Civil service interview - I feel under qualified

[Havanawinter]

I have an interview next week for a HEO role in the civil service. I don’t want to out myself but it’s for one of the research councils. I applied for the job kind of not expecting to be invited for interview (note: I really would love the job and in the end thought sod it when dithering over applying!) but here we are. The thing is, it’s a speciality area that I have zero experience in. My degree is not relevant and I currently work in a totally different area.

so I’m left wondering why I’ve been invited for interview and whether I have a hope of even holding my own during the assessment day? I picture myself surrounded by very very academic individuals and I don’t think I can measure up. I’m doing loads of interview prep and have given it my all up to this point, but I worry I’m wasting my time.

Huge thanks in advance for any advice

Did the job specification require any particular qualifications or knowledge? If not, then you're good. Prepare answers based on the behaviours listed in the job advert. HEO is not a very senior grade so it's unlikely they would expect you to be an expert anyway. You only need to demonstrate the behaviours required and not worry about specialist knowledge, which presumably they will teach you anyway.

The job ad asked for a degree in any subject. I was totally honest on my application, didn’t bend the truth or fluff anything up. I keep circling back to the conclusion that they must have invited me to interview for a reason but my anxiety and imposter syndrome won’t let me believe I have a chance.

Civil service are all about transferable skills, as long as you can get the ticks you need for the behaviour criteria the lack of background in the speciality area shouldn't be an issue.

Civil service recruitment is very formulaic so you need to be prepared for questions asking you to demonstrate the required behaviours. Generally people use the examples in their application but you don't have to. The panel will be restricted in what they can ask you, it is not like a 'normal' real world interview. Try to hit as many of the elements of each behaviour as you can. There are good YouTube videos about civil service interviews that are worth checking out. Nobody will be trying to trip you up or catch you out - CS interviews aren't like that.

Thanks everyone, this is so helpful. I am struggling slightly to prepare questions based on the CS behaviours because they’re not explicitly outlined in the job ad. Instead it says:

• Effective communication skills

• Ability to work as part of a team

• A focus on achievement

• Leadership skills, including facilitation skills and an ability to influence others through behaviour and empathy

• Strategic awareness

• Planning and organisational skills, including an ability to prioritise and manage complex activities

• Creativity, adaptiveness and openness to change

I think I’ve narrowed that down to fit the behaviours but it’s tricky when they don’t say exactly.

This guide provides more information about what they mean by all the wooly language: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf

Are you absolutely sure that the advert doesn’t list the behaviours? All the ones I have seen say something like

Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
Making Effective Decisions
Managing a Quality Service
Communicating and Influencing
Delivering at Pace

Its not in the job description but further down in the blurb

Definitely no behaviours in the job ad. This is what it says:

My only experience of CS recruitment is as an applicant and as an independent panel member for sifting/interviews (I.e. I've never been a vacancy holder) but I was under the impression that you could only ask a candidate behaviours based questions related to the behaviours specified in the job advert, plus strength based questions. If there are no behaviours listed then I have no idea what the rules are about what they can ask you!

I wanted to update this in case anyone has the same jitters are me in the future: I got the job :)

Well done! That's great news

Congratulations! I hope you enjoy the new job.