Recently had an interview for a Civil Service role and came away feeling a bit deflated, so I’d really appreciate some advice.
I prepared quite a lot beforehand and did some practice interviews. The actual interview included a mix of strengths and behaviour‑based questions, and I felt more confident with the strengths than the behaviours.
One of the behaviour questions really threw me, and I struggled to get my thoughts together. I ended up rambling a bit, pausing for too long, and then trying to pull myself back on track. They also asked several follow‑up questions, which I found difficult to handle in the moment! My ego just feels a bit bruised, as I feel like I just talked a lot of crap - even though hopefully there was some sense and value in what I talked about 😂
Does anyone have any tips on dealing with CS interview follow‑up questions and on structuring behaviour answers clearly (e.g., using STAR) when the interview questions they ask are very specific?