Civil service interview

[Awcw1234]

Hello,

I have an interview for a EO role within the civil service in a few weeks. This will be my first civil service interview so I’m trying my best to prepare as I really want this job!

I am being assessed against 2 behaviours and 4 technical/experience. How many questions am I likely to be asked against each one? I’m wondering how many examples I should prepare for each one.

Also, during civil service interviews, are you asked standard interview questions such as “what are you strengths and weaknesses?” etc or do they just stick to the behaviours/technical questions?

Finally, my interview invitation states I can take in notes. I have never taken notes into an interview. Is this what people actually do for CS interviews?

Thank you :)

What kind of organisation is it? Central govenefment / arms’s length body /policy role /ops role?

If central government policy, I’d expect one question per behaviour /technical /experience requirement. I’d definitely prepare to be asked some variant on “why do you want this role” or “what are your strengths and weaknesses” or “what do you think the challenges will be for you in this role”.

If it says you can take in notes, then you are welcome to take them in or not. As an interviewer, I’d be judging you on the quality/content of your answers, and I would feel neutral about whether you had notes with you or not.

Normally the expectations are STAR answers and “can you tell me about a time when you have…”

If you look up civil service grade behaviours/profiles you’ll find loads of information which will show you the behaviours you need to tailor your answers to.

You might be asked strengths/weaknesses as a “settling in” question.

I think the notes thing is relatively new, never been able to nor have I sat on a panel where it’s been allowed, but have heard colleagues talk about it recently.

Good luck.

Thank you!

Does anyone know if the interview panel will have seen the examples I used on my application form? Just wondering whether I can use the ones I can provided on my application form as they scored well. Obviously I’d go into more detail during the interview!

They wont have seen your examples, I used the same for my interview as I did for my statement. I was assessed against 4 behaviours which I prepared for, and had 5 strength questions which were not known in advance, as they want your first answer.

Read the success profiles online and that will help, remember STAR and focus on what YOU did, a lot of people fail as they talk about what they did in their team.

Is it live or on Teams?

I did this around 4 years ago and it was 4 behaviours with 4/8 questions. There will be a main Q and if you are asked follow up Q's it's because you haven't given enough information in your initial answer. It's fine to use your application examples and you can use one example if it covers all behaviours/competencies - these are usually available online as is the case for NI. Don't be put off by the interviewers not making eye contact as they will be recording what you say. As PP said stick to STAR and use I not We. Good luck!

Hello, what do you mean by '4 behaviours with 4/8 questions'? Do you mean there was 2 questions to cover each behaviour? Just wondering how many examples I should prepare for each one.

I have only got to prepare for 2 behaviours but I've got to prepare for 4 experience/technical questions (these were covered on my application form).

Interview is thankfully in person at the office I'll be based at. I'd hate an online interview!

They probably will have seen your examples - I interview frequently for Civil
Service and we do see the applications.

You can still use the same ones but you'll be able to expand on them in the interview.

Could be 1 or 2 questions per behaviour and tech/experience. Usually one for each if your interview is less than an hour but always prepare at least two.

Be prepared for a baseline question where they'll ask you something like 'describe something you've done recently that you really enjoyed?' or 'What have you done this year that you're proud of?'. Your answer doesn't have to be work related.

Is there any mention of Strengths questions?

Don't assume that interviewers remember anything about your application, depending on how many they had and how busy they are (and how long it's taken to interview), it may have completely slipped their mind.

Do take notes in, that's fine, use them to jolt your memory, Just don't read them verbatim like you're reading out a overly prepared answer.

My interview is one hour. As I'm covering two behaviours and four technical/experience, is it safe to assume I'll only be asked one question for each one? Of course, I will prepare two for each.

No mention of strength based questions thankfully. I'm not too keen on them at all.

Couchcritter - my email states I can notes in but I've never taken notes into an interview? Is this something that many people do? I can't help but worry that it will make me look a little underprepared... like I'm relying on them or something!

It's likely you'll only have one each but they could slip in two for any they think are important.

Make sure your examples are relevant and fairly recent and that you can cover every part of the behaviour/competency with one example.

It's totally fine to take notes as long as you don't read verbatim from them. That would lose you marks. Using them to refresh your memory if you stumble for example though is absolutely fine!

Thank you.

I'm so nervous. I've never had a civil service interview before. There are only 6 roles and from looking at how many interview slots are available, it looks like I've got less than 10% chance of being successful. Fingers crossed though.

There's nothing super special about a civil service interview - it's just an ordinary interview using the usual competency based type questions as everyone else. It may be more structured in approach and on first appearance seem a bit different because of all the Behaviours & Strengths gobbledegook, but it's really not once you are in there. They are just a different way of linking the job tasks and responsibilities to the person specification.

Think of it like this:
Technical = What you know or can do as a skill, plus qualifications
Experience = When you have done this types of tasks in the past to acquire and use that knowledge or expertise
Behaviours = How you do these things

If you haven't already, read the definitions
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf

So if for example it's "working at pace" then that really just means "A time when I was really super busy and coped by using time management techniques and stayed focused on the main goal".

So nothing to be worried about! Just have examples ready in your head/jotted down and listen carefully to the questions. Remember, the panel WANT to hire somebody, they want you to do well and are not there to trip you up or make you feel flustered. Oh and relax & be yourself - show them some of your personality. Good luck!

Thank you for the tips!