A guide to Civil Service
Success Profiles

Behaviours are the actions and activities that people do which result in effective performance in a job. 
The Civil Service has a set of behaviours that are associated with job success. Civil Service Behaviours are specific to the grade level of the job role. 
You won’t be asked to demonstrate all Civil Service behaviours, only those relevant to the role. 

Behaviours can be assessed in a number of ways, including:
– application forms
– CVs
– Civil Service Judgement Tests
– interviews
– presentations
– written analysis/exercises
– personality tests
– job-related simulations
– group exercises/discussions
– role-play
– assessment centres
Depending on the type of assessment, for example in an application form or at an interview, you may be asked to give examples of when you have demonstrated a particular behaviour.
This might be at work or somewhere else such as work experience, volunteering or in connection with a hobby.
Alternatively, you may be asked how you would behave in a given situation, for example by using Situational Judgement Tests or through situational interview questions. You could also be asked to demonstrate a behaviour in real-time, for example during a structured behavioural assessment.

We want to understand the actions and activities you’ve done (or would do) that result in effective performance in a job. 
As behaviours can be observed and measured, they help us to predict what your performance in the role could be. 

Ability is the aptitude or potential to perform to the required standard. 
The Civil Service has a set of psychometric tests which we use to help predict future performance, these include a Verbal Reasoning Test and a Numerical Reasoning Test. 

Ability can be assessed using psychometric tests, often in an online internet-based format.
The most common tests we use are:
– Verbal Reasoning Test (VRT) – to assess your verbal capabilities.
– Numerical Reasoning Test (NRT) – to assess your numerical capabilities.
The tests are scored automatically and you will be told whether you have achieved the pass benchmark. If you pass, you will be invited to the next step in the recruitment process.
Read more about online tests

We want to understand your aptitude for a particular type of work.
We assess ability to help predict future performance. This can help us get a understanding of whether you have the skills needed for the role and assess your suitability for the type of work the Civil Service does.

Technical is the demonstration of specific professional skills, knowledge or qualifications. There are more than 20 professions in the Civil Service with a wide range of roles available, some of which are specialised. The specific skills, knowledge or qualifications required for these roles will be defined by each Head of Profession.

If the role you are applying for is within a profession, additional information about the technical requirements for that role will be included within the job description.
Some of the assessment methods we use to assess your technical skills are:
– application forms
– CVs
– interviews
– technical presentations and exercises
– technical tests
– presentations
– work samples
– job-related simulations
– oral briefing exercises
– written analysis/exercises
– assessment centres
If there is a need for a particular qualification or membership of a professional body, you may be asked to provide evidence that you hold this.

The roles within the professions are sometimes specialised and you may be asked to show that you have specific skills, knowledge or qualifications to be successful.
One example of a specialised role is a job in Government Finance. This may require candidates to have accountancy qualifications and knowledge of the way finance is managed within Government.