Ridiculous job application instructions

[tornout]

Applying for a role at a well known organisation. There are 48 (!!!) competency criteria listed in the person specification, most of which are "essential", the others "desirable". The instructions say I should provide a very specific example for each one, using the "STAR" technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result). No specified word limit but I should be concise.

I meet all the criteria, but only have until midnight to write it all down. Wish me luck!

Let's help out. Give me number 33 and I'll knock up an example for you.

Responsiveness to feedback, with the ability to incorporate revisions and updates in a timely and effective manner.

Civil service right. Yeah, it only gets more stupid from here.

The civil service have some silly questions .I applied and was actually asked did I get free meals at school.

That's because they are deliberately trying to get people who are from less middle class/privileged backgrounds to work for the CS.

It's not Civil Service, but I'd wager someone from their HR department is ex-Civil Service.

I had a civil service interview a couple of years ago and the interviewer was an AI character. I was given 90 seconds to answer each question with a timer on the screen - it was hideous

And yet those from the targeted backgrounds do worse in the selection process.

Give me one, I’ll take 35

In a previous role, I worked closely with colleagues in small meeting rooms for long periods of time. On one occasion, a teammate gave me personal but constructive feedback that my footwear choices were causing an unpleasant odour in the room. Although the feedback was slightly uncomfortable to hear, I recognised that it was important to address it promptly and effectively. I acknowledged the feedback without defensiveness, thanked my colleague for raising it, and immediately took steps to improve. I switched to more breathable shoes, kept spare socks and hygiene products at work, and was more mindful about how my choices affected those around me. The issue did not recur, and the colleague later mentioned they appreciated how quickly and gracefully I responded. The experience reinforced for me that all feedback — even when it feels personal — is an opportunity to adapt and improve, and since then I’ve consistently approached feedback with openness and made revisions or adjustments in a timely, professional way to support a positive working environment.

Experience in developing comprehensive service transition plans, including timelined, resource planning, communication strategies, and testing schedules.

Hope they’ve not said “must fit on 2 sides of A4”. 2 point font incoming

But geez, that’s ridiculous.

I'm only up to number 14 and I'm on 2700 words (though a significant number of them are the criteria titles).

Do you really want to work somewhere that has such an insane application process?

I'm hoping rival candidates will give up before me and I'll be a shoo-in. 😁

That’s for social monitoring of who they are engaging with at what level. It’s not used to assess your suitability for the job. The interviewers don’t even see it.

I genuinely don't think I could do that in 4 hours! I'd probably write something in language for a 12 year old and then put it through chat GPT.

Hellloooooo Microsoft co-pilot

Thats how I've got most of my jobs!

Experience in developing comprehensive service transition plans, including timelined, resource planning, communication strategies, and testing schedules.

S - in my previous role as x I was tasked with developing a service transition plan to assist my team in moving from x system to y system. This was a challenging process given significant resourcing pressures.
T - I took lead in developing a service transition plan, this included applying project management techniques to co-produce a plan that considered resourcing, service needs and ensured effective and meaningful communication with stakeholders, customers, and staff. I established a task and finish group to engage relevant staff and I ensured that the resulting plan included sufficient time for testing schedules with built in additional time to respond to issues raised during testing.
A - I chaired the T&F group, developed the project management plan, provide quality and risk management oversight and took responsibility for all governance processes.
R - with careful management I ensured the transition plan delivered on time and to budget with the result that x

In my bit of the public sector we have max 4 / 5 (and sometimes only 3) of these questions to answer with quite a short word limit. Otherwise scoring and sorting would take forever! This is just madness.

Writ a narrative of a couple of projects or whatever. Use foot notes to show the example. Star the narrative.

Definitely not Civil Service ! You would have to cover all that within 500 words🤣
Absolute madness

I'd do the firat ten and give a good answer for each. If they want more than that they can stuff their job.

Have you read the requirements fully? Our job descriptions list a lot of essential skills but you have to demonstrate the key competencies of the role, which are a different, much shorter list.