Interview advice for defra

JF123

Hi, I have an interview next week with defra for an AO role.

Any advice would be great. The application form was a competency based one - will they go through this? will there be a test?

The email didnt really give much away

Many Thanks!

KME91

Hi,

i've done the interview skills training in Defra, so i can help you out a bit.

The format of the interview will be a competency based one, the same as the application form, but a bit more specific. you will be interviewed by two or three people, and they will ask you a series of questions along the line of 'can you give me an example of a time when you've found it challenging to manage a piece of work to a set deadline and what did you do about it'

you need to give good examples, sticking to the format of - what the issue was - how i dealt with it - what the outcome was.

Tip - talk about 'I' not 'we', 'me' not 'us', they want to know what you did.

There will be about nine or ten of these questions. then they'll thank you and ask if you have any questions. Ask something about the work the team does that shows you've done some research, or ask about development opportunities within defra.

There won't be any written tests or assessments, it's purely a conversation between you and the interviewers. which part of defra are you applying to? i work for one of their agencies

good luck

JF123

Its the finance part in the York office which I am applying to. The Jobs where advertised back in April so its taken a while to get to this stage.

Many Thanks for your tips and advice