Civil Service interview feedback - success profiles

Isaac_:)

Hi all,

I wondered if anyone on here has had any experience of the new Civil Service recruitment process (success profiles). I recently received the feedback for a behaviour- and strength-based interview. I passed the interview but have been placed on a reserve list rather than receiving an offer straight away.

I got 4, 5, 6, 4 for the four behaviours, which makes sense to me as it seems to mirror the old competency marking (scores out of seven). I'm a bit confused about the feedback for the strengths, however. The feedback states that the 'strengths assessed' were 'Inclusive / Learner / Organiser / Precise / Problem Solver', and gives me a mark of 16. This number was added to my mark for the behaviours, for an overall score of 35.

I'm trying to work out what the score of 16 refers to. It looks like five strengths were assessed, so I'm thinking they could use the mark out of seven for strengths as well as behaviours (so I'd have averaged 3.2 out of 7 on each strength). This does seem quite low though, especially given that I passed the interview. It also doesn't make complete sense given that with competencies/behaviours you need to get at least 4 out of 7 in all areas to pass the interview. It'd be great if someone is familiar with the process and could shed some light on this!

Exodi

Christ, interviewing for the Civil Service sounds like being on The Crystal Maze.

lincroft1710

Exodi wrote: »

Christ, interviewing for the Civil Service sounds like being on The Crystal Maze.

Certainly changed a lot since I had my interview (3 person board) 45+ yrs ago, which was challenging but not too difficult to pass. Competencies started appearing 15+ yrs ago.

whosthatrubi

Hi Isaac,
What was the interview like? I've had a civil service competancy interview before, but I have one of the new success profile interviews next month and was wondering how they differed?


I don't have an answer to your question, but for one of the behaviours on the application I got an 8, yet there was no question linked with that.

Sammyd2307

I have just received my feedback for an interview I had last month and am like you on a reserve list
I scored 7 6 7 6 for behaviours and 24.5 for strengths. Overall score 50.5.
Am pretty pleased with the scores tbh and think that like the old competencies - these were scored out of 7.
I too am unsure of how the strengths are marked If out of 7 I have only dropped 3.5 marks but not sure if this is actually the scoring as I can’t find any literature on it anywhere.

Sammyd2307

I actually thought that the interview was much better, but then I did go in far more relaxed than I had previously been with the determination to treat it more like a chat (I did know my examples inside out though).
The behaviour side was more like the old competency based questions but the strengths were so much better and really personal.
One of the questions I was asked was - am I a planner or do I take things as they come......... with the role I currently do and the role I had applied for planning is essential - however what is expected is not always what appears so I answered truthfully that although I would consider myself to be a planner, the reality was that I often had to be prepared to think on my feet.
I have to say I do think the new structure allows you to show who you are rather than just being proficient in remembering what you have to say to tick the competency boxes.

Laura82M

[FONT=&quot]Hi, I've had to do some digging around on this as well - I work for DWP and recently had an interview for a sideways move (first experience of the 'Blended' interview style).

My feedback was "Organiser/Adaptable/Inclusive" with a scoring of 19.25. Not knowing what this means, I've asked for further feedback but in the meantime, I've managed to find this guidance which from Panel Chair & Panel Members Procedures on our intranet:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]How to score and weight blended interviews[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]15.16. All elements need to be scored separately. Behaviours, technical skills and experience are all scored in the same way on the 1-7 scale. Strengths are scored on a 1-4 scale but are converted to 1-7 using the Interview scoring tool so they have equal value to the other elements in the overall assessment.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]15.17. It is recommended that an equal number of behaviour and strength questions are asked at interview. Technical and experience questions can be included as necessary to reflect the key role requirements that need testing at interview.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]15.18. The Interview Scoring Tool must be used to:[/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Record the individual scores, for each question asked, in each element tested at interview.[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Calculate the candidates’ total scores and enable the creation of a merit order list[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Identify whether candidates have passed or failed the minimum benchmarks set[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Give the 4-point strength scale equal value to the 7-point behaviour scale[/FONT]

Mani1913

I was just wondering if you could provide some insight.

I am little confused about the behaviour part of the interview. Will it be questions like before? Making effective decsions ... tell me about a time when youve demonstrated this behaviour? Or would it actually be situational questions?


Thanks