To ask for your Civil Service Interview tips

[antisupermum]

I have an interview next week for a Civil Service role. Won't go into specifics but its mainly admin based, leading a large team of people. I apply for jobs occasionally on the Civil Service Employment site - the applications themselves take a fair amount of work, but this is the first time I have been invited for interview.

Based on the job role and how detailed the application is with the behavioural questions/ personal statement etc, I am more than a little nervous that the interview is going to be a horror.

Has anyone experienced a CS interview and can enlighten me how they tend to go? Is it "give us examples of a time when" type questions or "talk us through your CV" type thing - or neither! Arghh! The worry about it is actually enough to make me not bother and just stick where I am.

I agree with lots of the advice on this thread, but not about this:

“About yourself and your views on current affairs etc. Eg is Boris truly the great leader and why?”

You will never ever be asked a question which has a political dimension. You’d be extremely unlikely to be asked a question about current affairs, unless it was in a very specific context, eg for a Comms role, and even then they would never ask you about your personal views on current affairs.

Ask them if the interview is under Success Profiles or the old Civil Service Competency framework, as that will affect what questions you get asked.

Under both, you are still likely to be asked the “tell me about a time when you...”, which will either be about the competencies listed in the job ad (under the competency framework), or about the new “behaviours” in the Success Profiles, which are very similar to the old competencies. You should answer in the STAR format as others have said.

Good luck!

@Bobmcbob Thanks so much for the links, they are incredibly helpful!

The advice I've been given on here and via PM have been an absolute wealth of information. I'm a bit daunted by the interview I must admit, but at least I know I am going as prepared as possible.

Interview is next Thursday so I will give a little update to let people know how it went (should anyone be vaguely interested!)

I pm'd you with some Interview preparation questions. Used to work in a multinational where we did a lot of competency type stuff.
Best of luck.

@Seaweed42 So kind, thank you!

Under both, you are still likely to be asked the “tell me about a time when you...”, which will either be about the competencies listed in the job ad (under the competency framework), or about the new “behaviours” in the Success Profiles, which are very similar to the old competencies.
So...the "behaviours" part of the success profile is the same as what they would have called "competencies" but they have added other things to the success profiles (eg strengths and abilities) as well?
Do the strengths etc questions also relate directly to the person spec?
Sorry I also have a CS interview coming up and feel very confused!

@Wigeon I was definitely asked a political question in my interview. Not about what my views were, but very much about the current political climate and the future of the sector/department and key challenges going forward

@foxatthewindow - ah, but being asked “what impact do you think the challenges are in this policy area /facing xx sector” and including in your answer something about the political context, is very different to being asked “is Boris Johnson a great leader” type question, as a PP suggested. The former is a classic “seeing the big picture” competency question (I’ve been asked it myself, as an interviewee, and asked it, as an interviewer); the latter type, involving any kind of personal opinion about a political matter, would never be asked.

@PontiacFirebird - the behaviours or competencies will probably have been listed in the job description, and you can expect questions on some or all of them.

If the recruitment is being done under success profiles, you might also be asked strength-based questions, and they won’t have been listed in the job spec. However, you should spend some time thinking about what kind of person with what kind of strengths the specific role demands. Eg someone good at relationship building, good at attention to detail, good at making decisions on incomplete information, good at thinking innovatively etc etc.

Have a look at the Strengths Dictionary for a bit more info. But you can’t really prepare a huge amount, apart from thinking about your own strengths, the sort of strengths the role might demand, and hopefully the two relate!

I would ask the recruiter whether the interview will be under success profiles or not, and if so, whether you will be asked strength based questions in addition to behaviour (aka competency) ones. You might also get asked about your experience (which is an option under success profiles) and technical knowledge, if relevant to the role.

I have interviewed people within the CS. One of my fellow interviewers liked to ask what the interviewee knew about our department. So do a bit of homework so you can say what you think the department actually does. You'd be surprised how many people aren't that clear about the organisation, just the job they've applied for.

STAR technique definitely. There's lots of help on Youtube.

Don't be afraid to ask for a question to be repeated or clarified. They're not trying to trick you, they want you to succeed.

Thanks everyone for all your help.

@Wigeon I'm not sure how I can get in touch with anyone to ask whether the interview will be under Success profiles or Competency. Or do I just ask that question at the start of the interview? The application and interview request all came via email through the CS Applications Portal. I haven't actually communicated with any humans :/

It would be nice to know beforehand so I can prepare accordingly, but maybe they don't want you to know too much haha.

Don't ask at the interview!

Does the department have a general helpline? You could try that - they triage incoming inquiries and could probably connect you, or at least give you a direct email.

Thank you wigeon Thats really helpful.

@Grumpyunleashed Do they seriously ask about the news?!! I’m going for a Civil Service Job and all I read is the Daily Mail 🤦‍♀️ I’m screwed! My husband works for the CS and didn’t get this.

This is a really helpful thread, I’ve been looking at CS roles and the links have been a real eye opener!!

@SuperMeerkat
Whilst my “Boris” comment was perhaps badly worded the thought was serious.
I have attended and held interviews where not only was the panel seeking to test the ability to demonstrate against the competencies and behaviours being examined but also where they wanted the candidate to show a grasp of the implications of the bigger environmental picture.
By which I mean what external factors could have a bearing on the department you want to join and therefore on the role you are seeking.
Eg. Do some thinking around what is going on in the world (election, no election, Brexit, no Brexit, the diplomatic fall out following that tragic fatal accident or possible changes to stamp duty) and consider what might affect the role you want. I fully realise my list might be completely irrelevant to your application, but possibly not.
It is not that they will ask you something, rather they might, and if you have done some thinking around these sorts of issues then you will better prepared and hopefully better equipped to handle them.

The job advert will specify if it is success profiles or not, it most likely is as there are only a couple of depts that haven't moved over to it yet. Which dept are you applying to? (That info won't be outing, CS is massive!).

I did a success profiles interview the other day, behaviours and strengths.

They asked me what had attracted me to the role as a warmup question (not scored but my answer did make a difference to them actually).

Behaviour questions you answer in STAR format - no need to memorise and parrot examples anymore though. The questions they ask are much more agile and not so much "tell me about a time when you made a decision...". They asked me some really tough questions!

Strength questions -just answer them naturally, give a spontaneous answer.

@Isleepinahedgefund Its a role in the Ministry of Justice.

I've read the job advertisement thoroughly several times and all it mentions re. interview is "blend of behaviour and strength-based questions." - Can I assume that is a success profile based interview?

Yes, that definitely means it’s success profiles

Well, I had my interview yesterday. I'm going to give a quick overview of how it went incase it can be helpful for anyone else in a similar position:

They asked me for a little bit about myself and my current role, and what had attracted me to the position advertised. They asked me one question for each behaviour, interspersed with one strength question connected to that behaviour. So, 4 "big" questions and 4 "little" questions in total. Overall the interview took around 35 minutes from start to finish and was in front of 3 panel members. I was allowed to refer to notes which was a massive benefit. They can rephrase or explain the Behavioural questions for you but can only repeat the Strength questions. They did ask me what I knew about the department and they asked for my questions at the end of interview.

I felt I waffled on a little bit and lost my train of thought on a couple of occasions, having to ask them to repeat the question for me in the midst of an answer because I had went off on a tangent and needed to refocus my thoughts. I also felt I spoke for too long with the Strength questions- I think they are supposed to be more punchy, quick responses whereas I went into great depth which wasn't needed.
I do feel that if I were to attend another CS interview in the future, I would be much more prepared having had this experience. With the benefit of hindsight I would have taken some quick notes down re. the question they asked whilst it was being asked, so I could look at that while answering and prevent myself from going off the rails. I would also have made my Strength answers more direct. Otherwise, I feel I done my best and was as prepared if not overprepared as possible

Thanks everyone for all your help, it really was invaluable!

Sounds like a very standard interview format. IME as a civil service interviewer doing strength based, candidates tend to err on not saying enough (a sentence or two); it’s much easier to score people if they actually give you some material to score. So you might not have waffled on too badly!

Good luck for the outcome and let us know.

So glad the competency based system is on the way out for admin grades in CS. It was so rigid and relied on buzz words being repeated. Many undeserving candidates got through.

The current success profiles system is so much better. I think I know where you might be applying OP.

Good luck

Calico I have PM'D you .