Any Civil servants around who can help me with a grade 7 application?

[Autumnnymph]

Posting here for traffic. I have found a job in Civil services that is perfect for me so I want to ensure my competency answers show that. Its so tough to fit it in 250 words? So should I given just one example and go into some detail or give a few high level examples to highlight that i have done some of those multiple times over?

I have kept the answers to a STAR format but I feel that I am not yet conveying the depth or breadth of my experience as 250 words doesnt seem enough to convey the trickiness or challenges of some of my examples. Any advise from sifters would be much appreciated.

Meant to say its a grade 7 role in project management if that helps.

I’ve just got my promotion to SO so can be of a little help. Definitely use just one main answer - they want the depth. But you can mention other examples very very briefly e.g. ‘using my experience on similar projects’ or ‘a colleague I had worked with on a similar project before’ but only if you have the space.

Really emphasise all the connections/ stakeholders etc you have/ used in your example

@Warsaw0912 thanks! I so want this job so am very nervous - never worked in the civil services before.

Do you have a copy of the competency framework? That’s always a good starting point. Good luck

I would give one or at most two examples per competency. And make sure that you don't use the same example for different competencies. That way you should be able to demonstrate depth and breadth of experience.

Also, do check your grammar etc. I know your post was not an application, but careless mistakes would definitely put me off!

@warsaw yes, I do and have checked off that all competencies for grade show up in my answer

@Fifthtimelucky thanks! I am a typo queen, so i will triple check grammar and spelling before I submit

Give one good example with a good outcome including evidence of learning for the future. Follow the framework and aim for grade 8 level to give you the best opportunity.

Have good examples due for the interview that are also competencies based on the STAR principal. Good luck!

I'd also go for one example and use others for interview. And if you can try and choose examples that tick off more than one competency. (I frequently find when I'm sifting that we're relying on evidence from one criteria to pass against another.)

Good luck!

Oh and the ones that get the best marks frequently use STARR, with the extra R standing for Reflection - what would I do differently next time?

Absolutely use only one example for each competency, and make the examples all different.

At G7 you also need to make sure the examples are sufficiently high level to accord with the grade (which is harder to do as a non civil servant) so in terms of project management you're looking at either large scale projects transforming systems or high profile. Would also recommend trying to link every example to seeing the bigger picture in whatever field it was in (so as a civil servant you link to wider government objectives)

Thanks sooo much everyone!

@JagerPlease for the wider picture I have been trying to use linking to the company and controlling group objectives.

Just cover one example in the 250 words.

Cover STAR, but personally I would start with the outcome/impact as a short pithy statement, then STAR.

If you can the words to list "also applied this competency on x, y and z projects" then you're giving them an 'in' for interview questions.

If you have a job history section use it to show competency rather than listing duties. So don't put "managed 10 people"; put "used performance, sickness and attendance policies to improve performance/attendance". Don't put managed payment framework for contractor", but "suggested and implemented an improved fee structure to ....". I've not worded that very well, but basically use the job history to show your successes rather than list your duties.

Good luck!

I sift G7 applications. Agree with advice to only use one example. Scout the behaviours at G7 in the Civil Service competency framework (easily google able) for examples of the kind of things you need to be talking about. The main thing which weaker G7 application do is talk about something which was relatively straightforward or simple. At G7 level, you need to be talking about stuff you did which was complicated, difficult, with obstacles. The difficulty can be very different kinds of things: demanding seniors or stakeholders, complicated analytically or in terms of the evidence, having to do something fast or juggling multiple demands on your time etc (not necessarily all in the same example!). And you need to talk about how you personally navigated through that.

Also choose examples with breadth or depth - so not just that you delivered a single task to time and budget, but how you oversaw multiple tasks.

Also, especially for an external candidate, give a sense of how big and important the thing you did was - was it high profile in your organisation or industry? Was a lot of money at stake? Were there multiple competing interests? Etc.

250 words is a killer, even for only one example. When I was (successfully) applying for G7 as an existing civil servant, the key to cutting it my waffle down was being really brutal with the situation/task bit. I instinctively wanted to add lots of helpful context but really one short sentence covered both of these and left me with maximum words to talk about what I actually did and how it demonstrated the competency.

Good luck!

Agree with doing STAR - and remember the R! So many people’s examples just fizzle out and don’t have a punchy Result.

Like the others who have given advice I would use only one example. You can't describe how you have met a competency for a G7 role in 250 words using more than one example.

Don't waste 50 words setting the scene. Something like 'I identified that stakeholder engagement was poor in a project I had recently taken over' is enough.

Don't use acronyms that nobody in the department you are applying to will understand. Don't say 'I identified significant problems in the management of the DPMS2MXL system.'

Say 'the departmental/online project management system' or 'the departmental/online risk management system' or whatever. We aren't bothered if you don't give it it's full name. We just want to know what it's purpose is and what you did to improve it.

Only use examples which you have completed. One of the most important parts of the STAR model is what was the outcome? How did your input did improve stakeholder engagement/team performance/customer service/reduce costs etc etc? What difference did you make? So many candidates provide examples which are still in progress.

I agree with nonevernotever that the 2nd R - Reflection - is important but it isn't one of the competency markers - so I've never given anyone extra marks whilst sifting for including it. We mark strictly against the competency bullets. But it is something that we ask at interview - if you don't volunteer it first - so do!! It will get you extra marks there if you include it in your verbal answer.

Best of luck!

Thanks everyone! This is all super helpful ! I have re-read my application and I see that I have wasted words in setting the scene. I am going to do some brutal editing now. :)

Sorry happyasasandboy but I wouldn't recommend "used performance, sickness and attendance policies to improve performance/attendance".

I know exactly what you are trying to say but this could be perceived as bullying. As in rigidly enforcing policies to improve attendance particularly, without assessing individual needs. I would raise my eyebrows at that statement and wonder whether the candidate would be a good fit for my team where we have people with significant medical conditions and other issues that we are currently managing very effectively. It sounds a bit inflexible and not really something we'd expect from a G7 applicant. I wouldn't recommend a candidate using that statement to proceed to interview.

I know that examples are limited by word count but it would be better so say something like:

'I have worked collaboratively and supportively with team members with performance, health and personal issues to enable them to attend work, or work flexibly, and to meet objectives, in accordance with HR policies and Occupational Health input.'

Ha - HarveyNickNacks and I have read the same applications! Totally agree with all that. On not faffing about with too much context-setting - yes, but do try to get in a sense of scale (big, important) into your context opening sentence. Eg ok is “I led a project which aimed to improve widget efficiency”. Better is “I led a priority project working directly to the CEO which looked at the £10m widget product line as part of the business’s strategic objective to reduce costs by 25%”. (Not very civil servanty, but you get the idea).

Are you applying under the competence framework of new Sucess Profiles approach?

If the former one example - you’ll do bredth at the interview - make clear the level of challenge, what you did and why and what the outcome was. Do not waste words on the context. Happy to read one for you. Do PM me.

Good luck OP.

My tip is not being afraid to say "I" - so many applicants talk about "we", but I'm not considering recruiting the whole team, I only care about what YOU did

Yep, totally agree with Wigeon - report the project as it is. If it's worth £10 million say so!

And totally agree with OlennasWimple. Saying I and not we is essential. Never say we!

Take notes in. Nearly every candidate I've ever interviewed has brought notes in. But keep it simple. I've interviewed people who have brought in A4 ring binders who spent a few minutes flicking back and forth to find their notes after being asked a question.

I took in one A4 sheet. I divided it up into squares for each competency. The one on my application broken down into bullets for each element of STAR and a back up example for each competency just incase they asked me to give another example.

But at the top of the sheet I had in bold : I identified, I led, I managed, I evaluated, I reported, I responded to feedback, I engaged with my leadership team, I engaged with the client's leadership team, I reported our findings, I received thanks from the client. Saying 'we' is what we are programmed to do. Don't worry if you correct yourself part way through an answer. We've all done it.

@underMajorDomoMinor I am using the one that is linked in the application form - assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/436073/cscf_fulla4potrait_2013-2017_v2d.pdf

I will PM you - thanks!

Another tip, just because you only have 250 words, you don't have a limit on space so

• space your paragraphs
• use bullet points

Makes it easier for the sifters to read and can make it stand out against blocks of writing! In other applications as well as saving words!

Thanks for the fabulous advise everyone! I have now sent the application off this morning. Now fingers, toes and eyes crossed. I have seen a few more roles that fit so am going to use this experience to apply for those as well.