Research Officer (Public Policy) practice interview
Policy research design, evidence appraisal, interviews, data analysis and clear recommendations for public decision-makers. Practise the 5 questions interviewers ask for this role with follow-ups. Paid plans add scored feedback on every answer.
Free with an Intaviu account: 320 credits a month, at 10 credits a minute of practice. Private: interview creators never see them.
- Junior
- 15 minutes
- 5 questions
- Scored feedback on paid plans
About the role
This interview explores how you would produce useful evidence for public policy decisions. The panel wants to see disciplined research questions, appropriate methods, honest treatment of uncertainty and writing that helps a non-specialist reader act.
How to prepare
- Review the strengths and limits of surveys, interviews, focus groups and administrative data.
- Practise explaining how you would judge the credibility of a source and resolve conflicting evidence.
- Prepare a research example that covers your question, method, finding and limitations.
- Draft a short policy summary that separates evidence, interpretation and recommendation.
Common mistakes
- Choosing a method before defining the decision the research must support.
- Presenting correlation as proof of cause.
- Hiding weak data or uncertainty behind confident recommendations.
What to expect
A real first-round interview
5 questions the way interviewers ask for this role, with follow-ups when an answer needs more.
Spoken, like the real thing
Speak your answers in your browser or the free desktop app, with live captions. You can ask the interviewer to repeat anything.
Scored on 4 areas
The things this interview weighs most. With a paid plan, your report shows how you did on each one.
A private report
On Plus, Pro and Premium: every answer scored, your strongest lines quoted and what to say differently next time. Interview creators never see it.
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