Online Civil Service job application: does this seem right?

[Hedgehogsandcauliflower]

DS has been applying for jobs and I have been helping him when asked, eg checking what he has written etc. Yesterday he started an application for a Civil Service job. He had to enter some basic information, but nothing that asked about educational qualifications. He then had to do an online test. Got a good score in that so progressed on to the next part of the application which warned him to remove from his cv anything that identified the educational institutions which he had attended or that disclosed his age or gender. He duly amended his cv accordingly, but then found nowhere to upload it! The next box in the application form is entitled "Employment History". But after that the form appears to have just some standard declarations then a "Submit" button. So now we're wondering whether he's supposed to submit the whole of his cv (including academic qualifications) in the section entitled "Employment History".

Has anyone else encountered anything like this when applying for a Civil Service job? It just seems so strange that they would make a point of asking applicants to remove certain information from their cv, but then not have a section to upload the cv. Also seems strange not to be asking specifically about academic qualifications. DS is adamant he hasn't missed anything in the application. Any advice appreciated!

Yes the Employment History section is essentially where you copy and paste your CV. Civil Service jobs often ask you to tailor it. If you look at the advert there maybe some information on what they are going to sift on. So if they ask you to show experience of writing policies then in the employment history section you should try and say 'job in xxx firm' my role was formulating and writing policy about a,b and c topics. There is then often a personal statement section where you would give more examples, often recommended to be in the STAR format.

Thank you!

As PP said, the Employment History section is essentially the cv. Some applications will ask for qualifications; if so they will be very specific about how they are entered. There’s an absolute wealth of information on how to fill in CS applications, both on CS sites and more widely. Scoring is very transparent. It is very different to other job applications- and there are several different CS applications!

Yes research CS applications as they are very specific.

I agree - it's a dark art! Loads of videos on YouTube explaining it all. You need to look at the CS behaviours and cross reference them for the job grade then include examples in STAR format quoting specific phrases from the behaviour stuff. It's batshit crazy! Great pension if you get in though 😂

They do seem very keen on ultra-equal-opportunity employment policies which leads to the weird situation of not being asked to showcase your academic achievements presumably because they think people only get good qualifications through some unearned privilege.
Instead, to pass CS interviews the most useful thing is to know someone already in the role who can guide you re how to apply