Civil Service - why won’t they hire me?

[TheWinterChild]

I just wondered if anyone has experience of Civil Service recruitment and could advise on this.
I’ve applied for 5 CS jobs this year. Each of these has been finance / admin / trainee related at EO or HEO level. Each one takes a couple of hours to apply for, weeks on end waiting for updates, I’ve been invited to interview for 4 of them so then I’ve had all of the interview preparation as well. I’ve had to complete numerical tests and judgement tests for each of them and scored in what I would consider to be the high range (see attached photos).
Today I’ve received my 4th notification that despite meeting the requirements I haven’t quite scored highly enough so I’ve been placed on the reserve list. I have already had experience of 2 reserve lists, both expired without any further contact over the course of the 12 month period. I have one outstanding that expires in January, 2 in the summer and this one that I’ve received today is only 6 months so expires in May. On each of the interviews, my answers have scored 5s or 6s. The feedback has been mostly good, with pointers that I have proceeded to apply for my next interview. Ironically, one of the pointers from the last interview, which I took on board for this interview, has a contradictory response in the feedback from this one 🙈
Why will they not give me a job?! Is the candidate pool really so competitive at the moment that in every single one of those interviews (in which some had 4-6 posts available) I have not been even in the top percentage? Surely for Finance positions the numerical test is given quite a high weighting?
I am so fed up and genuinely looking for tips on whether what I’m experiencing is the norm?
Just for clarity, I am referring to the Civil Service behaviours and strengths documents and structuring my answers using the STAR format. The feedback pointers tend to be things like “would have been better if example given was over a longer period of time”.

Gah lose - I knew that didn't look right!

@Aria2015 thank you 😊
@BruiserWoods I’m not sure about the competitions. They do have big recruitment drives for upwards of 50 staff for which they will create an order of merit and recruit from that list over the next 12 months, I’m not sure if that’s the kind of thing you mean? I did actually interview for one of those last week and waiting for the outcome, but ideally I’d like a concrete job now, not having to wait and see if one comes up.
@Cocopogo that might be something to consider, thank you!

Is the feedback for the test scores instant after the test? If so it is possible that you scored that highly if you were one of the first taking the test and as more take it your score may have dropped down.

@TwinklyBranch thank you, that’s good to hear. Well done on finally being successful! Here’s hoping I join you soon 🤣

@SeasonFinale it’s possible, but if what pp are saying is correct and the test scores are only taken into account for selecting those to be interviewed, it’s probably unlikely as I do seem to have a good rate of conversion from application to interview. I just can’t get over the final hurdle!

I have found the Cs recruiting in the last 4 years diabolical. I have seen instances of internal candidates been given the nod before interviews take place because they have had to post externally, I've seen external candidates wait over 9 months to be started because of DBS incompetence for clearance, (even when we've said we'll take them at risk).

I think you just need to keep going OP. It's really hard to generalise CS recruitment as it varies dramatically even within one department because people by their nature score differently, no matter how hard they try to make it uniform. You could score 4s and get the job, you could score all 7s and lose out because there was one candidate with more experience.

I don't agree with they "know who they want before" I've been part of numerous recruitment campaigns, we do expressions of interest if we think the role can be easily recruited internally, no one wants to go to the palaver of recruitment just for the sake of it, assume if the job is advertised externally that it's genuinely up for grabs.

You're getting to interview, you're scoring sufficiently, I'd just keep at it. I've seen people on Reddit get to 10-20 applications before they get a job.

Try Local Government finance roles as an alternative. The benefits tend not to be as good but the flexibility generally is. In my part of the country at least we’re seeing a lot of turnover at the moment so many vacancies and opportunities for progression. NHS too.

The civil service isn’t the entirety of the public sector.

As above - if you like flexibility, structure and the pension then cast your net wider than the Civil Service - local government, government quangos, non-governmental organisations such as the railway ...

Yes arms length bodies are a great shout as they have the civil service pension but as they're removed from department can have a lot more flexibility, my last ALB enabled working from home full time for everyone (nature of the job enabled it) while the department was pushing people back, but they could ignore the department. Many are on civil service jobs anyway, but not all.

Unfortunately no public sector pension comes close to civil service. Not LGPS or NHS anyway.

Not all ALBs are CS pension - we’re LGPS.

Oh that's a shame, we were a non departmental government body.

I’m not turning my nose up at LGPS btw, it’s a great scheme by itself and the reason I will likely never leave the public sector!

@namechange30455
Good to know however I don't give a toss as now retired from that shit show 👍

I realise that this is an old thread but I'm wandering how op got on. I'm having a similar problem but I can't even get an interview! No idea if I'm completely wasting all my days of on the bloody applications or if I should stick with it. Currently NHS & can easily get to interview for NHS. I clearly haven't figured out how to complete a Cs application yet. Any pointers appreciated!

@Hulkgti I did finally get a call up from the reserve list in January this year and I’ve just successfully had a promotion through the same process, so I’d say don’t give up if it’s something you want to do! Are you tailoring your CV/personal statement to the essential criteria in the job description? Also check the competencies and behaviours they’re looking for and weave those into your answers. I found I scored better when I used specific wording from the job description as it makes the sift process much easier for the person doing it to give you points.
It’s a great place to work for development opportunities, flexibility and the pension, as long as you’re willing to forego equivalent private sector salaries and if you thrive on constant change!
Good luck 😊

The test thing is infuriating - I wasn't allowed to use the test results to influence my choice in a highly numerate role, just pass or fail.