Senior support worker interview questions (2026)

Pick one real shift. Start from what each person's plan needed that day, then explain how you matched staff by skills and by who the person trusts. Say what you checked during the shift and what you changed when something moved. Finish with how it went for the people you support.

On a Saturday with one new starter, I looked first at who needed what: one man had a hospital appointment and one woman finds new faces hard. I put the experienced worker with her and went to the appointment with the man, taking the new starter so she could learn the routine. I checked in by phone at lunchtime, and at handover I asked each of them what had gone well.

Your answer will be different. Say yours out loud and see what it's missing.

Work out what is essential for safety, such as medicines and anyone who needs two staff to move or go out. Call the on-call manager and use your cover process. Then rearrange what is left and talk to the person whose plans change, rather than just cancelling. Record what happened and why.

This happened to me on a Saturday. I checked who must have support for safety, then rang the on-call manager and our bank staff. We only found one person, so I kept medicines and personal care as they were. I told the man why his outing could not go ahead that morning and asked what he would like instead. We rebooked it for the next day, and I wrote it up.

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Speak to them privately and soon, with one specific thing you saw. Ask what is getting in the way, since time pressure may be real. Link it to the person's plan and independence, show what good looks like, agree what will change, and check again. Record it in supervision if it continues.

I noticed a colleague making a man's breakfast every morning, though his plan said he was learning to do it. I asked her for a quiet word and said what I had seen. She said mornings felt rushed, so we moved his breakfast fifteen minutes earlier and I worked alongside her for two days. A fortnight later he was making his own toast, and she told me she was proud of him.

Your answer will be different. Say yours out loud and see what it's missing.

Say that it is two-way: how they are, then how the people they support are doing. Cover their practice, with real examples, any worries about safety or safeguarding, training and what they want to learn. Agree actions, write them down and check them next time, so that supervision changes something on shift.

I start by asking how they are, because the work can be hard. Then we go through the people they support and what is working, with examples from the daily records. I ask if anything is worrying them, including anything about safeguarding, and we look at training. We agree a couple of actions and write them down, and I start the next meeting by checking them.

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First find out whether the dose was given, by checking the stock and asking the colleague, without assuming. If it may have been missed, get advice as your procedure says, such as from the GP or pharmacist. Tell your manager, record it as an incident, and look at how it happened. Never fill the gap in afterwards.

I found a blank for a man's evening tablets. I checked the stock count, which showed the dose had not been given, and rang my colleague, who had been called away to an incident. I rang the pharmacist for advice on the next dose, told the man what had happened, told my manager and completed an incident form. We then changed how medicines are handed over if someone is called away.

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Be open about it early. Say that you value the friendships and that you will now have to raise things you once let pass. Treat everyone the same, give feedback in private, and do not share what you learn as a senior. Show it with one time you had to raise something with a friend.

When I stepped up, I told the two colleagues I was closest to that I still wanted us to be friends, but that I would treat them like everyone else. A few weeks later one of them was signing records early. It was awkward, but I raised it privately the same day, as I would with anyone, and explained why it mattered. She was annoyed for a day, and she stopped doing it.

Your answer will be different. Say yours out loud and see what it's missing.

Start from the people: the hours and support their plans set out, their appointments and who they work best with. Then add staff, checking skills such as medicines training and that each shift has someone who can lead it. Look for gaps and fatigue, and say how you would involve the team.

I would list each person's support hours, appointments and anything that needs two staff, then mark who is trained for medicines and who the person gets on with. Every shift needs someone able to lead it. Then I would look for gaps, too many long days in a row, and new staff working together. I would share a draft early, so that people could raise problems before it went live.

Your answer will be different. Say yours out loud and see what it's missing.

Say that you cannot keep it confidential, and thank them for telling you. Make sure the person is safe, and ask your colleague to write down what they saw as facts. Report it straight away to your manager or safeguarding lead, following procedure. Do not investigate or warn the colleague, and go higher if nobody acts.

I would thank her for telling me and explain that I could not keep it to myself. I would check at once that the person was safe and not in pain, and make sure the colleague was not working alone with them. I would ask her to write down what she saw, then report it to my manager and our safeguarding lead that day, without questioning the colleague myself. If nothing happened, I would go higher.

Your answer will be different. Say yours out loud and see what it's missing.