Telephone Operations Interviewer

The role will be to conduct telephone interviews with members of the public, who have been selected and pre notified for our social surveys. Some of the calls will be booked appointments, others will be calling telephone numbers supplied to us. The interviewer role is to gain agreement to conduct the survey over the telephone, completing the survey by asking the questions accurately and recording the responses using the Blaise system.
Conducting telephone interviews is the primary function of the role. The data collected is entered into computer software by the interviewer. There may be additional admin tasks related to the role including undertaking regular learning and development, having regular meetings with their line manager and team, and using Outlook for emails.
Business opening hours :
In order to achieve maximum response from our surveys, the majority of our work is carried out during week day evenings. We are able to offer 16 to 24 hours per week with various start times available for evening shifts, for daytime shifts there will be a start time of 9 am
The Telephone Operation business opening hours are:
+ Mon-Tue 8am-9pm
+ Wed-Thu 9am-9pm
+ Fri 9am-8pm
+ Sat 9:30am-1:30pm
Hours will be discussed if you are invited to interview, + Contact and call respondents to complete designated social surveys over the telephone. These surveys may include the Labour Force Survey (LFS), Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS), and the Opinions survey (OPN), plus conducting keeping in touch exercises on other surveys.
+ Ask questions as worded adhering to the Standard Method of Interviewing.
+ Working as part of a team and supporting colleagues across the Telephone Operations Community., We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
+ Managing a Quality Service
+ Communicating and Influencing, At ONS we are always looking to attract the very best people from the widest possible talent pool, and we are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we’re committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process.
As part of our application process, you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process that you need. If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying, please contact the recruitment team in the first instance.

If you would like an accessible version of any of the attachments or recruitment documents below or linked to in this advert, please contact the recruitment team who will be happy to assist., Applicants may utilise AI resources in their submissions; ensuring all information provided is factually accurate, truthful, and original, avoiding any form of plagiarism to maintain the authenticity and credibility of the application process.
Please note that all campaigns may be subject to withdrawal at any stage if the internal resource position changes.
Assessment at application stage will be based on our job history and personal statement.
Your personal statement should be no longer than 1250 words. You should use this space fully to provide evidence for each essential criterion within the person specification. As the criteria are scored, we would recommend that you give clear examples for each including the impact of your actions and set them out using the STAR acronym (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
Success Profiles Behaviour examples are not required at this stage.
In cases where there is a high number of applications the sift pass mark may be adjusted and candidates will be invited to interview in merit order, i.e., those scoring the highest.
Should you be invited to interview you will be assessed against all the behaviours (and technical skills if applicable) as outlined in the advert.
Interviews will be held via video conferencing.
A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made.
The Sift will be conducted from 16/12/2024
Interviews will be conducted from 08/01/2025
For the full terms and conditions of the post, please see attachment.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
+ UK nationals
+ nationals of the Republic of Ireland
+ nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
+ nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
+ nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
+ individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
+ Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

+ Be able to follow a script and accurately record data.
+ To be self-disciplined, self-motivated, and happy to work without constant supervision.
+ Have excellent communication skills and enjoy talking to people.
+ Excellent IT skills, proficient in Word and Excel and be able to learn new software systems quickly.
Desirable criteria:
+ Previous experience of interviewing or telephone working.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK's national statistical institute and the largest producer of official statistics in the UK. We are the only government department with the production of statistics as its main role. We are independent of ministers and instead report through the UK Statistics Authority to Parliament and the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Within the Social Survey Division, the Telephone Operation (TO) is responsible for collecting data that underpins those statistics by conducting a number of telephone surveys with selected addresses across the UK. TO is a busy, interesting area employing a diverse workforce of around 200 interviewers working varying shift patterns, including evenings and Saturdays.
Social Surveys Collection (SSC) is the largest business area in ONS with over 1000 colleagues across our HQ sites and the nationwide field community. It is responsible for many of the largest household and social surveys run in the United Kingdom. We have over 70 years of history in managing the design and collection of complex multi-mode social surveys.
Working collaboratively with other business areas both within the Surveys Directorate and elsewhere in ONS, all roles are aligned to the objective of producing high quality, social survey outputs that meet user needs, whilst remaining aligned with corporate priorities that include the recently established Surveys Strategy.
The Operational Delivery Profession (ODP) is the largest profession in the Civil Service. ODP’s 200,000+ members work in a wide range of operational delivery roles across government, providing essential services that support and protect UK citizens at home and overseas. They help to make ONS a great place to work.
As a member, ODP supports you by providing learning and development opportunities, career pathways, tools and resources to help develop your skills and progress your career. This is an exciting opportunity to join a modern, innovative and inclusive Civil Service profession that sits at the heart of public service delivery., The Office for National Statistics is part of the Civil Service, and as such we share a number of key benefits with other departments, whilst also having our own unique offerings to support our 5400 valued colleagues across the business.

Alongside your salary of £23,496, Office for National Statistics contributes £6,806 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.