End of my sanity with civil service interviews

[Pastlast]

Not sure why I’m posting other than I am in a very dark place with this all at the moment. I’ve been trying to get a promotion to G6 for the past 18 months and after a year of applications and interviews I can’t take any more. I mostly apply for G7 stuff now but can’t even get that. Some of them are even roles I’ve done previously.

I have ten years experience in complex G7 roles and I’ve always great feedback everywhere I work. but I simply cannot get another job. It’s not even that the interviews are bad they are just mediocre. I’m on a lot of reserve lists. I’ve no idea what magic worlds I’m supposed to say.

Now every rejection devastates me. I literally spend 3 days in tears after each rejection and I feel like hurting myself. I no longer have anyone I can talk to about it in real life after the fifth or six crappy interview they all lost interest. If someone told me they’d give me a job in exchange for my right arm I’d think that a fair exchange at this point.

I’ve wrapped up so much of my self worth with being good at what I do. Now I thinking I need counselling or something. Or a job. Any bloody job.

I know it’s hard out there but is it really that hard that moment?

Hi Op, sorry to hear that. I don't have experience of civil service so can't give any practical advice.
Do you have to move jobs? Can you stay in your current job until you feel better and get your confidence back?

Have you looked for a mentor to support you with interview preparation and techniques?

Are there any courses on the CS Learning you could sign up for? I've not looked for a while.

Thanks for replying. I can’t stay in my current job which has come to an end. I’ve found a mentor recently she seems very good but it’s early days. I think the issue is that I’ve lost any shred of confidence which want high to begin with

Wont the department need to find you something on level when your post finishes ?

I’m on secondment which means I have to find something back in my home department. There’s very little about at the moment.

If you're seconded, don't you go back to your old role initially?

There's a support thread on the work board.
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/work/4753586-a-thread-for-people-who-are-waiting-to-hear-if-theyve-been-shortlisted?page=9

I have been through similar, it really hurts your self esteem. I am sure you are great at your job, it is really tough out there at the moment.

Does it have to be civil service? That sounds shit, maybe it's time to look elsewhere.

Firstly, I really sympathise. I've been trying to get to G7 for a while now and the competition is stiffer than ever. I've taken a break now and made a lateral move to a new role to build my examples further.

The bottleneck narrows further at G6 as few roles are available, and I know several people that have been trying to make it there for years. To have made it onto reserve lists is brilliant and shows you are good enough, and you just need to be lucky that one time.

I really think if this is making you that upset that you should take a break from your application for a few weeks or even months. I know you want to progress your career and it's a salary boost, but it shouldn't be at the expense of your mental health.

CS recruitment is truly a labyrinth of bullshit, and I've seen so many people who could do the job standing on their head fail at the last second because someone else did the dog and pony show better at interview.

What feedback are you getting from these interviews? Is it the way you are structuring your answers / your understanding of grade 6 behaviours or are your examples unsuitable?

G7 to G6 can be tricky I think because you can be a really solid, reliable, knowledgeable G7 and get absolutely none of the extra leadership stretch you need to get to G6. The way they have combined them in the success profiles guidance is a red herring, G7 examples generally won't get you to G6.

I found G7 to G6 easy (got first job) but I think that is down to luck of the draw on the job I had at G7 - because of the operating circumstances of the programme I was working on I had a good solid run in an undergraded G6 role - proven by the fact they upgraded it to G6 when I left!! So I think objectively assessing your experience is key.

Lots of external factors against you at the mo - as you say there is not a lot out there at the moment, Competition is stiff.

I have mentored a lot of people in your situation, my advice would be to pull back, stop applying, give yourself a break and take the pressure off. It's great you have a mentor, make sure they are able to help you ie that they have recent experience of recruitment from the vacancy holder/panel side.

With your secondment ending, doesn't your home department have a redeployment pool? That's what we do with people coming back from loans when their old job is no longer available to them.

I could dig down much more into this with you - do PM me if it would be helpful.

I am sorry that you are feeling so disappointed. At lower levels too, CS recruitment is an absolute joke. Take the CMS jobs in the DWP. First the HR morons tell everyone who applied that they had an interview, then they emailed and retracted that, then managed a sift and then proceeded to mess up the subsequent interviews. They are ageist and ableist despite the crap they come out with. All this messing around for essentially rubbish jobs paying just over minimum wage. And now,having found any old excuse to reject candidates, they are re advertising the jobs. Jokers and a massive waste of public funds

Im really sorry to hear this, OP. Its incredibly frustrating. A really good friend of mine has just had the same experience going from G6 to SCS1. Do you have to go back to your home dept? Or can you look for a G6 in another dept on a permanent basis? What type of role are you looking for?

Sorry to hear this, OP. There are very few decent G6 jobs out there at the moment IMO, so it's very competitive.

How is your network? I got my first G6 job by moving to work for someone I'd worked for before. IME it's increasingly about contacts the higher you get. The previous poster's point about being a able to show a broad span of leadership is also a good one.

Solidarity OP. It's a fierce competition out there for G6 at the min (I'm giving myself a break from applying, but I keep an eye on what's coming up - precious little). I hadn't intended to be stuck at G7 for so long.

I take comfort from some of my peers who are also open about their unsuccessful attempts to get to G6 - on a bad day I can talk myself down, but I can always see that these others are people who will be solid G6s as soon as they get their chance.

If you're getting onto reserve lists, I genuinely don't think you can be doing anything wrong, I suspect you're probably just losing out to people who are applying on level transfer.

This sounds nuts to be honest. Not familiar with civil service recruitment, it sounds like you have to say certain buzzwords or give particular answers to questions, is that right? Is the recruitment process effective then? It seems time consuming and demoralising, maybe look for a job in a different sector?

I always thought, in any other job at least, that when you do a secondment your original job is still available when it finishes.

I agree it is nuts. I like my work and I’m very good at it. I really enjoy solving complex stuff, building up networks of stakeholders and developing people. There isn’t much more to it than that. I can’t dress it up in a fancy introspective way that seems to be required.

Anyway I’ve just found out the latest job I went for went to an internal candidate. Again. There are so many people on TP etc. I’ve done some really big complicated G7 roles managing 5 to 6 people which I’ve subsequently seen advertised as G6 roles but it doesn’t seem to count for anything. There are no roles like that around anymore since the grade split.

I am working my network. Not going back into a redeployment pool if I can help it. Nonetheless all the roles I’m being offered via this route are in my opinion good SEO roles not G7. Nothing that will give me the stretch I need.

youveturnedup I may PM you if that’s okay.