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Civil service interview!

2 replies

Jazdias28 · 05/01/2019 19:01

Hello - please help!

I have my first interview in 8 years with Civil Service at AO level next friday however im need some advice on interview prep!
I scored fairly well in my application feedback however i am totally stumped on how i should prepare. The competencies at interview are Delivering at Pace and Leading and communicating so i am prepping some examples against the framework, but they wont just ask me 'Tell me a time when you delivered at pace' so what kind of questions can i expect at this level??

Any help/tips/experience will mean alot to me! I am desperate for this and dont want to ruin it for myself. Also is it a difficult interview? Im not a very good talker, more of a do-er!
Thanks in advance! :)

OP posts:
Isleepinahedgefund · 05/01/2019 21:33

Its not a hard kind of interview. At this level the questions won't be challenging. If you're referring to the framework you're on the right track.

You're right the question won't be framed that simply. My tips would be:

Keep your examples simple so they're easy for you to explain and them to understand.

Have a backup example for each competency just in case

Use the examples on your application and expand on them - you say you scored highly on them.

Make sure to give lots of additional local colour to the example - enrich them with detail. By enrich I mean add in things like whether you'd led in a similar situation, what you decided to do differently this time, and at the end reflect on the result. You're not constrained like the 250 word limit on the application.

Be sure to spend most of your time on "how" you did something rather than "what" you did.

Listen to the question - don't just think "aha! Delivering at Pace!" and parrot your answer. For this reason, I think it's best not to learn your answer by rote but to have a mental checklist of what you want to make sure you say. I literally count on my fingers as a prompt! For instance finger 1 will be "I want to set the scene and explain the context" finger 2 would be "I want to talk about the last time I did something similar and how this was different." Etc etc. Easier to remember ten points than 500 words!

Remember the key elements of the competencies:

For leading and communicating, say what you led on and how you communicated it. Make sure to say "I did" not "we did" - if you find yourself wanting to say "we", it's probably not a strong example.

Delivering at pace - remember it's not about how quickly you did something, but how you juggled all your other work when something unexpected came up. Best examples are where you thought you work was all nicely under control/ planned out and then you were landed with something time critical and urgent, and how you re-prioritised, delegated etc.

Good luck!

Jazdias28 · 06/01/2019 18:52

Thank you so much for your reply and taking the time to write so much information!!
It has been really really helpful :) You sound like you know your stuff! Its a whole other realm to me so your advice has put me at ease!

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