Tips and guidance
for applying

Applying for a Civil Service role: what to expect

• application basics: Most roles ask for a CV, a personal statement, and short written examples of how you meet key behaviours (usually 250 words each)
• online tests: You might be invited to complete online assessments, such as numerical or judgement tests
• shortlisting: Applications are reviewed to see who meets the criteria for interview
• interviews: If shortlisted, you’ll usually have a virtual interview. Questions are based on the job advert and may focus on your behaviours, strengths, ability, experience, or technical skills

How will you be assessed:

Civil Service roles use a “success profiles” approach. The job advert will tell you which elements you’ll be assessed on, these could include your strengths, behaviours, ability, experience, and technical skills. For more details, check out the Success Profiles.

CV top tips:

• keep it short and focussed – aim for your CV to be 1-2 pages in length. Roles typically receive a large number of applications, so make sure to highlight how your experience and skills match the criteria as efficiently as possible
• tailor your CV – tailor your CV so it is relevant to the role and showcases the required and desirable skills from the job advert
• focus on skills and experience – use your CV to highlight the transferable skills and experience that underpin your academic outputs. Aim to include only the outputs and publications relevant to the role and highlighted in a way that a non-expert can understand

If you are from an academic background, we know that writing a CV for a Civil Service role can be quite different to a CV for a role in academia. To help you translate your experiences and develop your CV, you could explore CV writing tips from the Civil Service  How to write your CV | Civil Service Careers or check your university’s career guidance.

Personal statement top tips

Some Civil Service applications will ask for a personal statement or statement of suitability. This is an opportunity to highlight how you meet the essential criteria listed in the job advert. It is not a cover letter, although you can briefly state why you are interested in the position. Read our top tips below.

• stick to the word limit: personal statements or statements of suitability can often have word limits of 500-1250 words. Be concise but make sure you include enough detail and evidence to show your experience
• tailor it to the job:  focus on the essential skills in the job advert and show how your experience and transferable skills make you a great fit
• show your impact: use facts, figures, and real examples like budgets managed or targets met, to highlight what you’ve achieved

Most Civil Service interview questions are competency-based. This is where the panel asks you a question based on your skills and experience. Read below some top tips from existing Civil Servants,  for interviews up to grade 6.

Answering behaviour questions:

• read: make sure you read the job description carefully, it will list essential experience and behaviours required for the role
• prepare: you will be asked questions on the behaviours listed in the job description, prepare examples that demonstrate the key behaviours require for the role using the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) or CAR (Context, Action, Result) format to answer these questions, make sure you explain how and why you did something
• understand: use the Civil Service success profiles to understand each behaviour and what is required at the grade you are applying for
• focus: there will only be one question for each behaviour specified in the role, so aim to spend up to 5 minutes answering each behaviour question, there may be follow up questions to assess areas you’ve not yet covered, so be sure to listen carefully to follow up questions

Answering strength questions:

Strengths are the things we do regularly, do well or that motivate us. Some interviews may ask questions about your strengths. If so, the strengths will be selected from a list of possible strengths here, however, you may not be told which strength is being assessed.

• prepare: you don’t need to rehearse your answers, but it might be helpful ahead of time to reflect on the various strengths and how you demonstrate or use these. Use the strengths definitions and the job advert to help identify which strengths are relevant to the role
• be yourself and answer honestly: the panel wants to see what motivates you and to see genuine engagement and energy
• support your answer with an example: you should try and link your answer to an example of a real situation in work or life where you have demonstrated this strength
• keep it focused: aim for a clear concise answer about two minutes is usually right