people, as well as having an interview with relevant council officers.
Martin said that he felt nervous when he went to the panel of young people, as he didn’t know how it was going to be run, or what questions where going to be asked, but he had nothing to worry about as the panel made him feel at ease and they asked relevant and precise questions, for example ‘how would he help ensure that the views of Children & Young People are accounted for in his work?’
“This process particularly helped focus me on how and why Children and Young People should be involved in determining, developing, and improving services where possible”
“The message has remained with me since I have started, and I hope to be able to improve the extent to which we consult and engage with Children & Young People where appropriate throughout the whole service, partly by prompting Service Managers on timescales by which they need to start planning for review, and re-contracting of some of their services.”
As the Service Commissioning Manager for Children & Young People’s Service Martin helps Service Managers (Managers in charge of different service areas – such as the Youth Service) specify what they need their services to do, so contracts are clear, and providers can effectively tell us what they can offer, and how much it will cost, as well as helping to ensure that their agreements with providers are covered by appropriate terms and conditions to protect Children, The Council and Tax payers.
Martin also helps Service Managers consider how their services might be improved. This may include:
- Consultation with Young People/Service Users
- Consultation with other stakeholders such as parents and other organisations
And finally, he helps to ensure that services in different areas of Children & Young People’s Service and other areas of the Council compliment each other.
I don’t think Martin will mind me saying that he found the young people’s interview panel interesting, new and challenging. I’m also sure that he would highly recommend that, for any job that involves young people, a young interview panel should be considered.
“My experience of the Young People’s interview panel was very positive, and helped underline the importance of including the views of Young People in decisions made regarding the services provided by the Council. I certainly think that a Young People’s interview panel should be considered when recruiting people to jobs where understanding the views of Young People is key.”