Selection Exercise interview

Wee_bri · 5 March 2018 at 4:04PM

I applied for a Civil Service EO job and had to answer the competency based questions, 5 of them. Times where I'd shown competency in things such as leading and communicating, collaborating and partnering etc. as part of the application process.

I got my feedback and was selected to attend a first interview, which will last 1 hour.

I've never really had to go to an interview that wasn't a formality since I was a teenager so really have no idea what to expect.

on the application centre it has Interview feedback:
Selection exercise 1,2 and 3.
Unfortunately though I can't seem to find any information on what these "Selection Exercises" are.
I've read about e-tray and situational based questioning rather than traditional interviewing techniques but don't really know what these things are or if they're relevant to the position I'm applying for

Can anyone shed any light on this, please?

thank you

Fireflyaway · 5 March 2018 at 7:20PM

I recently went through a similar exercise with local government. The idea was to identify inbuilt behaviours and the way you approach situations rather than skills that are specific to the role. If its something like that then in my case I was given a scenario and time to read it. Then you are given time to make recommendations for service improvement based on what you have read. They look to see how your answers link to the organisations behaviours - thinking commercially, customer focus etc etc. These things are usually kept under wraps so you can't research or practice. Good luck.

BorisThomson · 5 March 2018 at 7:25PM

If you have been invited for an interview then that's what it will be, nothing more. If there are additional exercises then they will tell you beforehand, the CS is pretty transparent in recruitment exercises.

The application centre format is the same irrespective of the role you are going for, hence the additional boxes that do not apply to you.

[Deleted User] · 5 March 2018 at 9:51PM

I remember when I went for a temping job for a council there was an exercise/assessment centre along with first brief interview

1) Was a letter where you had to check for mistakes.
2) Was handling an excel spreadsheet - literally copying data, there didn't seem to be a formula (I think!)
3) Was a group exercise - we had to in our groups make a bridge with marshmallows and bits of dried spaghetti I seem to remember - all were timed.
The interview was a brief 10 minute 1 on 1 chat before being invited back for a more formal second interview so slightly different format to yours no doubt.

It really helped to keep patient and smile at the people involved in recruitment as others around us started to lose their cool even though we were told to allow half day for assessment centre. It never failed to amaze me about many people got narky in front of the interviewers! This was a couple of years ago now and we didn't know the department we were being placed in at the time.

I recently saw another council job vacancy that was permanent and that had in the job advert just a warning the interview would contain a 'computer based' exercise. Can't remember if there was a grade.

BorisThomson · 5 March 2018 at 10:04PM

Deleted%20User wrote: »

I remember when I went for a temping job for a council there was an exercise/assessment centre along with first brief interview

1) Was a letter where you had to check for mistakes.
2) Was handling an excel spreadsheet - literally copying data, there didn't seem to be a formula (I think!)
3) Was a group exercise - we had to in our groups make a bridge with marshmallows and bits of dried spaghetti I seem to remember - all were timed.
The interview was a brief 10 minute 1 on 1 chat before being invited back for a more formal second interview so slightly different format to yours no doubt.

It really helped to keep patient and smile at the people involved in recruitment as others around us started to lose their cool even though we were told to allow half day for assessment centre. It never failed to amaze me about many people got narky in front of the interviewers! This was a couple of years ago now and we didn't know the department we were being placed in at the time.

I recently saw another council job vacancy that was permanent and that had in the job advert just a warning the interview would contain a 'computer based' exercise. Can't remember if there was a grade.

The OP isn't applying for a council job.

Councils are free to set their own recruitment procedures, and will vary considerably. CS Recruitment almost always works along the same lines, and candidates will always be told what is expected of them before the interview or assessment centre (if it is an AC you'll be told beforehand).

Selection Exercise interview

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