Civil Service application

[Alex2110]

I have been in the CS for 18 months, at EO grade in a demanding operational role. I am doing well, but I can see that there is limited scope for progression within my department and a lot of more experienced EO’s there already who are involved in projects outside the core role. EOI are few and far between which would allow me to widen my experience to build on my behaviours. I am interested in role in a different department which has come up which is more aligned to what I did prior to taking a 10 year break for the children (think customer service). It is the same grade, but also would be less stressful. I think that it would present more opportunities for promotion further down the line. The lead behaviour for the sift is communicating and influencing and I was really struggling to come up with a strong example in my current role. Is the expectation that I draw from experience from my current CS job, or will an older but directly relevant example be acceptable? Any advice from CS who are involved in recruitment welcomed.

No CS experience but I have had many competency based interviews, and in my experience your responses can be drawn from anything - even personal experiences. Have you done any volunteer work where you can demonstrate how you communicated and influenced? or maybe had a role at school if you're a parent?

In my CS experience, they are looking for examples within the past couple of years.

@iamme21

In my CS experience, they are looking for examples within the past couple of years.

Not true in the slightest.

Examples have to hit the benchmarks set for the grade being applied for.

Fine to use older examples - there is no limit and you’ll be graded on the example and nothing else. No one will cross reference it with your CV for example.
Are you sure you’re not just ready to apply for an HEO role? If you’re in a busy operational role you might be ready? Or do you want to build more policy experience for example? It’s worth thinking where you want to be a couple of years down the line.

Thank you for your responses, they are really helpful. In my department the more experienced EO’s have been involved other projects especially March and the Covid situation. I have only recently become fully competent so whilst I am on track, I doubt I have the edge to gain promotion. Certainly not in my current area. There are plenty of good opportunities in other locations but I still have young children so not ready to travel too far. I just thought this was a good opportunity to try a different area of the department which is more aligned with policy. It is very much a case of going for it to see what happens.