Young people in Darlington invited to interview candidates for the 'Director of Public Health' position.
The group included members of Darlington Youth Partnership (Member of Youth Parliament and the Deputy Member of Youth Parliament), one of our very own Youthwatch Darlington’s volunteers, a young person from Darlo Care Crew and a young person from Darlington Care Leavers.
The group worked together on two occasions before the interview. First to devise the 5 questions following research on what Public Health is, what does a Director of Public Health do and what happens in Darlington. The second time to go through how the interview would run, interview techniques and to discuss things around confidentiality and equal opportunities.
The interviews were held via Microsoft Teams – each of the young people introduced themselves and then each of them asked a question of the candidate, they listened to the responses and made notes of the answers. Following each interview the young people panel had a very insightful discussion around the answers and then marked each one out of 5.
The young people all behaved in an extremely professional manner, the questions they developed were very focused on what a difference Public Health could make to the lives of young people in Darlington, they were very polite and listened carefully to the responses but were not afraid to ask follow up questions to get clarity on an answer.
Some of the young people have been part of young people panels for previous interviews but in the current climate this is the first time Teams has been used for an interview. All the young people handled this expertly and it did not detract from the experience for either the young people or the candidates.
Joanne Shutt, Participation Officer from Darlington Borough Council said “The young people on the panel were are credit to Darlington and responded to the whole process with enthusiasm, commitment and professionalism. This is such a worthwhile process and is an experience which I am sure both the young people and candidates get so much from.”
“I felt very lucky to be a part of the panel. To be able to have our voices heard in what we would like from the new director of public health was a very rewarding experience. To also know that our views do matter and are being listened to in what areas mainly affect young people but also to hear what could be done to help this issue was very interesting and overall felt like such a worthwhile experience that I'm incredibly grateful to have assisted with.”
This opportunity to encourage participation from young people across Darlington has highlighted again the value of providing young people with a chance to be involved and to have a voice.
Jemma Austin, Senior Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator from Healthwatch Darlington said “I’m thrilled that Youthwatch Darlington’s young volunteers were given the opportunity to share their time and expertise to assist with other worthwhile activities within the town. Their enthusiasm to help improve outcomes and health & care for young people has been highlighted once again by Jessica’s involvement with the interview panel for a new Public Health Director. Well done to all of the young people involved.”
