Civil Service application

[BreezySwan]

I've just been rejected for a job with a grade 3 on the personal statement which took me about 10 hours to write. So I would really appreciate some help.

Next job, G7 HMRC has four bullet points on essential criteria and nine bullet points on person specification. It also lists three behaviours. Do I write four STAR paragraphs for the personal statement focused on how I meet the essential criteria , which are also behaviour focused? Or do I include the nine bullet points on the person specification?

If I go for the latter , you almost have no space to write anything. I have looked at the behaviour framework of what they are expecting at the grade but these applications are taking me hours and hours , and at the moment , I'm not getting anywhere despite being in a G7 post for 5 years

There are civil service Reddit boards/channels that might have covered this previously. Is it just one question on the form? What is the exact wording of questions and what is word count? Usually if it is for behaviour it will specify. Also the ad might say what will be assessed by interview and what by application. Sorry if that sounds obvious. I wouldn't be too downhearted about 3s, sounds like nearly there but volumes of applications are huge and sifting strict.

When I'm sifting personal statements I find it really helpful when candidates use headers linked to the criteria. For example if one criteria is to ability to manage competing priorities the header could be prioritisation. Then under that they can use examples (not in star format). The personal statementbis really another chance to showcase your skills that you may not have spoken about in the behaviour questions.

Having it under headers is my sifting preference because its easier for me to tick off the criteria. If you dont have enough words for headers you can remove them before submitting but planning it out that way maybe helpful as you write it?

Did you use examples in the statement that was scored at 3? I do score low if there is no example and candidates just say "i have excellent communication skills".

Write it as a statement NOT 4 separate examples. I’d bin the application off if it was 4 different things and no effort to make a cohesive statement.