Frequently Asked Questions – Stage 4

Q1. Should I attend the Insight Day in my region?

Yes, we strongly recommend that all candidates attend this event where possible, as it is an opportunity to meet with different councils and find out more about them, as well as speaking to trainees currently working on the NGDP.

However, if you cannot attend, do not worry, you will be able to access information on the council information pages about each council. Many of the councils will also organise virtual drop in events. You will not be penalised for not attending.

Q2. Will there be any help with travel expenses for the Insight Day event?

We do not want to the cost of travel to be an impediment to you attending the Insight Day. We are happy to reimburse up to £50 for train tickets, petrol, or whatever type of transport you have used after the event, for any candidate for whom the cost might be an issue, on proof of receipt and a completed expense form. Please return this by email to [email protected] by Friday 26 April.

Additionally, if you are concerned about paying the cost of train fare or petrol upfront, or the full totality of the cost, please do reach out to use at the earliest opportunity and we will see what we can do to help you. There will be no judgement and no interrogation of your circumstances, we will just establish the best way to enable you to attend.

Q3. What is the purpose of the virtual drop-in sessions?

Some councils may hold virtual drop-in sessions for candidates after the Insight Day has taken place. You can attend these if you are interested in a council or want to find out more information. The drop-in sessions are an opportunity for each council to show what their graduates could be working on, or to speak to graduates currently placed in councils, so make sure that you utilise these if you want to, to help you with your preference form.

Q4. Will I be penalised if I don’t attend the Insight Day or any drop-in sessions?

Both the Insight Day and the information provided online are purely for your benefit, to enable you to gain a good understanding of which councils are on the scheme this year and what they could each offer you, in order for you to complete your preference form with the fullest picture possible.

Interviews are allocated by the NGDP team (more on this below), and councils do not get a say on which candidates they see – so you would not be advantaged or disadvantaged either way, through taking part or not. For example, speaking to a council at the Insight Day does not make you more likely to get an interview there.

Q5. Do different councils offer different things?

All councils sign up to the NGDP under the agreement that they will: 

• employ national management trainees on a minimum two-year fixed term contract
• pay national management trainee salaries a minimum salary of £30,296 (*may be more but will not be less, subject to local agreement and pay negotiations)
• nominate a member of staff to be the placement coordinator for the programme, once the council’s national management trainee(s) is in place.
• organise a minimum of three placements for each national management trainee over the two years.
• allow you to take part in the Learning and Development programme.

There will be differing opportunities and management of the NGDP at each local authority however. For example you may wish to explore:

• the top issues in that area
• the types of placements on offer e.g. which council departments or services
• how much say you would have in which placements you undertake
• the number of vacancies available
• additional development opportunities that may be available to you
• the organisation’s culture
• whether work is remote, in person, or hybrid.

Councils are best placed to answer questions any questions about what they can offer you, and the NGDP team are unlikely to be able to answer these types of council specific query – so you will need to address any questions regarding this directly to the council via email or by attending the insight day.

It is your responsibility to ensure you have a clear understanding of this before you complete your preference form.  Doing so will enable you to make informed choices and will be important when/if presented with an offer/s. 

Q6. Any advice on selecting councils?

We encourage all candidates to be open minded and utilise the information pages online to understand the different opportunities available from each authority.

Q7. Will there be any more councils signing up to the NGDP that are not on the preference form?

No. All the councils registered for this year in your region will be on your preference form. 

Q8. Does selecting your preferences in a particular way guarantee an interview with your first choice council? 

No. The interviews are allocated to provide candidates with at least one interview in their allocated region. We must also balance the fact that some councils are more popular than others. Of course, the order of your preferences will be taken into consideration and we will do our best to honour them but, when making your choices, keep in mind that you could be offered an interview with any of the councils you have listed. You may also be offered one in the wider region you have been allocated.

Putting a council first or second does not guarantee you an interview there, most likely because they are a particularly popular choice. The more you can be flexible with the types of council on your list, the more likely we can honour your preferences.

Q9. Does having a local connection to a council help?

It is definitely not essential and most councils will be keen to interview candidates from all over of the country. However, we will provide space in your preference form if you want to let us know about any connection to a particular council you feel it would be pertinent for us to know.

Q10. How many interviews will I be allocated?  

Each candidate will receive at least one interview (dependent on your completion of the preference form). You may be offered more, depending on the demand for candidates from participating councils.

Q11. When will I be notified about my interview dates? 

You will be notified by 13 May at the latest regarding interviews taking place in May and June. Interview allocation emails will come through in one email. You will be contacted by the councils interviewing you with the details of what to expect following notification from the NGDP team. You will be given at least 5 days’ notice of details necessary for each interview.

Q 12. What happens if I can't attend on the interview date given? 

You should check council interview dates on the information hub and you should ensure availability on the dates councils are hosting interviews. It is, therefore, unlikely that an alternative date will be offered should your availability change at a later date. Exceptional circumstances may be taken into consideration by the interviewing council but it is at their discretion to decide whether to reschedule an interview or not. 

Q13. How many interviews do I have to attend? 

Each candidate should be allocated at least one interview but you may be offered more. You are required to attend all the interview/s that you have been allocated. If you do not attend an interview on any other date, without providing a reasonable explanation more than 48 hours in advance, we reserve the right to assume that you are withdrawing from the NGDP and will cancel your remaining interviews. 

Q14. Why didn't I get at interview at my preferred council?

Interviews are allocated to provide candidates with at least one interview in their allocated region. We anticipate that the majority of candidates will get one interview within their top council choices but, this depends on the availability of interview slots with your preferred councils and their popularity (i.e. how many other people put them down as a top choice). Where a council is particularly popular, we may use scores from assessment centres to help us prioritise who gets the interview.

We really appreciate your open-mindedness and flexibility. We will do our best to honour your preferences as much as possible, whilst ensuring fairness for all candidates.

Q15. How will the interviews take place?

Once your interviews have been allocated by the NGDP team, a contact from the/each council will liaise will you directly about arrangements for your interviews (e.g. timings, location, logistics, etc).

It will be at each council’s discretion to decide whether they hold face-to-face interviews and this will be made clear on the information pages.

The specifics will vary from council to council, as they will manage the organisation of this directly and have discretion over how they run their interviews.

Q16. Is there any preparation I need to do before my council interviews? 

There is no mandatory interview preparation, but the more you can demonstrate your understanding of the council's needs and show a passion for local government, the better. Having spoken to a number of graduates who have successfully progressed through this stage and our partner councils we recommend: 

• Researching the council in depth including, but not limited to, their strategic plan, transformation activity, the political make up of the council and the local area. This should all be found on the council website information pages.
• Engaging with the material provided by councils on the information pages where you can also ask questions.
• Thinking about when you might use the knowledge you have gained from your research. What are some of the challenges for the council?  How might that impact how you answer the questions asked?
• Identifying the type of council you are interviewing with e.g. a county council, a district council, a London borough and so on. The type affects the size of the council, the amount of people they serve and the range of services provided.
• Making sure you can confidently explain why the council you’re interviewing with is of particular interest to you. 
• Following recent local and national news 
• Having a good understanding of current trends in local government.
• There is also a wide range of information on the LGA website.
• Speaking to a local councillor to gain an understanding of their perspective on local government.
• Practice how to structure your responses, the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) technique can be helpful.
• Being yourself! 

Q17. What questions, if any, should I ask at the end of the interview?

This is completely up to you, but it is a good opportunity to understand more about how the NGDP works at that particular local authority. Remember, these interviews are as much about you finding out about the council as them finding out about you.

If you’re struggling for ideas, here are some suggestions:

• What kind of senior buy in there is to the NGDP programme? (i.e. if you would meet regularly/have contact with the CEO and Directors).
• What kind of learning and development opportunities will be available to outside of my placements?
• What types of work have previous graduates been involved with? (If they haven't already told you).
• Think of something you are interested in that's relevant to what you know about the council and ask what opportunities you might have to do something around that 
• What would a successful NMT look like six months into the role?

Q18. Who will be interviewing me? 

Councils will determine their own interview panels. The majority of councils will have a recruitment policy which explains their processes and practices. Many will inform you in advance, either directly or in response to a query, who will be conducting interviews and other details of the day. If this is something you’d like to know, you can raise this question when you correspond with the council about interview arrangements.

Q19. What information do you share with councils prior to interview?

We share your contact details and the written answer on your preference form. We do not share the marks you have received in the application process, any information provided through the equality and diversity process (including information about disabilities) or your specific preferences for interview. This information remains confidential to the NGDP team. 

If you would like the council(s) that you are interviewing with to know about a disability/any particular requirements in advance of interview, please let the council know directly so that they can make appropriate accommodations.  Use the point of contact provided (e.g. the person arranging the interviews with you).

Q20. Do I need to have any documents with me to interview?

The interviewing councils will inform you of what you need to have for the interview. If you are unsure, please contact the council directly. 

Q21. Will I need references? 

The interviewing councils will inform you of what you need to have for your interview. If you are unsure, please contact the council. 

Q22. What happens if I don't want to attend the interview/don't attend without notifying anyone? 

It is expected that you attend all interviews allocated to you. If you cannot attend an interview please inform the NGDP team ([email protected]) immediately and state why. If you do not attend an interview without providing a reasonable explanation more than 48 hours in advance, we reserve the right to assume that you are withdrawing from the NGDP and will cancel your remaining interviews. We will also consider the results of any interviews already attended as void. We do make exceptions for illness or unforeseen complications, but you must write to us the day of the interview at the latest to explain your absence. Please remember, this stage of the process is still competitive so attending all your interviews will give you a better chance of securing a place on the programme. No replacement interviews will be organised for you. 

Q23. When will I be notified about my interview outcomes?  

You will be notified between Monday 10 June – Friday 28 June  regarding the results of interviews. You will receive an email from the team and you will need to make a decision on any offers within 24 hours. Please email us at [email protected] if these details are not up to date. 

Please do not contact the NGDP team about your interview outcomes unless we have asked you to or you have not been contacted by 5pm on Friday 28 June. If you have not received any offers you will receive an email notifying you of the next steps. 

Q26. What happen if I receive an offer/s from councils?

Following an email from the NGDP team you will be given instructions on how to accept or decline your offers and will have 24 hours to decide whether you would like to accpet the offer(s) available to you.

Please note, if you have received more than one offer, once you have communicated your decision you cannot revise this choice. 

Q25. When will my job start?

Once you have been offered and accepted a job from a council, you will arrange your start date. Most start dates will be arranged for September and October 2024. You will arrange this directly with the council. 

Q26. Can I defer my offer to next year? 

Deferrals are not offered on the NGDP due to the high demand for places, changes in council participation year-on-year and adaptations made to the NGDP assessment process each year. You can, however, apply to the NGDP again if you wish to do so.   

Q28. What happens if I don't get offered a job? 

Unfortunately, we have a number of candidates each year who do not find their best fit at the interview stage and are not offered (or choose not to accept) a job. Some councils however, struggle to fill all their desired vacancies in the first round of interviews and may arrange additional ad hoc interviews over the course of July and August. Candidates who have not previously interviewed with the council will be informed as opportunities arise. We also operate a ‘national talent pool’ where councils can request candidates for interviews if they have other local vacancies. The talent pool stays open for two months.