Competencies

jlutw1983

Hi guys ive got an interview for the civil service next week and need some pointers ie things they like you to say for following competencies as I am terrible at interviews

Delivering at pace
Making a quality service
Building to capacity
Collaborating and partnering

happy35

Have you downloaded the competency framework?

Delivering at pace is when you have to deliver something quickly
Managing a quality service is doing service to a high standard
Partnering and collaborating is working with others to achieve something
Building capacity is making something more efficient to achieve something

They want to know what it was and maybe why,what u did and an outcome

Good luck

BigAunty

What is the level of job - AO?EO?

Their job ads usually provide a link to the competency framework and often recommend the STAR(R?) format for an answer. Did they not give you these pointers at all?

Did you not provide examples of these on the application? They don't mind if you use them again at interview. If you did not submit written competencies as part of your application, source some good guidance on how to do this and write them up in the exact way recommended.

For example, this one offers a buzzword bingo cheatsheet on active verbs so you can just s*x up any application simply by swapping a few verbs on it.

http://www.acas.org.uk/media/word/q/a/how_to_complete_a_competency_statment1.doc.

http://gov.wales/docs/hrd/publications/151127-Preparing-Your-Personal-Statement-En.pdf

This one gives the types of questions you could anticipate being asked from a fairly limited pool of possible ones.
https://civilservicelearning.civilservice.gov.uk/sites/default/files/resources/applying_for_a_job_learning_resource_v5rev.pdf


Yes, the competency framework is the key - find the latest version.

The competency framework will tell you exactly what positive behaviours you are expected to demonstrate when you answer each so make sure your answer covers the specific competency at the specific job grade where you parrot back the ways you demonstrated the specific positive behaviours that are detailed within it which you have to do by directly following the STAR(R?) formula.

Absolutely any deviation from the competency, behaviours or STAR/R formula will see you severely punished and written off as incompetent, however fantastic your achievement.

It used to be STAR but they may have tacked on an additional requirement not just to outline your competency but to REFLECT on what you learned and how you could have done it better. But do check whether they are looking for STAR or STARR as you'll only be seen as incompetent otherwise. Does anyone know if which version they expect at interview these days?

You may as well take in a small brief list of keywords per competency broken down by the bullet points of effective behaviour structured by the STARR format or rehearse your script as well as an actor would. I believe you can take in brief notes without any issues but do check. If so, these will be a godsend to you if you are a nervous interviewee.

The interviewers are utterly merciless - one of them will write down virtually everything you say and they will later score you on performance which has nothing to do with the significance of the achievements itself but how you comply with their instructions to deliver the information in the systematic way they like.

In other words, its not what you say per se, its that you say it how they like it to parrotted back.

You generally get about 5 minutes allocated per competency.

Now you now the structure, the timing, the behaviours expected, you can simply memorise your examples, playing buzzword bingo with active verbs to address the positive behaviours of each competency, knowing that one thing the civil service hates is any kind of spontaneity or inspiration, just the following of rules.

BigAunty

So did you get the job or did you commit the cardinal sin of, in the rigid marking that characterises a civil service interview, of not giving answers that are balanced enough for their liking?

I.e.

- you talked too much about yourself and not enough about the team's input
- you didn't talk enough about yourself and provided too much context
- you did talk enough about your yourself and the team but not enough about the customer
- you did talk enough about yourself, the team, and the customer but not about the deadline
-- you did talk enough about yourself, the team, and the customer, the achievement of the deadline but not enough about quality
- you talked enough about yourself, the team, the customer, the achievement of the deadline and quality but weren't specific enough about the quantitive result of your contribution
- you talked enough about yourself, the team, customer, deadline, quality and result but didn't display enough enthusiasm
- you talked enough about yourself, the team, customer, deadline, result, quality while displaying enthusiasm but the example suited another competency better
- you talked enough about yourself, the team, customer, deadline,quality and result while displaying enthusiasm and the example suited the competency directly but the panel considered your example to be dated and would prefer a more recent one.

?