News

Monday
Today I am off to south London for an assessment day for residential social workers who have applied for jobs with a client. My role is to carry out the type of personal interview recommended by Lord Warner. Armed with my tape recorder and psychometric materials, I arrive at the assessment centre. I do my best to put applicants at ease. Realistically, the maximum number that one can deal with in any day is four before exhaustion sets in. After a few minutes, the applicants forget the tape recorder and become totally involved in their life histories and what motivates them. The personality measure that they complete at the beginning gives added insight into their suitability and how they are likely to fit in with their colleagues.

Tuesday
I start to write up the results of yesterday's sessions. At lunchtime, I receive a call from GMTV. Another child abuse conviction - can I give my opinion in the continuing debate over Megan's Law? This gives us a chance to keep the awareness up in a responsible way - it's hard enough to educate the professionals let alone the public.

Wednesday
In the afternoon I hold a brainstorming session with colleagues about ways to attract more people into the residential care profession. We have found that a lot of good people do not even consider it because they assume they will require a lot of qualifications. The reality is that many people go into the work with no qualifications or experience at all, often by accident. They may also see their life choices as limited to the lowest paid occupations anyway. Often they have limited communication skills. The attrition rate is high: there has to be a way to attract more people who would not normally consider the job but would be ideal in terms of education level and personality. Leave the ideas with our specialist recruitment marketing team to mull over.

Thursday
More assessments today. Iam shocked to discover in the first interview that the applicant had been sacked from a previous job for gross misconduct - improper association with a young person in his care. He has answered "No" to the question about whether he had ever been dismissed or disciplined. But how did he get this far in the process and why had he been employed by an agency since then? Why is he not on the Protection of Children Act 1999 list for people considered unsuitable to work with children? The list is only as good as the information given to it.

Friday
Today I am helping an airline select pilots using competency-based interviewing and personality profiling. Suitability in respect of culture and personality apply in the same way as social care and a lot of the requirements are the same: ability to cope under pressure, team working, and culture fit are certainly essential in both arenas. Thank God it's Friday!