Civil service interview

[Lockthedoor]

Hi all, looking for some info from people who have been through the civil service interview process.

I did my interview on Thursday for a grade 7 rope through cabinet office - the ad said there were 100 vacancies hence tried my luck.

Well i did the interview and i gotta say it was trickier than expected, but felt it went fairly well.

It was competency and strength based, plus a small presentation on a topic under the behaviour of "leadership".

I felt it went well because i remembered my examples and was able to tailor them to answer the questions. Also answered all their follow up questions, and i think managed to establish some form of human connection.

Im struggling however to make a prediction, i.e. I feel i did well for my standards but not sure whether i did well enough for theirs!

I guess i would like to know from anyone who has experience with this how they assess the interview. I know they attribute a score to each answer, but is there a way to 'read' how it went, maybe based on other things?

Bearing in mind I left public sector 5 years ago the marking of interviews was split into categories. These will be along the lines of

• Demonstrating leadership
• Demonstrating communication skills
• Presentation skills etc

The nature of the categories being assessed will depend upon what the job advert and application pack states are the required key competencies and skills.
The panel will have strict guidelines about what they are looking for in each area and will be expected to write notes and a give a mark of something like 1 - 5. 1 - 3 would be an automatic fail. 4 & 5 would be an acceptable score in that area. If you gain a pass mark in all areas they will be added together for a total score and these should them be competitively assessed against other candidates. The top scores should be offered jobs.
At some point in the process you will be subject to some form of security check.

In terms of what you might score, only you were there so your guess is best. It is possible depending on what the paperwork says you may be able to request detailed feedback.

Therefore, assuming the system hasn’t changed, SIMPLES.